Egger welcomed Trudy Harrison MP, the Government’s minister for natural environment and land use, to its wood-based materials manufacturing site at Hexham in Northumberland on 26th January. The visit comes after concerns raised by the industry through the Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF) about the increasing demand for the UK annual wood basket. Trudy Harrison was joined by Hexham’s local representative Guy Opperman MP.
Wood-based panel material manufacturers are looking to ensure that wood security is at the forefront of future UK business and energy policy. The wood panel manufacturing sector uses over 25% of the 11million tonnes of wood delivered from UK forestry every year. UK manufacturers supply approximately 65% of the total UK annual consumption of wood-based panel products, which can be found in virtually every office, home and workplace across the country and is also relied upon by the house-building and construction industries across the UK.
Andrew Laidler, sales director at Egger, commented: “I was delighted to host this meeting with the minister, where we had constructive discussions about wood security as a key component of sustainable UK manufacturing. It was also a pleasure to display the products made at Egger, and illustrate our ability to meet the demands of critical sectors including construction, furniture and flooring sectors. The sector currently satisfies 65% of the market's demand highlighting the real need to increase productive forestry planting in order to ensure a secure supply of wood which is vital to underpin our manufacturing capability and future capital investment. We welcome the continued support of both Trudy Harrison MP and Guy Opperman MP.”
