JOSB Done Campaign Spokesperson Profile

Spokesperson Profile | October 2007

FROM: Press Release October 2007

'Spokesperson profile: Alastair Kerr'
Alastair Kerr has been heavily involved within the timber industry for over thirty years, having held Technical Manager and Officer positions for various timber and wood panel sector organisations prior to joining the Wood Panel Industries Federation in 1999 as Director General.

The WPIF represents all of the composite wood based panel manufacturers in the UK and Ireland and his role as Director General comprises of three significant elements

• Facilitating the development of strategies and policy aimed at addressing the demands imposed on the industry
• Fostering and promotion of relationships with industry professionals, trade bodies, regulatory officials and government bodies as necessary to influence technical or policy related initiatives that would be of benefit to the members of the federation
• Represent and promote the industry position to technical, standardisation and regulatory bodies and government departments as appropriate in order to achieve the organisations objectives

In 2006, leading manufacturers Norbord and SmartPly, along with resin supplier Huntsman, collaborated with the WPIF to launch an industry-wide campaign to raise awareness of Oriented Stranded Board (OSB) and promote its benefits and applications.

At the start of the initiative, the consortium conducted research into the common perceptions, or more correctly misconceptions, of OSB and discovered a fundamental lack of knowledge and understanding of its properties throughout the trade.

As the WPIF primary role is to represent the best interests of its members, it was vital to develop a programme that addressed these fundamental gaps in knowledge where OSB was concerned, and so the ‘JOSB Done’ campaign began with the clear aim of supporting merchants and suppliers of OSB by increasing demand with the customer base.

The JOSB Done campaign aims to demonstrate the advantages of OSB over the majority of plywood alternatives, in order to convince the timber trade to change old habits and in doing so, show that the grass can be greener both in terms of profit margins and in structural application.

Vision for the future
Alastair has a strong commitment to the progression of the timber industry as a whole and as part of the fulfilment of his role as Director General of the WPIF, he is an active member on a number of British and European standardisation committees and participates regularly in a range of industry related advisory groups. In addition, Alastair converses with MP’s, MSP’s and MEP’s, Government officials and other associates on current topical issues such as renewable energy and waste policy and climate change, in order to maintain a professional dialog that will continue to enable him to represent the best interests of the WPIF members and the overall industry.

For further information on the Wood Panel Industries Federation, visit www.wpif.org.uk

To find out more about OSB and the JOSB Done 2007 campaign, visit www.josbdone.com or call the helpline on 0845 053 3277.