BSW Timber has invested more than £3.6m in a major drive to capitalise on opportunities provided by the fast-growing UK fencing market.
During the last two years, BSW has invested in significant infrastructure projects at five of its mills across the UK, adding to its multi-million pound acquisition of Southampton-based fencing specialists RF Giddings in 2014.
Tony Hackney, chief executive BSW Group, said: "This significant multi-million investment in fencing technology, combined with our acquisition and development of our Southampton operation, demonstrates BSW's commitment to the UK fencing sector.
"This is a fast growing market for the company and we are witnessing a growth rate year-on-year for our fencing products across both commercial and domestic sectors. There is an increasing requirement for a wider range of added-value products, especially for incised and acoustic fencing solutions. Our sales of incised product grew by nearly 50% in 2015. This ongoing investment allows us to offer a high quality and sustainable end product, using home-grown timber."
Leading the investment is a £2.7m commitment to installing multi-head machine lines at mills in Fort William, Dalbeattie, Carlisle and Boat-of-Garten, allowing for the development of a more diverse product range that includes weather topped and pointed posts as well as increased feather-edge capacity.
BSW has also invested heavily in emerging incising technology, which allows for improved preservative penetration and retention, increasing the range of applications for the treated timber end product. Almost £500,000 has been invested in incising machinery in Carlisle, Dalbeattie, Newbridge-on-Wye and Fort William, with more investment planned for the near future.
Research and innovation have played a key part in adding value to BSW's fencing products range, with the company investing more than £500,000 in new treatment tanks for Dalbeattie and Newbridge. BSW is also developing acoustic panel manufacturing, using Soundshield technology to offer a solution for unwanted noise in both domestic and commercial markets.
BSW are accredited under National Highways Sector schemes 2A, 2C and 4 at three of its sawmills. The company has recently supplied the Forth Replacement Crossing, the largest infrastructure project in Scotland for a generation from its Dalbeattie sawmill.
