A Denholme company has said increased sales, a growth in its market and the creation of new jobs means it can forecast a positive year of trading.

Charles Taylor, executive chairman of CR Taylor Timber, said the firm was managing to buck the general trend and coping well in a volatile market.

He attributed his business’s improved performance and rising confidence to a major restructuring and rebranding programme, instigated soon after he took control of the company in 2010.

He said sales of engineered timber products continued to set new records, with roof truss turnover up 100 per cent in 2011 compared to the previous year.

He said this success had resulted in a plan to invest about £60,000 in an additional roof truss press this year to further boost sales.

“As well as meeting the needs of our nationwide customer base, we are increasingly supplying roof trusses to other timber firms and builders merchants who do not have their own manufacturing or design capabilities,” he said.

He noted that sales of I-joists were also running at an all-time high, up 15 per cent on 2010, with a further 80 per cent growth expected in the current year.

A new I-joist designer has been taken on in the firm’s engineered timber division, where there are now five designers, with further recruitment planned to meet spiralling demand.

The company is moving into spandrel panels manufacture and the introduction of a supply-and-fit facility for roof trusses, and is enhancing its presence in the social housing, care homes and education sectors.

The five-strong delivery fleet is due to be supplemented by a new 40-foot articulated lorry to meet growing nationwide demand, mainly for engineered timber products.

Mr Taylor said: “We are increasingly focusing on lean manufacturing procedures to remove any production inefficiencies. We have improved our stock profiling and our spread of higher margin products. We are also going for the Investors In People recognition, as our staff remain key to our future.

“However, such growth does not come easy and needs to be carefully controlled. It is a process of consolidation, as we seek to increase our market share in both our core and engineered timber operations – and guarantee 100 per cent customer service and satisfaction.

“We have seen a lot of changes in the business and have achieved a great deal over the past 12 months. We now have a much more efficient business structure and more visibility in the trade. We feel very positive about the opportunities and challenges 2012 will bring.”