Moelven strengthens UK timber market presence
Moelven is set to challenge the largest timber suppliers in the UK with a strengthened sales team offering more expertise in construction planed wood products and more customer service staff. The sales team will consist of Russ Fletcher, who has worked at Moelven for 16 years, Colin Little and Moelven UK Managing Director Pehr Eriksson, with Colin being Moelven’s new Sales Manager for construction planed wood products.
“Colin’s expertise from the industry is essential and we are delighted to have him on board to help us develop this product area for Moelven UK,” says Pehr Eriksson. “Colin will also promote our group’s plywood and laminated goods in the UK market. I’m a third-generation woodworker. My father started a sawmill that is still in operation in Vesterbotten. Now I sell Swedish and Norwegian wood products in England.” The knowledge Pehr has brought with him from his childhood is useful when he works to find the perfect match between raw materials from Moelven’s sawmills and customers’ production needs.
“It’s important for me to visit our customers’ production facilities to find out how we can match their needs with the fantastic raw materials we produce,” adds Pehr. Now even more Moelven products will be available on the UK market from Sweden. With the new saw line at Moelven Valåsen, we will increase production from 350,000m3 to 515,000m3 of sawn timber products per year. This is equivalent to 10,000 lorry loads.
“We see that our customers want more planed products. From April next year, we will also have our own planer connected to the sawmill, so that we can ensure that customers can order both sawn wood products and C24 from Moelven Valåsen.
“From our 15 sawmills and planing mills, we get access to wood products from trees that grows slowly. This means that the wood is strong and suitable for everything from construction timber to furniture production. Our colleagues at our sawmills know wood and know how to achieve the best possible product quality through sawing, drying and planing. With the investment of 300million SEK for the new saw line at Moelven Valåsen and associated planer, Moelven can offer a wider range of construction planed timber to the UK market.”
To meet increased sales and new logistics, the back-office team at Moelven UK has also been strengthened. “Our aim is to work proactively with our customers who order wood products from Moelven,” says Office Manager Katherine Wheeler. “We will follow up with our customers faster and with improved after sales and logistics.” The back-office team also includes Kim Cooper, who has worked in the timber industry for 35 years and Julie Shotton, backed by trainee Jessica Wigren whom has joined the team to learn about the UK timber industry and contribute with increased digitalisation at the office.
L-R Kim Cooper, Julie Shotton, Russ Fletcher, Jessica
Wigren, Colin Little, Pehr Eriksson and Katherine Wheeler.
