Construction Case Studies
Travis Perkins is UK’s largest supplier of building materials
with over 700 branches throughout the UK. They sell over £300m
worth of timber and timber-based products each year.
In January 2004 the UK government updated its timber procurement
policy, they now require government timber purchases to be legally
logged and traded, and, where financial considerations support it,
to also choose suppliers which can provide timber from ‘sustainable’
sources.
This means that government contractors – including, for example,
those working on infrastructure and PFI projects as well as refurbishment
of government buildings – are being asked to buy timber from
sustainable sources. Contractors tend to buy as many supplies as
possible in one place, so the yard which can provide sustainable
timber will also make sales of other building materials. In order
to meet this stringent requirement, Travis Perkins has therefore
obtained chain of custody certification at its major timber branches.
Approximately 15-20% of Travis Perkins total timber sales (or up
to £60m in 2003) are estimated to be sold for use in government-related
building projects each year. The actual figure may be even higher
when indirect sales are taken into account (i.e. those sales for
which Travis Perkins is unaware of the ultimate destination). Without
a system for sourcing sustainable timber, and the ability to track
it through the supply chain, the company would be at risk of losing
access to the important government procurement market.
The cost of implementing Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) chain
of custody certification was approximately £10,000 in external
fees and a considerable amount of investment of internal management
time to put the system in place. This investment will help secure
sales to the UK government worth approximately £60 million
a year.
Photocredit: Travis Perkins Coventry Yard
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Travis
Perkins