Roger Stevens specialises in buying and selling environmentally-certified hardwoods with T Brewer & Co in South London.

“I must admit to a love of figures and number crunching so joining the company initially as a tally clerk and calculating timber volumes was ideal! I did a BTEC in Business & Finance at college and had worked at a local builders’ merchant before seeing this job advertised in the local paper. I also enjoy working in wood in my spare time doing both carving and DIY so I was fascinated to get to know the material more closely and find out about the many different species of timber from across the world.

“Gradually I’ve come to recognise the timber species by their grain, colour, and through cross sections, and I’ve learned about their sustainable origins. This is particularly important with hardwoods. We must have proof that the timber was harvested legally and from a sustainable source, and we do this through a system of ‘chain of custody’ certificates. This enables us to track the timber back to its origins. It’s down to me to check on the sourcing and to provide the reassurance that customers need.

“I buy hardwoods for our stocks. This can be American white oak, cherry, black walnut or African species like iroko, utile and sapele. There’s also a lot of interest in western red cedar. The market is very competitive and it’s both an interest and a challenge to pitch your prices at the right level and win orders. I keep up to date with what’s available through the internet, and exchange many telephone calls, e-mails and faxes with suppliers and customers. I advise architects on the uses of different hardwood species and introduce them to new ones as they become available with certification. I’ve had training to become a qualified TRADA stress grader and other training in species identification. I get to visit our importers and have also been to Sweden to see the forest industry there.

“I’m certainly interested in staying with the sector as I’ve learned a lot and enjoy the challenge of closing good deals. There’s plenty of redevelopment, renovation and building work in London so timber will always be required, but we need to get the message across about timber’s benefits in terms of life cycle analysis compared to other less environment-friendly materials like plastic and steel.”