G'day! I'm Greg King. My wife, Paula and I are the proprietors and publishers of TimberTrader News. Welcome to our 20th birthday Landmark Edition (or issue number 232). The next 40 pages are a little different as we combine a bit of nostalgia with some serious and thought-provoking articles delivered by 25 industry leaders. These people were invited to contribute their ideas on where they think their sector of the timber industry is heading over the next few years. You'll meet them on page 44. Scattered throughout these pages are photos, covers and adverts that have appeared in the early days of TimberTrader News. I'm also writing this in the first person for no other reason than I've been here the whole time and have developed many business and personal relationships amongst our readers and advertisers. As a line from the popular song goes it does seem like only yesterday that my then business partner, fellow Carlton supporter and friend, Bob Grant, came to me with an idea for a new publication. Actually it was mid 1985 and life was different then as I'm sure readers of these pages can attest. TimberTrader News (I'm going to abbreviate it to TTN for convenience) evolved out of the defunct "Timber News" which had previously been published by the Leader Newspaper Group, an organisation with which my partner had an executive connection. As publisher of that first edition, I had little idea that we would still be here 20 years later. That first issue, in October, 1985, was launched in a tabloid newspaper format with five advertisers, none of which has had a presence in our magazine for a many years. I must make mention of Jack Bowen. His company supported us from day one and actually advertised for a year as a sign of support and endorsement for our fledgling publication. He had no commercial need to do that because his customers never saw a copy of our newspaper. Twenty years later Jack is one of our 25 special industry leaders contributing to this event. He is only one of many people that have given TTN 'a fair go'. In 1988 our newspaper expanded to include South Australia and Tasmania with a token circulation throughout the rest of Australia and the first few years of TTN's life saw a strong relationship with the Hoo-Hoo movement that still exists to this day. If I can just step back a bit, October, 1986, saw the launch of a product that was to have a profound effect on our nation's building methods and that product was laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The launch was held at Laverton, an outer western Melbourne suburb that was the home of SATCO the marketing arm of South Australia's Woods & Forests Corporation.
It was there that I met Paula Farrell who was a salesperson for SATCO after having spent many years with Beecham Wright. Apart from women such as Judy Tilling, who actually owned timber businesses, Paula was one of the first females to sell timber on the road in Victoria, and possibly Australia. With my wife Paula Paula and I were married in April, 1988, and in 1991 she joined me in our business interests as publishers of TTN. This is the absolute and obvious highlight of my time in this industry, bar none! After a few years of having four or five people try to take on the mantle of being the editor of TTN I was looking for a more permanent role for someone that could develop an identity and, more importantly, be identified by our readers as the "face" of the magazine. In June of 1990 Paula and I were having dinner with friends Neil and Helen Hatty. Neil and I go back to 1970 when we worked together.
By 1977 we were in senior executive positions with that same company and I had formed a very close bond with Neil and his wife. During conversation, as friends do, Helen confided that she was looking for other opportunities after spending many years in bookkeeping and aged care. I really didn't take that much notice at that time but a few days later had the idea that I could teach Helen how to write. Anyway, to cut an even longer story sort, the rest is history. After never having written a story before in her life, and after only a few weeks initial training, Helen became the editor of not one, but two trade publications. Helen Hatty
We have a philosophy of what I call "conversational editorial" and Helen fits that role perfectly. Now, after 15 years, Helen is the soul of the magazine, as well as the "face". I believe she is tremendously respected and liked throughout the industry and brings that conversational approach to all her articles. She is to TTN what Ita Buttrose was to the "Women's Weekly". An added bonus over the last 18 months has been the involvement of Neil as a consultant with the newly introduced flooring section appearing monthly within our pages. Well, back to my epistle. Our next big growth phase was February, 1990, with the introduction of the A4 color magazine version you are now reading. The newspaper format had served its purpose and our loyal readers deserved a better product. Neil Hatty Until June 1992, TimberTrader News was one of three magazines published by Montpara Publications Pty Ltd. I was manager of day-to-day operations and an 50 per cent shareholder in the company. At the end of the June 1992 financial year Montpara was dissolved and Paula and I became sole proprietors of TTN. At the same time a major force in the area of industry publications, the Australian Forestry Industries Journal (AFIJ) closed its doors after a staggering 57 years of service. The days of a mega industry publication passed with the closure of AFIJ so, of course, we decided to restructure and extend the range of TTN. Instead of making the mistake of trying to be all things to all people we concentrated on the merchandising, marketing, engineering and fabrication of timber with merchants, fabricators and their respective suppliers as our prime readership base. We also became a truly national magazine as from July, 1992, with the official endorsement of TABMA and the TMA. The trendy thing at the time was for companies to have a "mission statement". After my initial skepticism we