As a managing director of Target Timber Systems, it would be wrong of me to say that our business has not felt the economic effects of Covid 19 and Brexit. Over the last three years, price increases in building materials, particularly timber, have affected many in our industry in one way or another.

If you only listen to the media you would think that the entire country was on its knees but it’s just not true. As a timber frame manufacturer, we feel that we are now out the other side of a pretty testing time for sure – we are busy, we have a strong order book and a good pipeline of opportunities, and we are maintaining our 60% repeat customer rate.

Our connections in the industry are sharing similar stories; construction projects are in full swing right across the country and while supply chains might be sticky at times, they are still moving.

Our flexible approach to business opportunities has certainly helped us to keep our factory busy through the tough times because we’re very happy to take on projects with values from £20k to £2m. Furthermore, we’re in no doubt that our reputation for quality and reliability remains our greatest asset – as Mr Franklin once said “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”, in other words, you get what you pay for!

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t quote figures as it could be considered somewhat vulgar, however, I think it’s important to give substance to where we are and to give an idea of (our) market conditions before we allow the media to talk us into a big black hole. These figures are as at 20/2/23:

Enquires received since January this year (2023) –   47

Value of quotes issued this year (2023) – £5,433,971

Letters of intent received – £2,977,898

Current order book – 5,221,183

It’s safe to say that Target Timber is looking at a strong first half of this year and we expect this to continue as our outlook is always positive. However, we will no doubt be hit with inevitable slippages caused by bats, birds, lizards, plannings disputes and funding issues, etc., but for now, we are excited about the future so please, keep those opportunities coming.

Nick Whittle
Joint Managing Director
Target Timber Systems Ltd