Forester fells competition thanks to new equipment

A Lochaber forestry company is reaping the benefits of new and powerful tree-felling machines.

Husband and wife team Ian and Lynn Shaw, who have been contractors in Ballachulish for 21 years, were running at full capacity and being forced to turn down jobs - which no business likes to do.

They needed to branch out and purchase some major new equipment to expand the business and deal with all the work that was coming in.

Lynn explained: "We have an incredible amount of work on, and we basically had to fell a shipload of trees all at once. We also had to do it quickly.

"We really needed reliability - if we can't keep to schedule, we won't get contracts."

An expansion programme has increased staffing from five in 1994 to 27 at last count.

Lumberjack days are long gone, and tree-felling is now carried out on an industrial scale, with machinery replacing men wielding axes.

Ian and Lynn have bought a new forwarder and harvester to increase capacity of the company and secure future work.

The new harvester fells the trees and cuts them into lengths, and then the forwarder collects them and stacks them according to size, ready for delivery to the mill.

Lynn added: "We've had the new equipment for a couple of months now, and it's really helping. It's exactly what we needed."

But shiny new harvesters do not come cheap, and the Shaws shelled out £450,000 for the new equipment. They were helped by a £70,000 grant from Lochaber Enterprise.

Lynn said: "Without the grant, we couldn't have raised the capital - it was crucial. It was a huge expense and we just couldn't have done it without help."

The additional work has also created two more jobs and helped retain four.

Lochaber Enterprise development manager Mairi Adam said: "We were happy to support Ian Shaw with the purchase of a new forwarder and harvester. The new equipment is central to wood procurement and will greatly increase the efficiency and profitability of the business."