TTF Annual Dinner March 9th 2016 TTF President Keith Fryer speech

Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, it’s an honour and a pleasure to be here this evening, speaking on behalf of the Timber Trade Federation; still the main voice of the industry, but undergoing a period of significant change. I’d like to start by thanking the people who allow the TTF to be that voice and as usual it’s the unsung heroes who keep it all going. They sit on committees, attend meetings and do all sorts of things that many of us would prefer to avoid, but without them, nothing happens. So, to all those people who work tirelessly for the good of us all, Thank You! Then of course there are all the people who cover for them during the working day - businesses still have to operate and without their support, the other helpers wouldn’t be helping. Thank You! On my personal roll of honour are the team at Brewer’s, now part of Grafton, who have supported me. In particular, I’d like to pay tribute to Nick Brewer & Rodney Scoles, my partners, who have covered for me on many occasions. Thank You! Within the TTF offices we have seen and are continuing to develop changes in the team. Dave Hopkins has come across from Wood For Good, where many of you already knew him. I think Dave’s work there had already proved that he’s a person who has our mutual respect. He has a great track record and the energy to take on the challenges that the TTF faces. Dave: Welcome! Then we have new faces behind the scenes with Narelle, who is making sure we actually have accounts that add up and Ben who is the person sending out all of our communications. Welcome! I’m sure that you will all join me in welcoming Mike Worrell, who was previously with the NMO, monitoring timber from an EUTR perspective and is now running one of the most important elements of the TTF service: RPP. Before anyone even begins to think that this is a case of a gamekeeper becoming a poacher, I want to make it very clear that it’s quite the reverse. Membership of the TTF requires us to adhere to the very highest standards, particularly with regard to legality and sustainability. Mike is here to continue our ongoing work in this area. RPP and the whole environmental backdrop is a critical part of the positive message that timber can give to the world. Mike: Welcome! To the remaining members of the TTF team, who are there for us every working day: Thank You! Longevity is another strong characteristic of timber and it’s appropriate to draw that comparison to one very special person. If you look back over the years the TTF has encountered a range of problems as well as successes and for all of us there has been a person within the TTF offices who has helped steer us through choppy waters, raging gales and even some nice, smooth, sunny ones.

Whenever we’ve wanted calm advice, considered judgement or a strong kick up the pants, this person has been there. If you’ve ever had any contact with the TTF then you’ll know exactly who I am talking about. For those of you from other parts of the world, Jean Rennie is the person who holds the trade and the Federation together. I do not say that lightly – without Jean, the trade would be a far poorer place, on all levels. Jean will be retiring in a few months time and we are going to miss her, massively. Yes, somebody will attempt to fill those shoes; that will be a very hard task and I ask you to all lend your support as we enter that time of change. Do it for Jean, who has stayed on for us, for every one of us, to make sure we transition into the Federation she knows we need to be. It’s a double edged sword for me personally. To be the person standing here this evening, offering Jean our heartfelt best wishes, is a great honour. However, to be stood here as Jean sets off for her well earned retirement, you can imagine what a daunting prospect it is. Ladies & Gentlemen, please be upstanding to honour and thank Jean Rennie. This seems to be the perfect opportunity to get one more Thank You out there. Many of you have travelled long distances to be here, from all parts of the world. Looking at the guest list I can see many countries represented. Please send our very best wishes to your colleagues and families. The timber industry is a family. At times we knock lumps out of each other; we often quarrel and we compete every second of the day, across the globe. But at the same time we collaborate and we stick together, just like a family. When push comes to shove, we will show a united front and the joy of working within this industry is its incredible diversty, all brought together by timber, that wonderful material which we buy and sell. Welcome & Thank You For Being Here! We have a proven track record of working together when we really want to. Here’s an example: 2009, in the depths of recession, people questioned our ability to bring off 100% certified timber for the Olympics. Through the skill of Peter Bonfield, we did it and we did it well. I’d go so far as to say it was one of our finest moments. We showed that timber’s a product that you can use, secure in the knowledge that it’ll do the job, on time and to specification. Unfortunately it does often seem to take us an incredibly long time to unite on matters where we should be completely unified. I’m sure that I’m not alone in voicing utter frustration at the way we manage to complicate the message and let’s face it, we know that often the reason behind this is ‘turkeys voting for Christmas’. Nobody wants to upset their part of the status quo, even when we know that we need to and that means we go careering off, into each other, instead of providing a sharp, focused message to the outside world. I refer of course to the arrival of CTI. In just 9 months CTI has gone from nothing to a voice for the whole timber industry, from seedlings to engineered timber, a method of providing a unified voice on behalf of our entire family. We now have, for the first time, an All Party Parliamentary Group that represents timber; known as an APPG. We have a voice that can shout, loudly, on our behalf.

