The Forth Valley timber processing plant has become the national production centre for the Scottish division, serving Thornbridge and Rembrand branches across Scotland from an enlarged six-acre site.

The timber distributor said the facility will strengthen its offering to the market and support the roll-out of new branches across the country.

Included in the expansion strategy has been the construction of one of the industry’s largest storage facility units at 21,500 sq. ft., enabling the company to increase the level of stock it can store on-site amid rising demand from customers.

National Timber Group was formed in 2018 following the investment in timber companies Arnold Laver, Rembrand, North Yorkshire Timber, Thornbridge, and most recently Cotswold Manufacturing, by Cairngorm Capital.

The group has a combined annual turnover of £250 million, employs more than 1300 staff and operates from 52 processing and distribution sites, from the north of Scotland to South West England.

Alex McLeod, managing director of National Timber Group (Scotland), said: “This significant level of investment is testimony to our commitment to the Scottish market, which continues to offer real opportunity for our business.

“The expansion of the national production centre at Grangemouth signifies the next step in our strategy to provide our customers across Scotland with the best quality timber, sheet and joinery products on short lead times whilst supporting our supply chain partners and creating new jobs.”

National Timber Group now has 30 branches across Scotland, operating under the Thornbridge and Rembrand brands and employs 360 staff.

Following the investment by Cairngorm, the group has opened two new branches for trade customers in the last 12 months, with a new site at Sighthill in Edinburgh which opened in March this year and a further site launched at Anniesland in Glasgow. Existing branches across Scotland will also undergo a refurbishment as part of the Scottish investment strategy implemented by National Timber Group.

Rob Barclay is National Timber Group chief executive and joined in June 2018 from SIG plc, one of the largest distributors of specialist building products in Europe. Rob is based in Sheffield but spends time across the group’s 52 sites up and down the country.

He said: “National Timber Group started in Scotland with the acquisition of leading timber merchant, Thornbridge, so it is a natural progression to further our vision of expanding north of the border.

“Our Scotland operations have the capability to serve a wide range of customer requirements, and we are confident that our investment in Thornbridge will take service and supply to the next level while helping us to achieve our overall vision of spearheading the timber market within Scotland, and the UK.”