RORY PRAISES CUMBRIAN TIMBER POTENTIAL IN SAWMILL VISIT

Rory Stewart MP was delighted to visit BSW Timber’s Carlisle sawmill recently, to see the work of one of the constituency’s largest employers and to find out about its incredible rate of recent growth, praising the ‘huge potential for the timber industry in Cumbria, for Cumbrians.’

The local MP met with with Hamish Macleod, Director of Public Affairs, Tony Hackney, CEO, and George McRobbie, Managing Director, to find out about the business group’s latest developments.​ ​During the meeting Rory and the group discussed issues around sustainability, planting and restocking, and flood mitigation. They also talked about BSW’s ‘Roots to Prosperity’ initiative, and the important role of Rory’s constituency Forestry and Woodlands think-tank. Rory learnt about BSW Timber’s production of over 30% of the UK’s softwood from seven locations across England, Scotland and Wales, in which it employs over 1,000 people. The annual output of the Carlisle site alone is around 50,000 cubic metres which is used for fencing, landscaping products, green-carcassing, pallets and packaging.

Rory Stewart MP said: “I was delighted to meet with BSW and discuss their plans for a sustainable future.​ I can also see huge potential for this industry in Cumbria. It is vital that we do not underestimate the many benefits that commercial forestry can deliver to our communities and economy.​ The role of the timber industry is, I think, widely misunderstood, and I am pleased that in our constituency think-tank we provide an important platform for the sector to be able to discuss forestry policy together with a broad spectrum of stakeholders from the third and government sectors also.Companies like the BSW Group are integral to both our local and our national economy, and I was pleased to get such a great first-hand account of how the sawmill operates, and to see the wonderful work it does.”

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