Tide turns for Borders timber company

June 18 2021

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A Borders-based timber harvesting and forest management company has taken on two extra members of staff and invested in new machinery as it bounces back from the trials of Covid-19.

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Borderer Douglas Mathison, who founded Agriforest in 2016, said a number of sites had to be closed down and planting sites postponed during the lockdown, and financial worries were an ongoing concern.

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However, in recent months, that’s all turned round and the company has taken on more projects across Fife, Perthshire, South Lanarkshire and the Borders.

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Douglas said: “We are working seven days a week and still can’t get ahead of things, not that I’m complaining.”

He has invested heavily in the company to deal with this increased demand.

 

He said: “We have just purchased a brand-new timber harvester, and a second-hand forwarder which is just shy of £500k investment in the company.”

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To drive these new machines, Douglas has hired two new staff members and expanded the thriving business further.

He added: “Both staff members have been trained from scratch on the machines. Although they are new to machine work, they have a combined total of 37 years’ worth of experience elsewhere in forestry.

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“Taking into account the new staff and machines, we will now have more control over work standards, production, timescales and overall wellbeing of the business.”

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To date, Agriforest has harvested, hauled, and marketed over 100,000 tonnes of timber from mature farm and estate shelter belts.

 

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