did one too (see following panel) and it is one of the best things we've done. It helps us focus on the task of publishing a monthly magazine with editorial creditability. By now you are probably thinking that I've only covered the first seven years and there's heaps more to go. Well, you're right! There is heaps more to go but I'm only going to go through some of those significant events that I believe have affected us all. The corporatisation that occurred in the late 80s and early 90s changed the face of the industry forever. Raiders hit the market and took over generations-old businesses and destroyed them in a few short years. Many families moved out of the industry and their total knowledge was lost forever. However, there were positives. The move of the 'big box' stores into the industry at the same time focused the remaining merchants onto the tasks of service and quality and, although price is important, it's those first two factors in the trio of business idioms that will always bring the serious trade customers back. A leading buying group manager told me many years ago that 80 per cent of their business was done by 20 per cent of their members and that those 20 per cent were all timber merchants with hardware divisions, not hardware stores that try to do a bit of timber. These observations remain true today. The leading independent merchants all have a solid background in the understanding of timber and the requirements of their trade base and long may it be so. However, it will only be so with dedication to the principles of honest business, a willingness to innovate and a commitment to training the upcoming generation of "timber people". In the fabrication industry the development of technology has helped small business compete with the big boys. In the early 90s the industry was in danger of being dominated by a few big players who could churn out the project homes like a sausage factory. The little plants were having trouble competing until technology stepped in and helped automate the mundane cutting and pressing procedures. These basically low-cost upgrades could be retrofitted to existing machinery and the competitive flux we find ourselves in today is a result of that advancement. The "spike" in the price of heavily imported North American Douglas Fir in the early 90s has also had a significant impact with growth of pine-based products into the building marketplace. Engineered Wood Products have also altered building techniques. It's a far cry for the days of glulam or solid hardwood beams being the only available product. The variations involved are too complex to cover here but TTN has reported extensively on the development of EWPs over many years and will continue to do so. About nine years ago we introduced a section within our magazine called Autobuild News. I like to call it a "mini mag". A short time later MiTek Australia introduced a column called "Gang-Nail Guidelines" where the company's engineering staff explained, in a generic sense as much as possible, various techniques and issues that most fabricators encounter on a daily basis. This page as always been well received from fabricators of all color preferences, red, blue or green, and coincidently, this Landmark issue of TTN sees the 100th Gang-Nail Guideline appearing in the ABN section. TimberFloor News was introduced a couple of years ago with the purpose of promoting solid timber flooring and helping educate and inform on its advantages over alternative and synthetic products. After telephoning almost 600 timber flooring and floor sanding companies we found that those participants viewed themselves as part of the timber industry, not as part of the floor covering industry. Most people who do solid timber flooring don't handle any other types of product and have a genuine love of timber. We now have more than 1600 flooring contractors on our mailing list and they are, as they become far more familiar with TimberTrader News, gradually taking up our offers of paid subscription. So, where to from here? The industry is changing and we must keep pace so I believe this special Landmark edition of TTN reflects the change occurring all around us. Instead of dwelling too much on the past (well only a little bit) we have asked these 25 industry leaders to contribute in their own way. Some are advertisers and have supported TTN over many years. Others are readers and have been subscribers since we first asked for a subs fee in 1986. In fact, I added up their combined experience within the timber business and it totaled more than an incredible 840 years. That is an average of over 33 years per contributor and all of them participated in a spirit of good-will and cooperation and I thank them sincerely. We've also included some of our favorite front covers that we published during our "personality" era and I'm sure you'll recognise many of the featured individuals and groups. If the subjects are friends or business acquaintances don't hesitate to call them and give them a "razz". Finally, I challenge you, the reader, to evaluate and absorb what our Leaders have to say and apply the knowledge to your own situation. If you feel like commenting don't hesitate to contact Helen via post, email or fax, and we'd be delighted to publish your thoughts in the coming months. Thank you to all our advertisers. Without you our magazine would not be possible. And an even bigger thank you to all our readers, especially our 1000 plus paid subscribers. Without you our advertisers wouldn't have the market to advertise their wares and we wouldn't have a business. An independent survey conducted a few years ago showed that TimberTrader News is read by more than 15,000 industry people (or 5.6 people per copy). There's a lot of readers out there and I thank you for that support. I feel very privileged to be a part of this industry and hope our monthly offerings continue to inform, educate and entertain you as we head towards our 500th edition. I promise you, that'll be the next time we celebrate a Landmark. Happy reading and best wishes for the future. GREG