British woodworking Fed.

[iain1970]

Hi all, I am a newbie to this. I run a small joinery company just outside Norwich.
I am currently considering joining the BWF, what are your opinions on this organisation?
Thanks you in advance for your thoughts.

 

[marcros]

i am not in the trade, but I am a buyer by profession specialising in non production items- anything from tooling to overheads, so am used to looking at various schemes/accreditations etc. I had a look on the website at the benefits of membership, and to be honest I would save your £315 per year.

You dont say what you manufacture, or whether you employ anybody etc. There may be some benefits that you may use, particularly employment law etc, but I think that you will find somewhere like the FSB more useful for things like that- I believe that you can also get preferential rates on insurance, and assistance with tax etc through them (although the annual fee is (IIRC) £700 odd.

I suspect that you would see very little if any increase to your business. Have the public even heard of the BWF, let alone use them to source a supplier for your products? The only benefit I suspect you would gain is a warm feeling of belonging! As for technical updates etc, then the info will be out there if you search. The BWF, after all will only be collating info and offering it in a central place.

Just my thoughts from a non professional/non member stance.

Mark

 

[RogerS]

What he says. Save your money.

You could also ask over on www.woodworkuk.co.uk but I suspect that the answers will be exactly the same !

 

[Jelly]

The BWF from my dealings with them through my father and through one of my employers, seems to be a good fit for medium and large businesses...

In terms of customers appreciating the BWF membership, remember that they're involved in developing standards and running things like cetification schemes (such as their Certifire scheme) not to mention vetting the financial health of their members, all of which are much more likely to be of interest to a specifier/architect than they are to Joe Public who just wants to make a plain english request and have you do it to meet building regs.

They do a lot of good things and I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand, but you need to see if the services and benefits they offer to members are going to suit your business... There's this calculator, you could also ring them and be as blunt as to ask "I'm considering joining the BWF, what would you do for me as a member that makes it worthwhile"

In fact, a lot of it seems to be biased towards volume manufacturing... Chain of Custody, CE marking, U-value simulation are all things which impact positively on the saleability of specific products to an installer/end user, but would be much less valuable if you're primarily making and installing bespoke joinery.

In conclusion, they may or may not be good for you, depending what you make, and where you want to take your business.

 

[Nick Gibbs]

I agree with Jelly. They are doing stuff on the new EU Timber Regs. You might be able to blag your way into their upcoming seminar on the topic and see what you think. I suspect you'll find they are better suited to bigger companies.

Nick

 

[iain1970]

Thanks for your responses.
We are very much a purpose made company, I considered the BWF due to the CE marking coming through soon.
Can anyone explain how the CE marking will affect ther bespoke market?

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Can anyone explain how the CE marking will affect ther bespoke market?

Very difficult to tell at the moment. There won't be heavy prosecutions for any time soon, but you might be wise to create a system to link what timber you use (and where it comes from) to each job. The National Measurement Office, who will police the regs, are promising a softly-softly approach for the moment, and are very helpful. I have the contact there if needs be, just pm me for the name etc... The BWF might well be helpful with this too. Ask for some advice before you join to gauge their effectiveness.

Nick

 

[Jelly]

The Timber Trades Federation has some guidance here and some information on their framework for procedures to remain compliant.

Looking at that, if you're sourcing your materials from a supplier within the EU it would just be a matter of keeping accurate records, the more onerous bit seems to be reserved for people/organizations who are either importing timber or purchasing felled trees (rather than controlling the felling operation themselves).

If you've not found an answer by the time I next see my father, I'll ask him for a more complete picture of the situation as he's been dealing with implementing and auditing compliance with these new regs as part of his job.

 

[RogerS]

Thanks for your responses.
We are very much a purpose made company, I considered the BWF due to the CE marking coming through soon.
Can anyone explain how the CE marking will affect ther bespoke market?

I/we covered all of this before in this thread