Oregon Timber Frame sets sights on £40m turnover with expansion

Borders timber business Oregon Timber Frame has outlined ambitious plans to extend its manufacturing capability as it looks to capitalise on the demand for new housing.

The firm is looking to double its turnover after acquiring a former furniture superstore next to its existing production site in Selkirk.
Revealing the move back in April, joint managing director Peter Wade said the additional 56,000 square feet will effectively double the size of operations there and could create an extra 50 jobs.

The building has already been granted planning permission for conversion into manufacturing premises.

Mr Wade suggested that the current Selkirk premises, along with a smaller site in Burton-on-Trent, have the capacity to take the business to around £20 million in turnover. It is hoped that the additional space will allow the company to keep up with demand from its customers and double its orders to up to £40m.

Work on the facility is pencilled in to start early next year and may be operational by the summer.

The move comes as accounts for 2014 show that the firm achieved turnover of £15m, up from £13.9m in the prior year.
Pre-tax profit, however, was down year-on-year to about £507,000 from £627,000.

Oregon said the acquisition will enable the firm to “continue to grow to meet demand in the housing market”.

Chairman Roderick Lawson said: “The company is experiencing a high level of growth in the current year, and we are very pleased to have made this purchase, as it allows us to continue to increase capacity.

“The housing industry remains busy and besides expansion plans by our existing customers, there are UK housebuilders starting to use timber frame as an alternative to brick and block.

“With supply chains increasingly stretched by shortages of skills and materials on site, we believe that we can offer a dependable system and maintain service levels through controlled growth in the years ahead.”

Oregon supplies timber frames for housebuilders such as CALA and Miller Homes.

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