Product Availability Lies Behind Timber Merchant’s Growth

SR TIMBER IS REPORTING year-on-year double-digit sales growth for the first half of 2020 – despite the UK being in lockdown from March to May.

The Nottinghamshire-based company – the UK’s largest importer of roofing batten – saw sales grow by more than 10% between January and July this year compared with the same period last year.

Shaun Revill SR Timber Trading Director

SR Timber’s Trading Director Shaun Revill says that feedback from customers in both the merchant and contracting sectors suggests that the company’s reserves of stock and the speed at which it can deliver lorry loads of batten are the key reasons for this growth.

“Since Brexit, we’ve adopted a ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach and have concentrated on the things that we can control – and our approach to the pandemic has been no different,” said Shaun.

Supply Chain

“We know we have a quality, market-leading batten product and a robust supply chain. It means that we always have a continuous process of raw material being turned into fully graded batten at our sawmill, consignments of batten being shipped to the UK and stock being held at three UK ports, from which we deliver to customers up and down the country. Not even a pandemic has stopped this process.

“This unrivalled capability has really come to the fore as the UK economy has started emerging from lockdown. We have been in the right place at the right time to service our customers and supply them with the quantities of batten they need, when they need them.”

Stock Holding

Recently, SR Timber calculated that at any one time, it is holding enough stock in the UK that – if batten lengths were laid end to end – it would go around the equator 1½ times. This level of stock holding and availability has enabled firms like North West Roofing Supplies to respond to the demands of their roofing contractor customers.

Matt Roberts from the independent merchant chain, which has six branches across the North West, says that SR Timber has really shown its worth as a supplier, particularly since the lockdown restrictions started to ease in May.

“Getting reliable supplies of stock has been absolutely fundamental to our business, and this is where the partnership approach with trusted suppliers like SR Timber has really paid dividends,” said Matt.

“We know that the quality of the products they supply is excellent – in terms of being compliant with British Standards – but it’s felt like SR Timber has been right by our side over the last few months, getting the right products at the right prices to the right locations for us.”

Customer care

Speaking about the year-on-year growth, Shaun Revill said that the secret to SR Timber’s continued growth and success is all down to looking after its customers.

“I’m very proud of this business and the team at SR Timber because we continue to grow and be successful, despite all the hurdles that keep getting in our way, such as Brexit and the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19,” he said.

“To be more than 10% up in a 7-month period where the UK was in lockdown for 7 weeks is a remarkable achievement and, as I keep saying, a testament to the strength of our supply chain, the quality of our products and our commitment to our customers.”

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Shaun remains confident: “Given what we’ve come through and despite the fact there’s lots of uncertainty ahead, all our forecasting for the rest of the year is still very positive”.