| Foresty Commission programme manager: | Sheila Ward |
| Research contact and location: | Sheila Ward External providers |
Annual surveys of sawmills and other wood processing industries are carried out by the Economics and Statistics Unit, to provide statistics on the volume of British timber used by these industries. A survey of employment related to forestry and wood processing was carried out at intervals of five years, with results for 1998/99 published in January 2001; this survey has now been discontinued. Research was commissioned in 1999/2000 to assess the health and vitality of forestry businesses, to establish a baseline for future monitoring; a further survey was carried out in 2004. A survey of domestic woodfuel use in Scotland was run in 2005, to update and expand a similar GB-level survey run in 1997. The survey is one of three projects aimed at evaluating woodfuel use in Scotland.
Commissioned reports
Date: February 2005
Title: Business Health in the Forestry and Wood Industries
Author: Michael Thomson
Full report: PDF
Summary:
This report presents results from the 2004 survey of business health in the forestry and wood industries. In 2000, a previous survey was conducted with the aim of obtaining benchmark information on the health and financial viability of forest industry businesses. Following that survey, it was agreed that a shorter follow-up survey should be conducted every 3-4 years.
Date: January 2001
Title: Forest Employment Survey 1998/9
Author: Bianca Heggie
Full report: PDF
Summary:
This report gives results from the Forest Employment Survey 1998–9. The aim of the survey was to estimate the total amount of employment (including contract work and self-employment) related to forestry and woodlands in Great Britain.
Date: August 2000
Title: Monitoring the health and financial viability of forest industry businesses
Author: Firn Crichton Roberts Ltd and John Clegg & Co
Full report: PDF
Summary:
The sustainable management of Britain’s forests and woodlands primarily depends on private forest industry businesses (FIBs) providing goods and services to all segments of the home-grown coniferous and broadleaved wood chains. As part of its support for sustainable forest management, the Forestry Commission commissioned Firn Crichton Roberts Ltd and John Clegg & Co to undertaken a survey of FIBs which could both generate benchmark information on these private businesses, and also identify potential innovations in business development support for the forest industries in Britain. The objectives of the research included establishing business health and viability indicators for FIBs; generating a representative survey sample for the constituent forest industry segments; identifying the main economic and policy factors that influence business performance and prospects in FIBs; assessing the business impact of the introduction of Certification and UKWAS; and making recommendations on future business support and survey requirements for the industry.