All it needs is for all those different trade associations and organisations to sign up and be a part of CTI and then, when issues of local, national or international standing regulation and control need addressing, these same bodies can speak, through CTI, providing that unity. But, as usual, CTI is still met with reticence, with suspicion, uncertainty and to be honest even some hostility. We’re not even asking any turkeys to vote, let alone for Christmas; just to put their collective shoulder behind the wheel and work as one, for the common good. How hard can that be? Why is it a problem? What stops it from happening more quickly? I still get asked “what’s CTI?” or “CTI’s just part of the TTF, isn’t it?” Let’s clarify this, hopefully once and for all: Yes, the TTF has provided the initial impetus and hard earned cash, to set CTI off, for the good of the entire industry. Yes, we expect to have to continue to invest in CTI, for the good of the whole industry. Yes, we help CTI, wherever we can, for the good of the entire industry. I’ve been using the same analogy for some time now: CTI is a stroppy teenager that the parents are persuading to go off into the big wide world. From time to time it may nip home to get its washing done or even raid the fridge, but it’s like any teenager - it has a mind of its own and will not always do what we hope for. Who knows, it will probably do things in a far better way than we ever thought of, because it gains the experience of the wider world. So, if you’re sitting there wondering what CTI is, why not do something radical: contact them and ask them! If you feel the TTF’s too close to CTI then why not do something about it? Maybe you could offer to provide CTI with an office, some IT support, some media messaging or even some straight, hard cash. But the best thing you can do for yourselves, for the industry as a whole, is to do this: tell the trade associations that you pay subscriptions to that they need to sign up to CTI, to support it and then use it to provide that unified message which our industry badly needs, instead of loads of people, all whizzing around, crashing into each other. CTI has proven, in a few months, that it can produce an extremely effective voice, through the APPG. Be honest, what have the rest of us done, in decades? I do often sit there, completely puzzled by the way we seem to fail to recognise a good thing when we see it - maybe a lot of people are hoping it’ll just go away and then they can go back to the ‘good old days’. Ask yourself: were they or are they really that good? So, while we’re at it, let’s move onto the next topic that exercises my mind: What did the TTF ever do for us? Well, for a start, we instigated the birth of CTI, not that we seem to get much thanks from many parts of the industry! But maybe that’s just me. I have heard some people say that the TTF’s a one trick pony: RPP and that’s your lot!

While the TTF is, rightly, immensely proud of the RPP, which gives strong assurances of certainty over the provenance of timber products sold by our members, the TTF does so much more than that. The UK government is effectively closing down CPET, their vehicle for imparting knowledge of timber certification to local government and other end users. The TTF is in the process of trying to take on this important work, for the good of the whole industry. Since 2004, along with many other trade associations and businesses, the TTF has worked tirelessly to bring about solid qualifications that can attract apprenticeships and grant funding, for all manner of different sectors, from merchanting to sawmilling and for Scotland as well as the rest of England & Wales. That has been a hugely complex piece of work. We now have a Wood Industry Board, operated by Proskills on our behalf, looking at the continuous development of qualifications. A TTF company has provided the Chair person for every Wood Industry Board meeting. From Rob Simpson, myself, Peter Kelly, Rowena McBlaine and now Piers Latham. We’re not just here for the easy bits! Without training and solid qualifications the whole industry will not be able to encourage and retain young people. Well, we have the tools for the job, all available for you, right now - you just need to use them. The take up is still poor. We only have ourselves to blame if we don’t use them and then lose the grant funding that they currently attract. I mentioned Scotland in terms of qualifications - a classic example of where the industry worked hard, as one, to use the combined skills of all, to produce qualifications that comply across the UK, to higher standards than if everyone had just gone off on their own. I personally feel that the TTF has not done enough for its members in Scotland in recent times. We are addressing this and working with Scottish TTF companies to ensure that they receive relevant, pertinent support and assistance. This brings us to the 3 year plan that Dave is taking forwards. It places a lot more emphasis on local area engagement, to make sure that we work from the grass roots up, not ‘head office down’. The product division structures are changing, so that we have quarterly meetings that cover training, operational , risk, reputational and other matters that cut across products - then we’ll put together product related working groups. It may well be that the skillsets needed to resolve an issue can come from people outside the product’s natural pool of talent. Just like we learned from developing qualifications, we need everybody’s knowledge and experience to get the best overall results. This will also help to protect us from reputational harm. During the short time that Dave and I have been listening to members gripes - and there have been plenty of them - one of the key issues is our apparent inability to sort out non-conformances. It has to be said that the panel products sector seems to lead the field in this area. As a former sheet material salesman I know that it’s been “cool” to push the limits, but it’s not “cool” to cheat. We

need a culture change – the risk to the reputation of our whole industry relies on conformance, by everybody. Before anyone thinks this is an exercise in singling out one sector, it isn’t - we know there are weaknesses in all areas. Continuous improvement is needed to ensure that we provide our customers with robust, constant, reliable levels of quality and service. We owe it to each other. Mystery Shopping is one of the tasks set before us, where we’ll check that TTF members and others trading in our markets are conforming. TTF membership needs to be seen as a badge of honour, a mark of quality, an aspiration. We need every TTF member to go and tell the industry that joining the TTF is a real benefit, hard earned and hard kept. We need to accept that some companies will choose not to remain, or join. If we prove that the TTF is giving the right services and benefits to the membership within a strong regulatory framework, then you must begin to conclude that non membership by core timber businesses is sending another signal. We know, TTF membership isn’t cheap, but really, in the great scheme of your business, to have an organisation working this hard to protect your interests, does represent exceptional value. Perhaps this is the same message we should be sending to our Customers: do you want products that are to specification, of the correct quality, delivered on time, or are you looking for a deal? I know, it’s been a long speech, probably a strong speech, quite possibly a slightly inflammatory speech, but to me it’s all very simple: Be a part of the best timber organisation that’s available. Work from within the TTF to bring about positive change and high standards. If you do, then I promise to halve the length of the speech next year!