After 2007 proved itself to be a very good year, Westbank Timber have just announced that they have been awarded the sole selling rights for Holztec Siberian Larch Panels in the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland in 2008.

Since the company started trading 150 years ago, Holztec have gained an incomparable reputation gained from their decades of experience in the timber industry. In recent years the company have achieved European wide acclaim for their prestigious production of glued laminated beams and residential timber houses.

Richard Abbott, Technical Manager at Westbank, enthusiastically stated: “We are very proud that we can now offer Holztec products to compliment our already superb Dastra European range.”

“Although we do recognise that the higher cost of Holztec products may pose a challenge for us, we believe that in the current consumer climate, with clients demanding high specification products, Westbank can be sure that the Holztec range will soon become a ‘must have’ addition for all of our discriminating merchants.”

Since 2004, Holztec, which is the manufacturing division of German firm Hansen Detlefsen, have turned their attention to producing high quality and durable garden products, using their vast experience to tackle the growing problems associated with the treatment of softwood.

Holztec have solved these problems by sourcing timber species which are widely recognised for having a high resilience to mould and wood destroying fungi which would normally, severely limit the durability of soft timber products.

One of the key species sourced by the company is Siberian Larch, which is one of the hardest and strongest of the softwood family. Due to its special components, Larch is naturally resistant to mould and fungi which damage less hardy wood species. This means that the wood is also more cost effective because it does not require any special treatment or impregnation to be protected.

The species grows very slowly in the short Siberian summer and as a result has very close annular rings, and this is where its nucleation, hardness and strength are formed, and this is why it is accepted as being far superior to European Larch and Douglas fir.

The combination of this fantastic species and a little bit of meticulous German engineering means that Holztec can provide a superb range of products. Richard Abbott added: “The Siberian Larch’s durability and capacity to keep its natural appearance with just a regular protective coating of Holztec’s oil based coating will enhance and keep the warmth and beauty of this noble species for years to come.”