en.Wedoany.com Reported - Highland Heritage Woodworks, a Scottish timber merchant in the UK, has launched a sustainable plywood product called TreePly, made entirely from locally sourced Scottish timber. Located at the Dunecht Estate, company owner Guy Phillips stated that they have secured £100,000 in investment, which will be used to ensure the product meets industry standards. According to the company, no other plywood product on the UK market is currently domestically manufactured, with approximately 20 million sheets imported annually, none of which are produced locally. Phillips expects the company's turnover to reach £4 million by the end of 2026.

Highland Heritage Woodworks was co-founded by Phillips and Armands Balams four years ago and currently employs 12 staff at the estate base. The company's main business involves supplying sustainable timber to the construction industry and undertaking custom joinery projects. Phillips revealed that half of the Scottish Edge funding will be used for product testing and certification, including fire, acoustic, structural, and thermal performance tests, to ensure architects, house designers, and builders can confidently specify TreePly panels. The remaining funds are planned for hiring a part-time salesperson and research and development. The company's retrofitted sawmill facility operates using a biomass boiler system. In 2025, the business invested £250,000 in modernizing the facility, including installing equipment and building a custom sawmill.

Additionally, the company uses Douglas fir timber to manufacture wooden bus shelters, which have been deployed in Basildon by Essex County Council. Phillips noted that the next expansion focus will be on technology and increasing staff, specifically expanding solar panel production and bus shelter manufacturing capacity by investing in CNC (Computer Numerical Control) or robotics technology, as well as hiring additional employees to operate these systems.