BSW Timber welcomed the Forestry Commissioners and Forestry Commission Scotland’s National Committee to its Fort William mill on 25 September, in a drive to highlight the importance of home grown timber to the company’s UK operations.

The Commissioners were taken on a tour of the forest at Glenrigh which supplies timber to the Fort William mill, prior to visiting the site itself.

The visit marks the latest stage of the mill’s £37m five-year investment programme, developing one the largest and most advanced sawmill sites operating anywhere in the UK with an annual production of around 300,000 m3 of sawn timber.

The expansion is a major part of BSW’s £70m company-wide investment programme, bringing cutting-edge technology to all of its mills, as well as creating modern manufacturing sites and improved customer services across the UK.

Welcoming the Commissioners and the National Committee to Fort William, Gavin Adkins of BSW Timber, said: “Our investment in Fort William and across the Group demonstrates a genuine commitment to expand and maximise efficiencies on-site by introducing the latest in production technology, coupled with our desire to improve our use of sustainable and renewable energy.

“This investment reinforces the importance of the forestry sector to both local and national economies, creating a positive knock-on effect throughout the supply chain.”

Mr Adkins added: “Thanks to our improved efficiencies, we are now producing more home-grown timber here than ever before, leading to increased sustainable usage in expanding UK markets such as timber frame houses and the repairs, maintenance and improvements sector.

“Such increased usage is dependent on there being an appropriate level of expansion of productive woodland across Great Britain, to meet the future needs of our industry.”