Coed Cymru

A woman who has spent most of her working life involved in the timber industry has accepted a new challenge with Coed Cymru. abitha Binding, 41, of Llandinam, near Newtown has been tasked with improving the supply chain for low value hardwood and softwood species in Wales, which represent half of the Welsh National Forest. She has been appointed supply chain efficiency project officer for Mid and North Wales, a new three-year post with Coed Cymru based in Tregynon, near Newtown. An officer for South Wales is due to start work next month. The posts are funded by the Welsh Assembly Government through the Wales Rural Development Plan. Established in 1985 as a public sector partnership, Coed Cymru promotes the management of broadleaf woodlands and the use of locally grown hardwood and softwood timber in Wales. Working with around 100 Welsh manufacturers, Coed Cymru began product development work on utilising Welsh timber in 1990 and has successfully developed Ty Unnos - an award-winning building system - outdoor furniture, laminated flooring, windows, doors, cladding and wood chips for fuel. Tabitha will help to develop the supply chain for low value Welsh timber by linking wood producers, processors, manufactures and end users. She aims to improve product quality, encourage innovation and collaborative ventures and develop new and existing markets. The project will utilise a range of low value hardwood and softwood species within Wales to create high value, high performance end products aimed at specific markets through an integrated supply chain. An important element of the project is to encourage manufacturers and specifiers to use heat treated Welsh timber in laminated windows, doors, flooring products, a range of furniture and other fixtures and fittings. This will reduce the volume of imported timber and increase the number of Welsh farm woodlands brought into management, thereby providing a sustainable resource. Tabitha spent 20 years as a partner in the former family business Sunderland Softwoods, which made garden furniture for customers across the Midlands and South East England. A supply shortage of small diameter softwoods in the UK and the rapid growth of cheaper imported garden furniture from China and Malaysia led to the closure of the business five years ago. "It's a really exciting and diverse job and I am delighted to be working with Welsh timber again," she said. "I am looking forward to meeting new people and using my experience and Coed Cymru's network of contacts to improve the supply chain."