July 2026 News from the Sawmill
Welcome to our July Newsletter
This is a newsletter we have wanted to send for a long time.
Fyral is here. Below you will find the story behind it, our response to the Government’s fire safety consultation, new research on British hardwood and news of our showroom reopening.
Introducing Fyral
After years of prototyping and testing, we are proud to announce the birth of Fyral, a new engineered hardwood floor made entirely from wood grown in Great Britain.
The story starts with a problem. Almost every engineered floor sold in this country is built around imported plywood. It travels thousands of miles and its origins are not always clear.
We believed there was a better way. So we built one.
Fyral is the first engineered hardwood floor grown and made in Britain, made possible by a novel thermally modified timber core.
British oak sits on the surface. British hardwood runs through the middle.
British Wood To The Core.
UK Timber Design Conference 2026
We launched Fyral at the UK Timber Design Conference inWestminster.
Architects, designers and old friends from the trade queued up to see it.
Here is what the day felt like from the floor.
Fire safety rules could change
The Government is reviewing Approved Document B and some proposals could make it harder to specify timber in low-rise homes. Tom Barnes has written our full response.
Our flooring showroom is almost ready to reopen.
Walk into most flooring showrooms and you will find carpet, vinyl, laminate and somewhere in the corner, a few timber samples.
Wood is an afterthought.
We think timber deserves better. When we reopen, you will find our full engineered flooring range alongside Fyral, honestly displayed in a working sawmill that has been cutting British hardwood for over 120 years.
Details on reopening coming soon.
The wood on our doorstep
England burns 85% of its hardwood harvest. New research says we should be building with it instead.
Building from England’s Woodlands is a three-year Forestry Commission funded project, published this month.
Researchers ran over 2,000 tests on English-grown oak, ash, birch, beech and more. Many proved stronger and stiffer than the imported softwoods most builders rely on.
The UK imports 68% of its sawn timber. 77% of England’s woodland is hardwood. The maths speaks for itself.
We read this report and saw Fyral.
The researchers are asking Britain to build with the hardwood on its doorstep. Fyral does exactly that, saving the best oak for the surface and putting overlooked British hardwoods to work in the core.
The report makes the case. Fyral is the case made real.
