INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
THIS MONTH WE MEET RICHARD JONES, CHAIRMAN OF CLIFFORD JONES TIMBER GROUP
How are you celebrating Clifford Jones 75-year Anniversary this Year?
It’s a fantastic achievement. I’m the third generation and my son works in the business too. We had a celebration party earlier this year. My dad Alan pops in from time to time. We are a true family business proud of our heritage but always with a keen eye on the future. We’re not the sort of fencing manufacturer to believe our own publicity, it’s always intentionally low key.
What would you say is the biggest learning from the time you’ve had in the industry?
Every day is a school day, we are always learning! The biggest contribution has definitely come from listening to our customers. We pride ourselves upon innovation. Constantly improving product performance and resolving issues. Ignorance is never bliss here! Each month I spend time working on the rounders, delivering occasional loads (especially on Saturdays it seems!) and visiting customers. We’ve two ears, two eyes and just one mouth using them proportionately certainly has helped me a great deal.
As the year closes what are the ambitions for 2024?
We’ve worked really hard improving efficiencies across the business. Our plan for 2024 is to get more stock on customers yards to deal with peak demands in the first half of 2024.
What’s been the biggest impact on the business this year?
We’ve restructured our senior management team and recruited several new people. We’ve a really experienced team in place now. Some great new senior team members covering Production, Finance, HR, Purchasing, Sales, and Marketing. We’re really starting to see the impact of these significant changes.
Clifford Jones Timber has a great reputation in the fencing market, how do you maintain this?
Hard work, focus and tenacity. We know when customers have one of our packs on their yard the quality will always shine through. Fencers and Farmers can easily recognise the quality of our products. We never send out products that customers will reject either once delivered or self-sort in your yard (pushed aside like the runt of the litter).
Europe has banned the sale of creosote posts, how has this impacted on your business?
We saw this coming when CCA was banned in 2004, Creosote should have been banned at the same time! We think the UK has become a dumping ground for Creosote. It’s a nasty product, horrible to work with. We won’t miss it! We’re launching a new product range with a 50-year warranty and without all the terrible baggage! We suspect the likes of the National Trust will outlaw Creosote use before it’s banned in the UK.
How important is the warranty you offer on Treated Stakes and Strainers?
We believe it’s vital for our customers. We want our customers to feel confident and worry free. Especially when they’ve invested in great fencing. We have the same confidence! This is because we
invest in the best raw materials and technology. We’ve developed our own treatment process which ensures our promises are properly backed up. We’ve stayed loyal to our treatment provider. We’ve
collaborated with them continually for over 20 years. It’s not just because we like them! We work really closely together developing the products and researching the process. We think that they are the
best in the market. We suspect this is also part of the reason why so many market leading treated timber suppliers feel the same.
How do you keep your customers happy?
We work hard to maintain our quality threshold. Everyone in the business has a role to play to ensure we achieve this objective. We believe the biggest impact we can have upon our customer satisfaction
is to improve the availability of our great products. This all starts with sourcing raw material. We’ve made significant in -roads and improvements with our supply arrangements. Our Timber buyer works tirelessly to secure the best possible supply.
If you could change anything about the fencing industry, what would it be?
We’ve put behind us the industry plagiarism that normally follows each step forwards we make. It’s incredulous that one competitor even came to see us and asked who we purchased the special double galvanised marker nails from. About four weeks later they were using the same nails! Not so much as a thank you; guess there’s no honour in some businesses!
Some years ago, you took one of the treatment providers to court, how did this affect the business?
It benefited the industry more than us (according to our accountant)! Those treating timber with a lick and promise treatment changed path pretty quickly.
Clifford Jones have always been industry leaders upon technology (first to introduce Incising and warranties) what’s your latest development?
We’re launching a new 50 year warranted stake and strainer range. It’s targeting the creosote market. It’s been fully evaluated and approved for this incredible 50-year warranty. We’re calling this range ‘I can’t believe it’s not Creo’.
