forestry

Afternoon, Please be aware of these companies. - Keriden-Fuels Keriden Ltd Trans Global Timbers Ltd The Directors of these companies ( Hugh Alcorn & Lorraine Alcorn ) have ripped off several UK and Polish Businesses for £1000's. They will claim to get on a waiting list for firewood from Namibia, Slovakia or the Czech Republic you pay them 50% upfront which in my case the firewood never materialised and I was forced to take it through the Czech Courts, I won the case but by the time the bailiff went to his premises he had done a midnight flit leaving debts behind him and unpaid rent. DM me if you require any information or have also been ripped off by them.

Afternoon, Trans Global Timber Ltd Could anyone who has paid this company any money upfront for firewood from the Czech Republic please DM me ASAP. DO NOT PAY ANYTHING UPFRONT.

My contract is with the Czech registered company and not the UK one. I have initiated debt collection in the Czech Republic.

I am pleased you are so thorough.

He has 2 different companies - Trans Global Timber Ltd which is UK registered and Trans Global Timbers s.r.o which is Czech registered. Interestingly my deal was with the Czech company and the other guys is with the UK company.

I did run some checks but unfortunately they turned out to be false. He is a South African living in the Czech Republic who has in the past traded successfully selling another producers firewood and traded in sleepers and sawn timber. I have been importing firewood for over 12 years so I should have known better, but hey, you never stop learning.

You have summed him up exactly. Thought he could just set up a firewood production business and produce "8 loads a month", still taking orders, advertising and sending out sales emails today, despite the fact that someone who paid him in September ( 4 months ago ).

That is his real name. I know where he lives and where his sawmill is. Just keeps telling tales as to when the firewood will be dispatched. The other guy I spoke with paid him £25k in September and hasn't seen anything yet.

UPDATE - I have just spoken to another Firewood Merchant who paid them £25,000.00 in September and is still waiting !

Morning, This is a warning to anyone who is approached by a Hugh Alcorn trading as Trans Global Timbers operating out of the Czech Republic. He will promise you good prices and quick dispatch dates on beech firewood, the reality is you will pay 50% on placement of the order and the balance on dispatch which will not happen. The reality for me was €14500.00 for 2 truck loads upfront with dispatch due in November, every week since he has had another excuse for not dispatching. I am now left with no alternative other than paying him a visit ! Anyone else who has been conned by him please get in touch with me.

Morning, Has anyone been contacted by or agreed to pay 50% upfront to Trans Global Timbers for crates of beech firewood from the Czech Republic ? I would be interested to hear from you by DM.

Walking floor or bulk tipper loads of unseasoned mixed hardwood available ( mainly ash, sycamore, beech, oak ) cut to 20cm. Available ex Scottish Borders. Please note this is for a friend so all contact must be made to - [email protected] Mobile 07500 828603 NO CONTACT THROUGH THIS SITE

Anyone who receives this email from HETAS should ignore it and call HETAS, trading standards or their MP to complain, they have well and truly overstepped the mark claiming in the email that "Smaller suppliers who sell volumes under 600m³ must be registered by May 2022 to comply with legislation.", this is a blatant lie. If you are selling firewood from a supplier who is already accredited you DO NOT need to register to comply with legislation, for that matter, no firewood seller needs to register regardless of how much they sell if they sell already accredited firewood. A great ruse to fill their coffers that will enable them to employ more people, pay bigger salaries, pay bigger pensions at the expense of the firewood merchant. Good afternoon, I hope you are keeping well, I tried calling to speak with you in regards to the DEFRA Ready to Burn scheme for companies selling firewood, as I haven’t been able to speak with you, please see the information below; The law for selling firewood has changed; Firewood sold in volumes of less than 2m³ must be certified as Ready to Burn by Law from 1st May 2021. Certification is mandatory from 1st May 2021 for suppliers of wood fuel for use in domestic households who sell in excess of 600m³ loose volume of wood fuel per year. Smaller suppliers who sell volumes under 600m³ must be registered by May 2022 to comply with legislation. Currently, companies selling under 600m³ have a grace period until May 2022 to be compliant, however we do encourage companies to register sooner rather than later due to the benefits of being Ready to Burn certified; Consumers will be looking for the Ready to Burn logo on firewood packaging You will be advertised on the Woodsure suppliers list (consumers can search their local postcode and your company will flag up) We offer technical support You will have your personal Ready to Burn logo/certification accredited to you and your business only You will be complying with legislation Companies are using their creditation as a selling point for new/potential customers What does this mean for you? Wood sold in volumes of up to 2m³ will have to be certified as having a moisture content of 20% or less. Suppliers selling quantities of wood over 2m³ will have to provide their customers with an advisory note with advice on how to store and season the fuel so that is it dry to burn and has moisture of less than 20%. Enforcement of the legislative requirements will be undertaken by local authorities. Please note, if you sell over 600m³ annually in England, you may not be complying with legislation and will be a risk of being fined from your local authority. Woodsure Ltd is the DEFRA appointed Certification Body to administer the Ready to Burn Scheme as recognised in The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020. You can find out more on the guidance about selling wood for domestic use by clicking here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/selling-wood-for-domestic-use-in-england Please click the link www.readytoburn.org to view the application form and the terms and conditions. I have also included some guidance on to help you work through the form and its supporting documents below: Section 1: Business Contact Details Please complete this section with your business details. We will address all correspondence to the Main Contact provided. Section 2: Fuel Sales We need to understand what product you sell and how you sell it. Please tick all the relevant boxes which apply. If you have ticked ‘wholesale’ or ‘retail outlets’ …… You need to provide us with your annual figures for the previous year. This can either be recorded in Loose m³, Stacked m³ or Tonnage. This determines whether additional POS fees are applicable and if so, which category you fall into. If you sell under additional brand names, please provide us with the details. Section 3: Fee Structure The cost to register is £507.60 Inc. VAT. This includes the one-off new supplier application fee which covers the administration, testing and audit costs. Annual renewal drops to £385.20 Inc. VAT. Point of Sale fees Depending on the size of your operation (number of declared sales) per annum in loose m³, there may be additional sample checks required. If applicable, they will be invoiced separately to your application. Please don’t worry too much about this section, we’ll be happy to cover this when receive your application. For businesses selling wood fuel to direct customers only e.g. collection, delivery or web sales, please refer to the table on page 2. For businesses selling wood fuel via retail outlets including wholesale etc. please refer to the 1st table on page 3. If you sell under 600m³, there are no additional sample checks required. Section 4: Business Procedures Declaration We need to see evidence that you have the following business procedures in place; 1. *Proof of legality – this can be evidenced by a suppliers invoice, felling license, woodland management plan or FSC number. 2. *You have processes in place to check moisture content – tell us how you measure your moisture content and how you log the results, i.e. with a pin metre across the grain and then recorded on a spreadsheet/notebook. 3. *You have a system in place to deal with customer complaints – tell us how you acknowledge, deal with and record the complaint. 4. You have Product and Public Liability Insurance to cover the business activities All fields marked with an asterisk(*) are mandatory and need to be provided. Your Auditor will go through these points with you in more depth at your assessment so please have these documents handy. Section 5: Declaration This section relates to your audit(s) and gives Woodsure permission to visit your depots. This must be signed and dated by the Main Contact (the individual listed in Section 1 of the form). Final checklist: Have you completed all sections fully, including boxes marked with (*)? Have you confirmed which products you sell and how? Have you provided us with your annual figures? This can either be recorded in Loose m³, Stacked m³ or Tonnage. Have you enclosed your evidence for Business Procedures Declaration (section 4)? Has the Main Contact signed and dated the declaration? Once we have received your application, supporting documents and payment, the registrations team will arrange for an auditor to contact you directly and organise a date and time to visit. Your auditor will then come out to conduct a light touch audit, with the focus being on the storage of the final product and checking the submitted documents. Please bear in mind that timings can vary depending on area of the country and how many other audits are being conducted. They are also available for any questions you may have. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Kind regards,

