Timber Trades Journal . December 07
“An International Range with a Nationwide Service”…. Brooks Bros is committed to bringing the finest timbers from around the world to users across the UK at competitive prices and with unrivalled levels of service. Whatever your timber needs - joinery, construction, flooring, furniture or restoring the Cutty Sark! – Brooks Bros provides the complete timber service.

50 years of service.

For 50 years, Brooks Bros has had a passion for timber. Beginning as timber porters on the River Thames, the company’s reputation for quality and service was formed in the South East before spreading across the U.K. Today, Brooks Bros is a truly national operation with bases in the South, Midlands and North. It remains a fiercely independent company, with a ‘local company’ attitude to customer care. However with an annual turnover of £50 million and a staff of 250 dedicated people, it is big enough to meet the demands of customers both large and small across the full spectrum of timber products.

A broader range……
Brooks Bros stocks in excess of 40 species of timber – one of the broadest ranges available in the UK – all under the auspices of The Timber Trade Federation’s Responsible Purchasing Policy. The massive choice includes;

• certified and source-verified American, European and Tropical hardwoods and softwoods
• “Brooks tech” laminated timber components available ex-stock providing enhanced physical properties with improved dimensional stability, higher quality, reduced waste and backed with full FSC certification
• a vast stock holding of mouldings for windows, doors, joinery, decking and picture framing
• flooring where Brooks Bros holds over 30,000 square metres of solid wood and engineered boards either unfinished or a fully finished product

"Year-on-year we continue to enhance the quality and variety of our certified timber stocks.” (Geoff Steniford, Procurement Director)

As well as sourcing the best available timber, Brooks Bros has invested massively in the latest woodworking technology to be able to offer unrivalled technical services which further enhance the product portfolio. These include;

Laminating: bespoke laminating and edge gluing, on hardwood and softwood. Up to 5m lengths, 900mm widths and thickness up to 150mm can be produced in house on a dedicated laminating line for delivery within 10 days.

Machining and Moulding: to the highest possible standards of quality and finish, Brooks Bros offers state-of-the-art moulding facilities. Brooks Bros provides fast, accurate and competitively priced profiles in all types of hardwoods, clear softwoods, MDF as well as joinery quality redwoods to customers’ demanding specifications

In–house Tool Making: undertaken by Brooks Bros’ skilled craftsmen, using the latest CNC technology and finest tool steels to ensure the highest quality results every time

Kiln Drying: 19 modern drying kilns with a cumulative capacity of 1300m³ ensure that Brooks Bros’ timber is accurately dried to the correct moisture content

Finishing: with 5 finishing lines we can apply water based lacquer, stain and primer, from a basic sealer coat right up to a fully finished product. Our finishing lines are equipped with sanding heads and dust extraction to ensure the best possible finish

Sawing: crosscutting, re-sawing, multi-ripping, line edging, all undertaken on the most modern sawing machinery

Foil Wrapping: matching the colours of natural timber and other materials using the latest foil wrapping technology. Picture frames and other mouldings/profiles achieve enhanced aesthetic appeal using this modern technique

...a better service

Brooks Bros operates four sites at Maldon, Danbury, Nottingham and the newly opened site at Skelmersdale in Lancashire. The Southern, Midlands and Northern locations of the sites combine to provide an efficient countrywide service and distribution to all customers using the company’s delivery fleet of 36 lorries.

This site network underpins the high levels of service enjoyed by all customers.

“Our successful growth is down to satisfied customers and this in turn is down to our motivated employees who all work very hard and very skilfully for the good of the company. Without their efforts and application, our programme of growth would not be possible.” (Mark Sherriff, Managing Director)

The six-acre Maldon facility carries some £5-million worth of sawn, temperate hardwoods from North America and Europe, and tropical hardwoods from Africa, the Far East and South America. Its facilities include over 100,000 ft2 of undercover storage, where experienced measurers and graders select accurately against customers specific requirements.

The Danbury site occupies 12 acres (see photograph) and stocks mainly joinery and clear softwoods, decking and the unique engineered product, “Brooks Tech”. An extremely wide product range is offered including hardwood and softwood mouldings, picture frame mouldings, MDF mouldings, flooring products and a kiln drying service. Danbury has one of the largest and most modern mills in the UK. It produces complex mouldings along with standard PAR sections to suit customers’ specific needs. Also at Danbury are three dedicated picture frame moulding lines, two foil wrapping lines and state-of-the-art finishing plant – where any finish can be specified. Furthermore the site features an automated flooring line, producing cross-cut and end matched French oak floor boards.

An important member of the Brooks Bros group is the Nottingham-based Fitchett and Woollacott, a mainstay of timber supply in the Midlands for over 100 years. A wide and varied customer base make the most of the comprehensive offering of hardwood, softwood, decking, flooring, engineered product and fast track machining services. The site also boasts an extensive timber flooring showroom, backed up by 30,000 sq. metres of flooring stock.

The latest addition to the Brook Bros group is a brand new site which the company has bought and developed at Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The new facility will incorporate the existing Burscough operation, quadrupling the stockholding capability as the company seeks to optimise product choice and delivery times for customers in the North of England and Scotland. The 3.5 acre site with over 50,000 sq ft of undercover secure storage is adjacent to the M58 and boasts much improved counter sales and customer collection facilities. Plans are already in place to install the latest moulding and finishing facilities to create one of the best stocked, best equipped timber suppliers in the North of England.

“;We are achieving record sales levels which are particularly enhanced by the added value and environmentally certified areas of our business. This success is largely due to our ongoing and substantial investment in the latest woodworking technology and a genuine commitment by our staff to provide the best possible service to our customers” ( Mark Fleming, Sales & Marketing Director)

Brook Bros has specialists available in every sphere of the timber industry who can give advice and answer your questions at any time. A 20-strong team of technical sales representatives, offering nationwide coverage, will happily visit to discuss your specific requirements.

The environmental leader

As you would expect from one of the country’s largest timber suppliers, Brooks Bros is independently certified by many recognised international institutions working to protect timber sources for future generations. These include the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Smartwood Rediscovered among others. Full details of all certification can be seen at www.certifiedtimber.co.uk

A breakthrough for Brooks Bros – indeed a notable first for the global timber industry – is the company’s supply of FSC-Recycled Teak. This is wholly re-claimed, recycled and reusable - remarkable!

“We have produced an environmental and socially responsible product – 100% reclaimed and recycled teak.” (Hans Ng, Group Environmental Manager)

The government has taken the lead with its timber procurement policy. From 2009 this demands that for all publicly-funded projects all timber must be independently verified as ’legal and sustainable’. With its FSC-Recycled Teak Brooks Bros is in pole position to meet this new stringent condition of supply to government departments, local authorities and publicly-funded works.

It also means that private sector specifiers who have resisted the use of teak due to the questionability of its legality and sustainability can again use ‘the king of woods’ for furniture, joinery, decking, flooring and kitchen worktops - with a completely clear conscience.

“Brooks Bros holds FSC Chain of Custody certification for their re-claimed teak, guaranteeing that it is sourced from post-consumer waste and is not damaging the world’s forests.” (Charles Thwaites, Executive Director of FSC UK)

For further information please visit www.certified-teak.com