Timber processing is now underway on the newly installed log grading & sorting line at A&J Scott. The £6m project marks the latest investment in future production capacity at the Northumberland based sawmill, one of the UK’s leading independent mills.

Having completed the purchase of a 20-acre site adjoining its main sawmill site 2 years ago, the family owned company has now installed and commissioned the new high speed log grading line supplied by Broadbaek & Co of Denmark.

Before installation could begin, the company faced the mammoth groundwork task of integrating the site into its existing operations, removing 12,000 tonnes of topsoil, 140,000 tonnes of sand and gravel and pouring 6,000m3 of concrete to work on, all made more complicated by the supply difficulties surrounding labour, transport, concrete and steel during the Covid lockdowns.

The new grading line has been delivered via a newly laid road into the site served by a new weighbridge and extended log storage areas. The increased processing capacity of the line will support the company’s plans to increase production this year and with new developments in the years ahead.

This follows a decade in which the family-owned business has invested over £25 million in new capital equipment, including a major upgrade to the main sawmill, construction of a new fully automated bandmill, installation of a new state of the art processing and handling line for re-saw operations at the site and also the purchase in 2019 of the Chirnside Sawmill near Duns in the Scottish borders.

The company is now well positioned for sustained growth in its main markets for fencing products, railway sleepers, garden product components and other outdoor timbers in the years ahead, building on its record of delivering quality sawn timber products and high standards of customer service to its loyal base of customers across the UK. The company has also extended its product range, adding NHSS4 highways standard fencing to its existing fencing ranges and developing the offer of high quality potato and vegetable storage boxes it has long produced.

Managing Director, Robert Scott, said, “Our excellent relationships with our customers give us the confidence to plan and invest for the future. This new line is the first investment made possible by the addition of this land to our site, and, with further planned investments to come, will enhance our sawmilling output, product quality and service standards in the years ahead.”