________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ercol’ s timber sourcing then transitioned more to Europe. This enabled us to use a more local supply chain and later close our North American operation.”
Today, ercol remains committed to protecting its supply chain and supporting UK manufacturing, which is exemplified by its partnership with key organizations like The Sylva Foundation and Grown in Britian( GiB). The Sylva Foundation is an environmental charity promoting craft, skills, and woodland management practices that will revive Britain’ s wood culture and protect forest produce for a sustainable future. Similarly, GiB is a certification and research body dedicated to securing a better future for our woodlands by strengthening domestic supply chains and reducing the UK’ s dependence on imports through improved forest management practices. As the first UK furniture maker to partner with GiB at scale, ercol now offers a range of classic designs manufactured in exclusively British ash. The business is also working with Tyler Hardwoods to supply its GiB certified timber, which has scaled to meet increased demands and become more commercially competitive with Europe.“ Establishing relationships with these bodies has played an important role in accrediting our GiB timber and understanding more about the challenges facing UK woodlands,” Ian says.“ There has been huge underinvestment in woodlands for generations, but we’ re committed to transforming the future of this space by protecting woodlands and using British timber in our products which supports the UK forestry sector. Being able to source more raw materials from within the UK is a key part of our sustainability strategy, and our GiB range demonstrates that working with sustainable British timber is not only environmentally responsible but also becoming more commercially viable.”
▲ The Cabinet shop in the ercol factory, Princes Risborou
▲ Every piece of wood tells a story. Medullary rays like these can often be found in ercol furniture
230