Sources

All timber sawn by James Callander & Son Ltd comes from Scottish grown softwoods, 98% of which is Sitka or Norway Spruce.

As we have been sawing this timber for over fifty years it is in our interest to ensure that all supplies come from sustainable sources. We purchase timber from both Forest Enterprise and Privately owned woodlands all of which must be managed according to the UK Forest Standard.

Sustainability and FSC Certification

To ensure this and to be able to provide our customers with this assurance our company has achieved Chain of Custody accreditation with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), which is the only internationally recognised independent Forest Certication body. This enables us to supply our customers with an approved FSC label guaranteeing that over 70% of the timber supplied comes from FSC Certified forests. We believe that in today’s market sound environmental credentials are important and being able to offer true sustainability will enable our customers to meet growing client demand for such product assurance. It is our objective to ultimately provide our customers with 100% of material from certified sources.

Timber Harvesting

As well as purchasing sawlogs from our suppliers we also offer a timber harvesting service to our suppliers which enables both ourselves and growers not wishing to undertake the increasingly complex task of timber harvesting, greater flexibility. Many of our suppliers including Forest Enterprise are entering into longer term supply contracts which both secures a more stable source of timber for operations but also provides guaranteed market share for the grower.

Skilled contractors, many of whom have worked in partnership with ourselves for many years, undertake all our harvesting operations. As a result we have developed a flexible harvesting service primarily directed at the larger producers.

Innovation

We insist that all machines harvesting timber on our sites are fitted with the most up to date computer software and optimising packages, and as a result we can provide the grower with a whole range of crop information and product breakdown to ensure that they get the best return from their woodlands.

We are currently working with selected suppliers on GIS (Geographic Information Systems) coupled with modem links between sawmill and machines. It is envisaged that such technology will enable us to provide both a better service to our customers by producing raw material deliveries more closely linked to sawmill production and customer requirements and a better service to our suppliers by speedier uplift of material from the forest and roadside.