Profits up at Arnold Laver

TIMBER merchant Arnold Laver has recorded annual profits growth of more than 20% despite the downturn in the property sector.

The Yorkshire company’s timber, leisure and property divisions helped to increse profits to £6.4m on turnover of £111m.

Its Arnold Laver Timber World division, which has 13 branches across the country, including in Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, Leeds and Chesterfield, saw turnover grow by 5% for the year, despite a reduction in sales to private house builders in the final quarter compared to the previous year.

The leisure division, based in Ingoldmells, Skegness, continued its investment programme of upgrading the caravan parks it operates to ensure it takes advantage of more people taking holidays in the UK.

The division’s parks remained at 100% occupancy throughout the financial year to June 2008, with Arnold Laver saying it “contributed significantly” to the increase in overall profits and continuing to trade “very well” despite the current economic backdrop.

The Sheffield-based group’s property division also continued to progress a number of major development schemes.

The £350m Waterside scheme in Chesterfield saw the construction of a new canal basin adjacent to the town’s railway station.

In Sheffield, the retail development in the heart of the Heeley district centre is nearing completion, with part of the development, a Lidl store, due to open in June this year.

Andrew Laver, managing director of Arnold Laver & Co, said: “We are pleased with the figures for the year ending June 2008, with all divisions of the business showing an increase in profit.

“This is in recognition of the hard work everyone has put in place during previous years.

“As is to be expected with the national economy entering into recession, there has been a fall in turnover during the second part of 2008 for the timber division.

“We have however maintained our full depot network and continue to service our customers nationally on a daily basis. This includes daily deliveries to the Olympic Village where we are a nominated supplier to the Olympic Timber Supply Panel.”

Mr Laver said he believed the private construction market would “remain tough” for at least the next year, but that half of Arnold Laver’s customer base were focused on public-sector markets.

“These sectors include the construction of schools and hospitals, all of which are forecast to continue growing over the next three years,” Mr Laver said.

“The Timber division has also been active in developing long-term preferred supplier agreements with major civil engineering contractors who operate in these growth market sectors. These partnerships we are developing will serve the business well in the years ahead.”

He added: “There is no doubt that 2009 will be a challenge for everyone in the construction industry. However the actions we have taken to expand the business into growth sectors of the industry will ensure that we are well positioned to continue on our growth path as the economy eventually pulls out of recession.”

Arnold Laver’s branches stock a wide range of softwoods, hardwoods, sheet materials, laminates, joinery products, kitchens and building products.

In addition, Arnold Laver Timber World offers a wide range of ancillary services including machining, panel cutting, timber treatment, fabrication and roof truss manufacture.

Last December, Arnold Laver Timber World opened a new depot in Sheffield following a £4m redevelopment.