Gav Brown, Think Timber

A recent investigation By Australian company Source Certain, has uncovered that timber illegally sourced from Russia has entered the UK housing supply chain.

With effect from 2022, imports of Russian timber have been banned. However, this smuggling operation concealed the wood’s true origin, falsely labelling it as sourced from the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

This is a wake-up call for the housing sector. This illegal trade has not only broken international sanctions but also damaged the integrity of the housing supply chain. Other suppliers who invest in responsible sourcing face higher operational costs to maintain compliance, yet when illicit materials so easily enter the market undetected, their efforts risk being undermined.

For housebuilders, the challenge lies in knowing which products are genuinely legal and responsibly sourced, and which are not. To address this, Think Timber, a strategic partner to the timber staircase sector, has developed bespoke packaging featuring a unique QR code. When scanned, the code provides sourced to origin traceability, showing the timber’s journey from the forest which it was sourced to the building site.

Think Timber

Gavin Brown, CEO of Think Timber, says: “Traceability shouldn’t be a luxury but a standard across the whole industry. If illegal timber can be smuggled into our country and used to build our homes without any knowledge, how can we claim to build 1.5 million homes, the goal that the government has set over a period of five years, responsibly? We created our QR system to provide transparency on the sustainable sourcing of construction materials and compliance peace of mind.”

He continues: “In recent years, the industry has been forced to re-examine the importance of traceability. That same focus is urgently needed when it comes to material sourcing. If timber can pass unchecked, what’s to stop other products from doing the same? We need stricter regulations, better enforcement, and clear product specifications in new housing guidelines to ensure sustainable, legal sourcing at every level.”

Think Timber works with housebuilders and manufacturers, creating partnerships built on compliance, trust and transparency.

For more information, visit: www.thinktimber.co.uk