BSW Group, the UK’s largest integrated forestry and timber business, and a member of Binderholz, made significant investments across 2025 to modernise fleets and strengthen logistics. These strategic developments ensure the Group enters 2026 in a strong position, reinforcing its market-leading role in the UK’s forestry and timber supply chain.

 

Tilhill Harvesting invests in UK’s most advanced fleet

Across 2025, Tilhill Harvesting continued to invest heavily in modernising and expanding the UK’s largest and most advanced harvesting fleet.

The business now runs 35 harvesters and 33 forwarders, including the latest John Deere 1270G and H models, Tigercat tracked harvesters and forwarders from Ponsse, Komatsu and John Deere. These machines are matched to terrain and timber type, enabling high-productivity operations across rugged upland sites, mature conifer stands and large-scale lowland clearfells.

All equipment is maintained on a rolling five-year renewal cycle, guaranteeing modern technology, lower emissions and enhanced operator safety. New features such as extended 1,000-hour service intervals, improved ergonomics and enhanced hydraulic efficiency are already contributing to productivity gains.

Tilhill is also expanding its innovation pipeline by trialling mechanised planting systems, integrating nursery, forest management and harvesting expertise to improve planting speed and consistency.

 

BSW Timber invests £5m in sawmill fleet

BSW Timber introduced a raft of new machinery across its sawmills in 2025. Dalbeattie and Fort William each received new all-terrain forklifts; in addition to a Volvo L150H wheel loader at Dalbeattie and two 16 tonne Kalmar Forklifts at Fort William. Fort William was also one of the UK’s first recipients of the new Volvo L150K.

BSW Timber has plans to continue growing its fleet across 2026, with 22 new vehicles secured for the first 6 months of this year for the Carlisle, Fort William and Dalbeattie locations. This new fleet will include forklifts, material handlers, large wheel loaders and side loaders. Coming to a total of over £5m, this investment ensures that BSW Timber can continue to operate smoothly, safely and competitively to produce unique timber products for a variety of uses.

 

Maelor Forest Nurseries pioneers cold-storage and mechanised delivery service

In an industry first, Maelor Forest Nurseries, launched a pioneering nationwide tree delivery system that combines cold-chain vehicles, specialist flatbeds, and truck mounted Moffett Mounty forklifts to improve sapling establishment. While Maelor has long provided state-of-the-art growing conditions, temperature fluctuations during transport can harm roots, triggering metabolic changes that reduce establishment success.

The new cold storage and mechanised delivery system remedies this by keeping trees at their ideal storage temperature, this preserves the root to support effective establishment, reduces respiration which preserves carbohydrate reserves, and prevents dehydration and disease. This ensures the trees arrive in peak condition, ready for successful establishment, even during unpredictable weather windows. Flatbeds allow secure, space-optimised loads to reach remote or sloped sites, while Moffett Mounty’s enable mechanised, safe and quick unloading without manual handling.

Now standard for all Maelor customers, the service delivers consistent quality, reduces operational risk, and improves safety for drivers and planting teams.

 

Duffy Skylining acquisition strengthens specialist capabilities

Last year also saw Tilhill Forestry acquire specialist harvesting business Duffy Skylining Ltd, strengthening the Group’s steep-ground harvesting capabilities. The acquisition brings four skyline systems, 12 highly specialised machines and a skilled team into the business.

Based in Inverness, Duffy Skylining is renowned for its work on challenging terrain, particularly across Scotland’s west coast. The team’s expertise in skylining and steep-ground safety allows Tilhill to service harvest sites that require advanced technical proficiency, unlocking new opportunities for forest owners and ensuring safe, efficient operations on some of the UK’s most complex sites.

 

Scott Pallets logistics improvements drive efficiency across BSW Group

In 2025, Scott Pallets continued to advance its logistics strategy by reducing empty miles and improving asset utilisation through coordinated backloading with BSW Timber and Tilhill Forestry. More than 300 vehicles have been reloaded this year, cutting fuel use, lowering carbon emissions and supporting better supply chain efficiency. The coming year will also see BSW Group replace a significant proportion of existing Scott Pallets vehicles, with 31 new articulated lorries and 9 rigid lorries set to modernise the fleet and drive efficiencies.

BSW Group Logistics Manager Mike Gerrard said, “Our unique position as an integrated forestry and timber business means we’re able to identify a number of potential efficiencies and improvements across every step of the supply chain.

“These investments ensure we remain resilient and ready to deliver for our customers across the UK. By modernising our fleets, strengthening specialist capability and introducing new innovations, we are laying the foundations for long-term sustainable growth across the entire Group.”