Despite the setbacks of 2020, at Arbor Forest Products we have begun the year with plenty of reason for optimism, and we are well-placed to continue to support our colleagues and customers throughout the next 12 months – with plenty to look forward to.
Expansion plans
Last year we announced the largest single investment in our New Holland site in the company’s history: the first phase of this is now well underway, with our new sawmill planing line due to begin production within weeks.
Once fully operational, the new facility will use unique scanning technology to identify faults and defects, allowing us to offer a guaranteed level of quality for every piece of timber that passes through.
In addition to the new planing line, we have begun work on the next phase of expansion which will see us create significant additional storage space on-site. As well as future-proofing our production for the years ahead, these new facilities will create an additional 20 permanent jobs at the company.
Levelling up with decking
The landscaping sector had a boom year in 2020, as UK homeowners sought to upgrade their outdoor space. With Trex US planning to increase production of its market-leading Trex decking products later this year, we’re similarly investing in our decking provision.
Last year we appointed Jonathan Cooper to lead the newly-created decking division here at Arbor Forest Products, and Jonathan is already leading the way in ensuring we can continue to build our presence in the decking landscape.
With plans to expand his team as well as offering an improved training programme and giving customers more opportunities to get an up-close feel for the Trex collection, Jonathan is set to take our decking busines division onto bigger and better things in the next five years.
Keeping it green
Sustainability has been at the top of the agenda for the industry for some time, and we’re proud to have been ahead of the curve for some time.
Our site prioritises clean energy: we only use electricity generated from our on-site solar panels, which generates enough excess energy to contribute £30,000 of electricity back to the National Grid – that’s more than our whole operation currently consumes in a year.
Wood scrap from our manufacturing and planing lines is not sent to landfill, but is used to power our on-site biomass boiler, which in turn heats our HQ. Any leftover wood shaving and other by-products are sold for use as animal bedding, meaning we ultimately generate zero wood waste. And with the technology in our new planing line, we’ll be helping our customers to reduce their waste too.
The Trex range also boasts impressive environmental credentials – the US company is the largest plastic film recycler in the States, and thanks to its use of recycled wood and plastics in its decking products, it has never felled a single tree in its entire history. Trex manufacturing processes are designed to be earth-friendly, with the company reclaiming factory waste and eliminating the use of harmful chemicals.
We have plans for more investment in the company and our facilities throughout 2021 and beyond, and – as we have done throughout our history – we’ll continue to put our community, our people, and the environment front and centre. There are exciting times ahead for Arbor Forest Products, and we’re looking forward with plenty of optimism for ourselves and for the wider industry too.
To keep up to date with all the latest news, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and for more on our decking ranges visit Arbordeck.co.uk.