....and not one of these is attributable to the importing of firewood !!!

50 tonnes of beech 80%, birch 20% for sale at roadside - Postcode NE66 Tel Andrew 07500 828603 - Please contact him directly.

" Just don't start a conversation about Brexit with him." That made me laugh, I know David quite well and admire his ability in debating.

I am an importer, wholesaler and retailer of KDF and I also am reluctant to join this scheme. I know for a fact that a high percentage of those who have already joined are selling firewood that is higher than an average of 20% mc. I do not want to see local producers/retailers forced out of business because Woodsure believes everything should be below 20% mc, this is not realistic to the guys who season their firewood. The next time you see a bag of firewood for sale with the "Ready To Burn" logo, buy it and test it, then report the retailer to Woodsure. I suspect not a thing would be done about it because these guys are paying their wages !

I phoned them and was told it was now 20% and their website application form was wrong and required updating. I have always resisted FSC, HETAS and Woodsure assurance schemes, most people just want good dry firewood and will return as long as you provide just that. You have to increase sales by one hell of a lot to recoup the costs !

Has anyone joined up with this scheme run by Hetas Woodsure ? I am interested to know why all their press releases and members advertising claim that it is =<20% moisture content, yet their application form asks for it to be <25% moisture. Can anyone shed some light on this ?

Interestingly our wholesale prices increased approximately 20% post brexit due to euro rate whilst our sales increased by about the same margin 😀

As a fairly large importer of KDF into the UK from the EU and further afield it never ceases to amaze me how many posters on here say, "importing firewood is wrong", "it doesn't sit well with me", "it should be stopped" etc when the said same people do not give a damn when buying food, clothes, machinery, electrical goods etc etc etc. Do the same said people only buy British produced goods ? At the end of the day, firewood is a commodity that will be traded the same as any other commodity and as we now live in a global market this will be the norm. Where I do agree with them is where their concerns are regarding plant health, as reponsible importers we are obliged by law to give notice to FC Plant Health on every single container being imported from the EU and the rest of the world, something many importers are currently ignoring and puting the health of our own forests at risk. Imported firewood need not be the devil reincarnated

Did cost

Our ( The Real Firewood Co Ltd ) prices to container customers rose by about 23% compared to last year, however, the volume of sales has increased so your theory that imports would fall is wrong. Prices to container customers has now started to fall thanks to the euro exchange rate heading in the right direction. As regards KDF v Seasoned, a KDF log at 20% mc is no different to a Seasoned log at 20%. The term "kiln dried" means it has been in a kiln, this could be for 10 minutes and the firewood could be 35%. The term KDF is relatively new to the firewood industry and it is the consumer who has latched on to the perception that KDF is somehow superior to seasoned ( I am not complaining ). My personal view is that it is no different, it is the moisture content that is the all important figure. The term KDF is just a great marketing term !

Approximately 150 tonnes mixed hardwood at roadside, syc, ash, beech & oak, 2.9m lengths 10 - 60m top diameter. PM me if interested.