Introduction
The Company is trading in a very large market which addresses the fundamental human need for shelter. In 2018 the UK target market was in the region of £60bn. This is the cost estimate for all construction of residential housing and commercial properties. The share of that number which relates to the creation of the building envelopes is perhaps £15bn. Post pandemic, it is inevitable there will be a surge in the construction market as the demand for new housing rises and government at all levels starts to commit public money to building housing. Therefore this number will rise.
Due to the size of the market, there will always be a plurality of suppliers. We are looking to Make CLT Mainstream and become (in the first instance) the largest UK designer and supplier of quality CLT massive wood products and other carbon negative MMC materials.
Lamella will utilise only Carbon Sequestering MMC and will focus on maximising the use of carbon negative product where legislation dictates a Hybrid design..
The Company’s competition comes from conventional materials- masonry, steel, concrete and timber frame and three or four other CLT suppliers and builders. For well-rehearsed reasons we know CLT has a number of inherent advantages over conventional materials and that the public narrative is moving our way..
Here we look primarily at our competitive advantages over other CLT suppliers in the UK.
CLT Competition.
It is important to differentiate us from our loosely termed competition. There are but a few companies that work with CLT in the UK. We believe their focus to be more on single building projects, and specifically client led. This is a reactive business development strategy.
It is apparent that we are unique in our ambition to utilise mass timber CLT in everyday large-scale building projects. With the integration of more archetype designs we will achieve mainstream adoption and open massive market potential, while making healthier living and working environments, net zero construction and sustainable living commonplace.
We are unique in our view that the only way to achieve anything like the 2050 targets is to Make CLT Mainstream.
Team
The ambitious Lamella team is very experienced, has a wide range of skills and comes from diverse backgrounds. We have very well-established referral networks across Southern England including local authorities, developers, land agents, land-owners, construction companies, legal and accountancy professionals and property funders. This has enabled us to generate considerable interest in the product in a short space of time and the interest is growing fast.
Our skills include:
- Entrepreneurialism
- Property Development
- Architecture
- Building Surveying
- Finance
- Operations
- Governance
- Sales and Marketing
- Communications
Thought (Philosophy and Partnerships)
The CLT market in the UK is small and fragmented. Climate change is driving the government 2050 Carbon Net Zero targets. This is not going to change. We will both drive and lead that change. Hence our mission to Make CLT Mainstream.
We are a learning and relationship driven company aiming to bring together the best of the best to offer a service and product second to none.
So, we are proud to work with Stora Enso as our main supplier, who are a very old company (at least 700 years old) with enormous resources and forestry interests in Europe and across the world. They operate a fully integrated manufacturing process, using every part of the tree. CLT is just one of their products and is widely acknowledged to be the best product of its type on the market. They turn over about Euro10 billion with a profit of c. Euro1 billion.
Because we aim to have the best product knowledge in our field, we have engaged with Doctor Michael Ramage (Director, Centre for Natural Material Innovation and Deputy Head, Department of Architecture) of Cambridge University. This engagement will help us to extend our marketing network to Cambridge which is the epicentre of CLT construction in the UK.
To assist with building regulation problems we have partnered with MLM, and with fire engineering issues we have partnered with Sweco. Both leaders in their fields. We hope shortly to partner with cost consultants Stace to assist with complex costing questions.
We are working on a range of whole life sustainable buildings with Oairo, specialists in low energy, healthy HVAC systems.
We are considering a turnkey offering for developers in association with a range of building contractors.
We have ongoing discussions with Gallagher (the insurance broker) and John Charcol (the mortgage broker) to enable us to assist clients with insurance and mortgage queries.
Our range of contacts in the field is increasing rapidly and so we expect our list of associations with others (not all formal) to grow as time goes by.
Lamella MMC will not enter into an exclusive arrangement with any of these companies. Future flexibility will become essential as CLT massive timber adoption increases. The need for Lamella MMC to access resources from a wider supply chain will become inevitable.
