10 minutes with Vastern Timber’ s Tom Barnes
Vastern Timber is one of the largest hardwood sawmills in the country, headquartered in Royal Wootton Bassett, it specialises in the cutting and manufacture of native grown timbers, including English oak, sweet chestnut, ash, sycamore and larch.
This family owned business is 120 years old and is currently run by four family members who represent the third and fourth generations working in the company. Across the firm they currently employ 37 people and in the last three years have seen between a 10-12 % increase in growth each year. We met with Tom Barnes, managing director to find out more about the business.
Tell us a little about the company’ s history The business started in 1904 in High Wycombe. We were suppliers into the furniture trade and in those days we traded under the name of‘ Barnes Branch & Co’, which is still effectively the holding name of the company today.
In 1974 we bought the sawmill in Royal Wootton Bassett, supplying our High Wycombe operation with wood. Manufacturing then dropped away and as a company we evolved to suit the new environment, moving from furniture into construction.
In the late 70s and early 80s the construction market was buoyant and to allow for growth we bought a second sawmill in Studley, near Chippenham and this site is still operational today.
How long have you been part of Vastern Timber?
I joined 15 years ago, after cutting my teeth working for larger companies in the industry. This allowed me to gain invaluable experience and insight and set me up for my promotion two years ago to MD.
For my own personal development, I completed an MBA. As part of this I studied family businesses. Through this course I learnt that to be successful you have to forget about the family element and run a business like an organisation with a clear structure and a high-level of professionalism.
What’ s the firms USP? The fact we use British logs and we’ re producing British grown timber. This is unusual as most other UK-based companies import their materials. We’ re proud to say we’ re the largest British hardwood supplier in the country.
How are you changing and evolving as a company?
The market for raw materials is shrinking. It’ s more about the finished product going into construction than the timber itself.
We produce products such as timber cladding and flooring and sell into the self-build market space and to architects and construction companies. It’ s important for us to have relationships with all of these routes to market.
Our products can be seen all year round at the National Self Build Renovation Centre in Swindon and we welcome visitors to our showroom in Royal Wootton Bassett.
What do you believe has been key to your growth in recent years?
Being British is key. We wouldn’ t have always admitted our products were home-grown, but there’ s been an increase in national pride and interest in sustainability. Using wood that’ s been grown and produced locally is a great story. For the most part our wood is bought and sold within 100 miles of Royal Wootton Bassett.
What are your growth plans for 2017 and beyond?
The construction market is buoyant at the moment and with the Brexit vote, our product has become more competitive than wood from other countries.
In the last few years we’ ve been developing a profile building strategy to aid our growth. We’ ve employed a PR company and invested in our digital strategy and we are reaping the rewards of this. Our web traffic has doubled and we’ re seeing a much higher conversion rate.
We’ ve also invested in the development of a new brand.
Brimstone is the first thermally modified British hardwood product.
We wanted to find a use for underused tree species such as ash, sycamore and poplar. These woods are fastgrowing, maturing within 60 years, when it takes up to 120 years to mature an oak. With a growing population, in the future we’ re not going to be using the traditional woods and instead we’ re going to be moving towards reliable wood that can be used in multiple locations.
We’ re committed to staying in Wiltshire and we’ re currently looking for funding to build a new production plant for Brimstone locally. Watch this space! www. vastern. co. uk
Vastern timber was used for a redevelopment project at the Tower of London. They installed British oak and replaced the main drawbridge.
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