James Latham’s £1.5 Million Investment

The timber and panel products distributor, James Latham, is making significant financial investments in new sites during 2008.

The company opened its first Scottish depot in April. Based at Eurocentral in Lanarkshire, the 40,000ft2 operation has a state of the art racking system with guided rails, and specially adapted Combi trucks. Stocks of panel products, hardwood, North American softwood, Bausen hardwood flooring and hardwood decking are all held and are available for prompt delivery.

The James Latham Eastleigh site closed at the end of February and was relocated to a 35,000ft2 facility at Matrix Park, Fareham. Significant additions have been made to the stock profile and further staff have been employed to process the extra business being generated. Training in high narrow aisle racking and Combi truck operation has been provided to the warehouse staff, which has helped to improve and reduce order processing times.

In late summer 2008, the Dudley depot will relocate to a purpose built site conveniently situated just one mile away from its current facility. The intention is to operate similarly to the Scotland and Fareham depots, and to add further products to its already extensive stock profile.

Chris Sutton commented, ‘James Latham is now in its 251st year of trading and our strategy is to continue building for the future. Not only are we investing in new sites, we have also carried out significant improvements in the longer established depots at Wigston, Ossett and Yate, and when necessary, we will improve operations at the remaining depots. Both Scotland and Fareham have seen significant benefits and a whole host of visitors to these sites have been very impressed with what they have seen. We firmly believe that substantial investment now is the correct long term decision for the company’.

For more information on the new range of brochures or any products available at James Latham, please visit the website at http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk, email marketing@lathams.co.uk, or phone 0116 257 3415.