Our point of difference and one of our competitive advantages arise from the quality and range of these associations, which, taken together, evidence our capability and credibility in the market.
CLT is a highly technical product. As UK construction and development evolves, Lamella MMC is committed to help educate the industry by sharing the latest news on our website Technical page. Lamella MMC will become the go to location for anyone with any interest in sustainable architecture and CLT. We will become thought leaders in the area and are making great strides to do so. As a team we all study CLT and MMC on a regular basis.
Finally, our mission. “Make CLT Mainstream”.
These three words encapsulate what we are about. We will do more than just supply CLT. We will transform the construction industry and be instrumental in achieving the UK’s commitment to become net carbon zero by 2050.
We know that, in construction, much of that aspiration could be achieved now by the widespread adoption of CLT as a building material. We want to give substance to that aspiration and in so doing build a big sustainable company.
Timing.
We believe that the timing of the Lamella launch is near perfect in that the construction market is waking up to the need to change in response to the following pressures:
- Government initiatives in response to climate change threats and the consequent move to carbon net zero construction;
- Demand moving rapidly towards carbon net zero buildings- noted in the commercial market as companies drive their carbon agendas, the public sector as local authorities develop sustainability agendas and the home ownership market as the new generation demands better carbon standards;
- Skills and materials shortages- this is particularly notable in the masonry sector. Skills and bricks are both in short supply;
- Public policy support for the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction;
- Poor quality new housing.
We know that the term MMC (Modern Methods of Construction ) can no longer be used as an excuse to build with cheap low quality and high carbon positive building materials. Moreover, as is evident globally, MMC in the future will and must ONLY include sustainable mass timber carbon sequestering products. This is the only path to a carbon net zero future.
The Lamella CLT offering can overcome each of these challenges faced by the construction industry.
Our approaches to both professionals and developers have been very well received. This is reflected in the number and size of projects we are being asked to look at. We believe that the market is rapidly expanding.
Undoubtedly our competitors in the CLT market will respond, but they are coming from a historically conditioned position in the market and none, to our knowledge, has the management, the vision and the ambition of Lamella.
We will “Make CLT Mainstream” and become a substantial mainstream supplier of MMC, sustainable building materials (principally CLT) for the long term. We have set ourselves up in that mould from the outset and are raising finance accordingly.
Technology, Legislation & Grenfell….(( the cladding on Grenfell which burnt so disastrously was not timber ))
At present, we have principal plans for Research and Development:
- To acquire and develop our own licence for a BRE tested BS8414 (combustibility standard) compliant encapsulated CLT design; Although this is not a requirement for development or building today as hybrid solutions satisfy current and future legislation..
- Legislation going through Parliament Is a response to the Grenfell disaster. the cladding on Grenfell which burnt so disastrously was not timber. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) chars when exposed to high temperatures and the charred surface protects the core of the panel, which retains its structural integrity. The legislation (both actual and prospective) refers to the external walls of residential (nb not commercial) buildings and limits the height in effect for external walls or cladding systems built in CLT to 18 or 11 metres as the case may be. The net result of the legislation will inevitably be that we will continue to build high buildings in concrete and steel neither of which responds well to high temperatures and tend to lose their structural integrity. However, we are where we are and so we are actively working to comply with BS8414 which governs the combustibility of materials and to develop taller CLT/steel hybrid buildings that comply with the likely forthcoming legislation.
As we progress these plans will no doubt evolve and develop.
Summary.
We have an ambitious plan to Make CLT Mainstream.
Our point of difference arises not so much in the product we offer but in our thinking about the business, our vision and our ambition, the quality and diversity of our team, our partnerships and our aim to be thought leaders in the space.
Finally, we will develop a clear competitive advantage with our Research and Development programme- developing unique technology and cutting-edge cost saving, care home and housing patterns.
With a dedicated focus on pre-planning and development designs, Lamella MMC will Make CLT Mainstream, and in doing so dramatically improve the standard of building in the UK.
In this vision we are unique.
Feb 2021 Antony Fanshawe , Peter Halm.
An in-depth look at CLT