Green build NEWS

Leading furniture industry representatives have today gone to 10 Downing Street to present a petition to the Prime Minister over their concerns about the impact of biomass subsidies on wood prices.

This represents the latest phase in a campaign being co-ordinated by FIRA (Furniture Industry Research Association) and the British Furniture Confederation (BFC).

Industry executives have put their names to the petition that highlights the extraordinary increase in the cost of wood, its prime raw material, as a consequence of biomass subsidies paid to energy producers.

Stephen McPartland MP, chair of the  All Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group, who took BFC representatives to 10 Downing Street said: “The industry supports well over 100,000 jobs and is a sector full of industrious small enterprises employing highly skilled staff. Current woody biomass subsidies are a significant cause of rising wood prices which are damaging British furniture businesses.

DECC subsidies encourage energy companies to burn wood which is creating an unsustainable bubble in the timber market. Prices are rocketing and demand is growing fast, pushing many furniture producers out of the market. Put simply, energy producers are out-paying manufacturers which could lead to the decline of some British furniture manufacturers, unless the subsidies are significantly reduced or removed, especially for the burning of newly grown trees.

The furniture industry, which generates £7.3bn of GDP (almost 3% of Britain’s manufacturing output), is calling for the government to call a halt to these subsidies now and seeks a comprehensive review as to their impact on industry sectors such as furniture.

British Furniture Confederation chairman Paul von der Heyde said: “We are not look for any advantage ourselves, only a level playing field for all those in the market wanting to create value, whether products or energy, from wood. At the moment there is an imbalance with the subsidy granted to the power generation industry.”

The BFC is running an e-petition through which individuals can register their concerns about the impacts of burning woody biomass.