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  • Business: Sawmilling
  • Finance: Hire purchase
  • Purpose: Acquire new biomass boilers
  • Tags: biomass boilers, timber

BSW Timber is the largest sawmilling business in Great Britain. Founded in 1848, it has six sawmills in the UK and one in Latvia, with the production capacity of over 1,000,000m3 of sawn timber per year. Group Headquarters are based in Berwickshire. BSW supplies sawn timber products to customers in the construction, pallet and packaging, fencing, garden and DIY product sectors.

“Having a good relationship with Lombard makes the whole process a lot easier and it was able to inform us of the options available to us and support our plans for the company.”

Howard Jones
Finance Director, BSW Timber

What did BSW Timber want to achieve?

BSW wanted to reduce its energy costs as well as invest in its continued commitment to environmental sustainability. To do this the company was looking to install biomass boilers at three of its sites. The boilers cost £1m each, but BSW was already spending up to £600k in oil and gas each year to fuel its existing boilers. The new biomass boilers would therefore pay for themselves within two years, cutting its energy bill by up to £1.8m each year. Having met Lombard previously, BSW approached its team to discuss its funding options.

How did Lombard help BSW Timber?

Lombard created a £3m hire purchase facility to cover the full cost of the boilers. As the boilers were included on the HM Revenue and Customs approved tax list for green technology, BSW also received 100% first-year capital allowances on them. One of the projects also received support from the Welsh Government.

How has BSW Timber benefited from the solution?

The new biomass boilers are fuelled by woodchip and bark, produced as by-product by the sawmills, but use so little of it that most of this material can still be sold on to traditional markets. According to BSW Finance Director Howard Jones, “The new boilers are much more efficient than those we previously used, with substantial cost savings. They are also incredibly environmentally efficient; reducing the company’s carbon footprint by up to 15,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. An added bonus was the recognition of our innovation and commitment to sustainability through the presentation of two Building Innovation Excellence Awards.”

At a glance

  • £3m of Lombard funding has helped BSW to invest in new biomass boilers
  • BSW Timber wins two building excellence awards as a result of installation
  • BSW Timber has halved its annual oil and gas spend by saving up to £1.8m and is reducing its carbon footprint by up to 15,000 tonnes of CO2 each year

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