Timber frame the key to growth

Scottish timber business James Donaldson has announced a 13 per cent rise in turnover to £75.5m and an almost 200 per cent rise in profits to £3.12m for 2006-7.

Donaldsons, which comprises sawmilling company James Donaldson Timber (JDT), the UK's largest roof truss manufacturer, Donaldson Timber Engineering, and the timber merchant MGM, also revealed that it had invested £3m in production facilities and equipment over the past year, including the UK's largest treatment plant for preventing wood decay.

Chairman and chief executive Neil Donaldson said that rising raw materials costs had driven up earnings over the past 12 months, and said the company had also been successful in gaining market share at the expense of its competitors.

Donaldson said there was much room for expansion in English markets, where timber-frame houses, for which Donaldson supplies roof trusses and floors, are less prevalent than in Scotland.

"Timber frame as a means of building is growing enormously south of the Border. Ten years ago only about 6 per cent of English houses and other buildings would be timber frame; now its 20 per cent. It's still a long way behind the 50 per cent that it is in Scotland, but it's growing fast."

Last year Donaldson Timber Engineering manufactured 530,000 roof trusses, helping it increase turnover by 3 per cent to a record £30.7m. JDT increased turnover by 25 per cent to £23m while the MGM sales grew from £22m to £26m.