9. Halfway Forest Products Ltd
| Established in
Halfway Forest Products is situated in a very beautiful spot in Crychan Forest, some six miles from the market town Llandovery. Up until recently, the site’s sawmill had been producing sawn posts to order, with all business transactions being dealt with at the headquarters of English Woodland Products. The sawmill is now solely owned by Halfway Forest Products, under the management of Allan Jones - a local businessman who acquired the company in 1998 to merge its activities with his existing business, Farm Supplies. Consequently, the scope and nature of the business has dramatically expanded in the last year.
The main trade of Halfway Forest Products continues to be fencing posts transported nationwide to country estates and fencing for motorway contracts. In addition to these activities, the firm is able to offer a comprehensive service from its own fleet of vehicles to the effective organisation of subcontractors. Moreover, woodchip from the sawmill is made into wood for furniture and other products (including sawdust for animal bedding, grates and nails for the farming industry). The company also provides firewood for garages and garden centres, and currently supplies a major chain of garden centre as well as providing the primary wood for a Brecon firm to make garden furniture and trelliswork. Despite some teething problems since the acquisition, Allan Jones successfully expanded the activities of Halfway Forest Products Ltd to a company that has enjoyed considerable growth in the last three years and a turnover that is fast approaching £1 million.
179.3% growth between 1996 and 1998