​Its been a while since our last Blog and there’s been loads going on at The Wood yard since the beginning of the year - here are a few things that have been happening;
 
New IT System
As part of the “Making Tax Digital” programme we decided to upgrade our IT system to keep current!  Becky had been working hard on this since the end of 2018 and 12 days after our “live date” she started her maternity leave!  Not part of the plan but we are all delighted that Becky gave birth to Rayne at Telford Hospital and both Mum and baby are in good health.

 
Despite the steep learning curve, we’re pleased to report that our new IT system is working well and providing speedy and accurate information.  We hope you too are seeing these benefits?
 
Weather and Trade
And its been milder!  Compared to 2018, remember “The Beast from the East”, the milder winter has meant more activity at The Wood Yard. The unusual February temperatures of 20 degrees meant an nonseasonal uptake of decking and fence panels!  Whilst this was only temporary (sadly), it stood us in good stead for the spring bank holidays.  Demand of both these items have increased and suppliers of fencing products are quoting lead times of 3-4 weeks.
 
Self- Storage
Our container, self-storage business remains busy, we’re always seeing renters coming and going and our long terms tenants are a regular feature here in Whitchurch! We’ve left rates the same as 2018 and are enjoying good occupancy levels.
 

 
 
 
 
Composite Decking
We’ve always sold good volumes of timber decking in 25 x 125 mm but more recently the introduction of Composite Decking has generated a great deal of interest.  Whilst more expensive per m2 than timber, composite decking offers longer life, is available in a range of colours and is manufactured from recycled plastics (as well as timber).  It’s certainly worth a look if you're looking to freshen up your garden - please come and look at our display and request samples to suit.
 

​Summer.
The days are getting longer and warmer, the gardening season is well under way and this is the time of year when we see many home projects breaking out.  Please feel free to call in and have a chat.  We can offer advice on the right materials to use, what and when to buy and how to install.  We look forward to seeing you soon.  Enjoy the sunshine!

​Welcome to the first of our 2019 Blogs.  From all of us at The Wood Yard we hope that you have all had a fun Christmas and enjoyable break?
 
Looking back at the last few months of 2018 we’re please to welcome Ben Valentine to our team, Ben has been with us for the past couple of months and has been learning about the different species of timber that we stock here at The Wood Yard.  As well as cutting and planning timber Ben’s is now proficient in glass cutting, key cutting and has successfully competed his fork lift truck training – welcome Ben!
 

​Our self-storage business, Your Store has had a very busy 2018.  About 50% of our storage customers are long term renters and the other 50% are short/medium-term renters.  Our enquiries range from, “our house move has been delayed, we can’t move in as planned, the removal vans have been loaded, can you help?  We need storage today” to “I’m moving in a few months’ time, can you help”.  We always try to have spare capacity for immediate requirements and have been able to help everyone to date with their requirements.
 
As we arrive in 2019, we look forward to seeing you son and wish you all the best for a Happy and Healthy 2019.
 
From all of us here at The Wood Yard.

It is once again that time of year when we close our doors for Christmas and New Year!!! 

We are open as usual for business up until the close of our doors at 12 pm Saturday the 22nd December.  We are then closed over Christmas and New Year, re-opening at 8 am Wednesday 2nd January 2019!!!

We would like to thank you for your continued support and custom, and from all of us here at The Wood Yard...

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND A 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

​We’ve just added a new display area compromising of of Oak L&B doors together with complementary hand forged ironmongery for easy fitting.  Alongside the new oak doors are a range of mouldings which comprise 3 sizes of oak linings and three choices of architarve – Torus, Bullnose and Chamfered.  We hope you’ll agree that not only that they look great but they also are very competetively priced.  
 

All standard door sizes are available and non standard sizes are available within one week from order!
​

​After a sizzling hot summer its noticeable that its getting cooler in the mornings and evenings.  Since our last blog we have been busy at The Wood Yard – the hot weather has meant good timber and DIY sales and we’ve taken advantage of the sunshine to make some site improvements such as repainting the white lines in the car park – as per the attached photo.  We think they help organising the parking and look good but we’re not sure some of our customers have recognised these - no prizes for this parking!
 

​We’ve also cut back the Japanese knot weed at the perimeter of the site which we hope you’ll agree smartens up the entrance?

​Our timber goes to many places and this image shows a re-cladding job up at Craignish, near the Isle of Mull.  Mr Will Sillar collected Ship lap from The Wood Yard, drove it 7 hours up to Craignish and duly installed this in the early summer.  

​Our storage business Your Store has also had a busy summer.  Occupancy level have remained high in both our 20’ and 10’ storage containers – all the new houses in Whitchurch have meant several people looking for storage between moving out of one property and into another.
 
As we approach the autumn / winter we will be making some more changes to the DIY store to accommodate new products and we will also be reorganising our door display area as the “door season” arrives.

After our extended winter, the Cladding season has finally got underway and here at The Wood Yard we’ve been supplying both Cedar and Larch during the past two months.
 
The images here show two different methods of cladding – the horizontal boards are 225mm x 25mm sawn Larch and are lapped i.e. one sits on top of the other.  The vertical boards are 150mm x 25mm and placed side by side with a 50mm x 25mm batten covering the join (to prevent moisture entering), This is called a Munting style and is popular on shepherd’s huts.
 
We offer a variety of square, feather edge and rebated cladding in different species - whilst larch is currently very popular, we are seeing more enquiries for sweet Chestnut and Accoya. We’re always happy to provide samples and suggest different options as required and look forward to receiving your enquiries!   

​DATA PRIVACY – GDPR.
 
You may have heard abut he new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that comes in to effect on the 25th May 2018.
 
We at The Wood Yard have adopted Industry Best Practice guidelines to conform to the new legislation.  In summary;
 
We will continue to treat you in a way we would expect to be treated ourselves.
We promise to store your information securely.
We have not, and will not, sell or market your details to any other company or organisation.
You will retain the right to see the information that we hold about you.
You will have the right to change any incorrect or out of date information.
At any time, you can request, and we will delete, the information we hold about you.
We may follow up on enquiries which have been customer generated however, we will not make ongoing contact without your or their specific consent.
 
We have updated our privacy policy in advance of the new GDPR legislation, this is available for viewing on our website www.thewoodyard.org under the contact us section. 
If you have any questions relating to these changes and how we store data, please fee free to contact us here at The Wood Yard.

​Here at The Wood Yard we've always offered a variety of flooring options - from solid T&G boards in softwoods and hardwoods as well as engineered flooring.  As with our display of internal and external Doors, we are always looking to improve the range we offer and, as you will see in our showroom, we have extended our display and now offer different veneers in a variety of finishes such as oiled, smoked lacquered as well as unfinished. 
 
The images attached are of an oak matt lacquered floor which we have recently supplied.  This is a 14mm board wiotjh a 3mm oak veneer, the base board is softwood - ideal for underfloor heating.  Come and see what options are available, we're sure we have something to suit all tastes!
 

​Despite the cold weather continuing in to March you’ll be pleased to know that The Wood Yard is gearing up for the lighter evenings and the warmer weather!  We’re in the process of “stocking up” on our regular ranges of fencing, decking as well as all their associated products.  We have good stocks of 6 x 3, 6 x 4, 6 x 5 & 6 x 6 treated fence panels and several sizes of picket gates.  All our fencing prices are the same as 2017 despite costs increasing - come and take a look, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.