Hazlin of Ludlow Ltd                            DEF0016

Written evidence submitted by Hazlin of Ludlow Ltd

1. Hazlin of Ludlow is a specialist timber door manufacturer for the past 40+ years. Over this time, we have been involved in the purchasing of a wide variety of timber species for technical and aesthetic reasons, including species from the UK. The use of timber in manufacturing and construction is and has always been of vital importance, and to help the UK achieve net zero it needs to further embrace the use of it. There is now an urgent desire to increase materials from renewable and ethical sources. Timber can fit these criteria if undertaken sensitively and managed over a long timescale.

2. Britain has many desirable and useful species that grow well in the UKs climate. However, currently Hazlin makes use of no British timber. This is for 3 reasons:

1. The dimensions we require are not readily available.
2. The quality is not as good as other nations.
3. The cost for UK timber is generally 40% more, even including import and transportation costs.

The European/American timbers typically have managed woodlands on such a large scale it is difficult for the UK market to compete with.

3. As we manufacture fire doors, the density and aesthetic of the timber is of vital importance. To achieve these the timber must be grown in the correct environments as well as carefully managed to produce the desired characteristics.

4. In the past Hazlin has made use of British suppliers of ash however due to the ash dieback disease these businesses no longer exist. Most of the timber we use comes from either Europe or North America., a lesser amount from the tropics

5. Hazlin is a member of FSC (Forest stewardship council) this ensures that we can use timber from responsible managed woodlands. FSC ensure that they are being held to a standard., and mean that a paper trail exist from the tree all the way to the manufactured product. This gives consumers the knowledge that they are supporting responsible businesses. All timber procurement chains are legally obliged to comply with UK EUTR

6. In order for the UK to significantly reduce reliance on imports the management of forestry would need to be scaled up by a very large factor and systems put in place to permit a long-term view. Austria for example has ancient rules relating to sustainable forestry much could be learnt from other systems that are already in place

7. To increase the Uk production of timber is not a new thing this has been considered by experts over the centuries with varying degrees of success and depended on consumer demand. The long-term investment could require a fundamental change in approach.

8. We are only one small aspect of commercial use and an overall concept need addressing with experts in the industry. An examination into what types and volumes of timber the UK uses and how much of this could be sourced in the UK now and with purpose in the future.

Ian Makins                                                                                                                               Tomos Jones

ASDMA Chairman                                                                                                                Business Manager

September 2022