BWF President Roy Wakeman Awarded OBE

The British Woodworking Federation's current President, Timothy Roy Wakeman (known as Roy Wakeman), has been awarded an OBE in this year's 2012 Queen's Honours List for services to the joinery manufacturing industry.

Roy Wakeman is widely recognised as the pivotal figure in the joinery and woodworking manufacturing industry of the past twenty five years.  He has recently embarked on an unprecedented third term as President of the industry trade association, the British Woodworking Federation.

Between 1994 and 1999, he brought together Leaderflush Doors Ltd, Longdens Ltd and Shapland and Petter to create Europe’s largest specialist performance door and doorset manufacturer, LeaderflushShapland.   In 1999 he led a successful Management Buy-Out, ensuring job security for over 560 employees on four UK based manufacturing sites.  Under his leadership, traditional, change-resistant, stagnating businesses were transformed into an innovative, world beating, and increasingly profitable company.  He championed product innovation, such as the fully certificated assembled and factory glazed doorset, and “the Quest for Quality”, introduced e-commerce into the business and established a unique scheme to train installers to install the products correctly.  In 2004, Roy was instrumental in the development of the company’s first manufacturing under licence agreement in China with JEC, a division of Jardine Matherson, based in Hong Kong.   By the time the business was sold to SIG plc in 2005, the group was turning over £40m and profitability had increased threefold.

In 2006, Roy bought Mumford and Wood Ltd, a highly respected wood window manufacturing business, which became the foundation of the Performance Timber Products Group, of which he is currently Chairman and Chief Executive. Since 2006 the Group has grown annual turnover from £6m to £20m per annum and more than doubled its employees to over 200, including 65 in Sunderland following the purchase from administration of John Porter Doors Limited.

Roy’s commitment to his business is matched by his commitment to the industry. He has been involved in the BWF at all levels for over thirty years.  He has served two terms as President (1987-89 and 2000-2001), one term as Treasurer, and is now serving a third term as President once again.  He was one of the key figures who rescued the BWF from financial crisis in 1996 and laid the foundations for its recovery and future success.  He was the driving force behind the concept and development of the BWF-CERTIFIRE Fire Door and Doorset Scheme, which succeeded in establishing third-party certification of fire doors and doorsets as essential in the market. He was also Chairman of the Construction Confederation between 2005-07, and currently chairs the Construction Products Association’s Network Club.

Iain McIlwee, BWF Chief Executive, said, "I would like to send our warmest congratulations to Roy on being awarded his OBE. This honour is a testament to his success and commitment to the industry and well deserved. His insightful and practical leadership, combined with his unfailing enthusiam and dedication to helping joinery businesses in the UK, will echo in the BWF well beyond his term as President".