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Join us for the WPA Annual Event 2025
WPA’s 2025 Awards Event and Conference takes place on Wednesday, 7 May, and Thursday, 8 May, at the prestigious Oulton Hall Hotel, Leeds.
2025 marks the 11th year of this two-day gathering, attended by WPA members and their guests. It’s an in-person opportunity to network, learn, and celebrate the best in the timber industry.
Main Event Sponsors:
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Associate Sponsors:
Conference
Golf
Wine Tasting
Wednesday, 7 May 2025: Daytime activities
Golf Tournament
This year, we’re doing things a little differently – there will be two golf competitions, making full use of Oulton Hall’s two courses with a total of 27 holes.
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A 9-hole Texas Scramble competition (four-ball format).
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An 18-hole four-ball better-ball competition with prizes for individual performance, teams, nearest the pin, and longest drive.
Fees:
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9-hole competition: £25 per person (starts 9:30 AM)
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18-hole competition: £50 per person (starts 12:00 noon)
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Both fees include a hot drink and lunch at 12 noon
Please let us know if you wish to stay overnight before the golf event on 6 May.
Wine Tasting Experience
Join wine educator Sophia Luckett from The Drink Talking for an engaging afternoon of wine tasting, cheese pairing, and a bit of friendly competition. You’ll sample seven premium wines and two artisan cheeses while exploring grape varieties and wine regions from around the world.
Learn how to taste like a pro, master the art of blind tasting, and gain skills to impress as a true wine connoisseur. Plus, there’s a prize for the competition winner!
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Price per person: £50 (Starts 2:00 PM)
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Includes a hot drink and a sandwich
Jamie Sutherland
Conference Packages
Wednesday, 7 May 2025: Evening activities
Reception, annual WPA awards and barbecue-style dinner, including entertainment by comedian
Jamie Sutherland. Jamie has supported some of the biggest names in comedy and has gained a reputation as one of the rising stars of comedy with the sellout crowds and his fellow comedians.
The evening will begin with a reception at the hotel's Upper Claret Jug restaurant at 7pm
Delegate package: £325 per person
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This 24-hour delegate rate includes:
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Evening event (barbecue dinner with drinks)
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Live entertainment
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Entry to raffle prize draw
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Overnight accommodation and breakfast
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Conference attendance & lunch
Dress code: Smart casual
Awards Categories
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Best Use of Treated Timber in Buildings (Nominations open)
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Best Use of Treated Timber in Landscaping (Nominations open)
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Best Kept Treatment Plant (Auditor nomination)
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Best Treated Timber Champion (Nominations open)
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Benchmark QAS Treater of the Year (Auditor nomination)
For these awards, "treated timber" refers to preservative-treated, flame-retardant-treated, and modified wood.
Thursday, 8 May 2025
Conference:
9:30am – 12:30pm
The theme of our half-day conference is:
"Future-Proofing Demand for Correctly Treated Wood"
What supply chain buyers want from the treated wood industry
Paul Pennick, Procurement Director, h&b Buying Group
h&b is a buying group that provides purchasing power for small and independent merchants. Procurement Director, Paul Pennick, believes the market potential for preservative-treated wood is strong. The government’s ambitious infrastructure, homebuilding, and carbon reduction plans align with the benefits of treated wood.
However, for buyers like h&b, mixed specification & performance messages in the treated supply chain do not provide the clarity required to build end-user confidence & increase sales & profitability. Paul will highlight potential opportunities that could help influence change.
Paul will share what he believes needs to be done to address these issues.
The role of builders' merchants in treated wood sales
Gareth Nicholls, Head of Timber Category, MKM Building Supplies
Preservative-treated wood is just one of thousands of products sold by MKM Building Supplies, the UK’s leading independent builders’ merchant, with branches nationwide.
Gareth will discuss the crucial role merchants such as MKM play when individual branches fully engage with a product like preservative-treated wood. He will highlight what’s required to sustain that engagement and increase demand for treated wood, and the rewards this delivers for merchants and the wider industry.
Changing service life and performance data for treated wood
Ed Suttie, Head of Consultancy, BRE
The emerging requirement for the declaration of Reference Service Life (RSL) under the new Construction Products Regulation has sparked a reassessment of how service life is determined and communicated.
Ed will explain the RSL concept, the value of performance data for both sellers and buyers of preservative-treated wood, and present 10-year durability data from the WPA’s field trial of treated British softwood fence posts, which collated in March. Conference delegates will be among the first to hear these results, with an opportunity for questions.
The future of treated wood in Europe: Unlocking business potential through advocacy
Fredrik Westin, European Wood Protection Association
The European wood protection industry stands at a pivotal moment, with significant opportunities to expand the market for treated wood as a key enabler of sustainability, circularity, and climate neutrality. The European Wood Protection Association (formerly WEI-IEO) is driving a proactive strategy to position treated wood as the most sustainable and competitive material for construction, infrastructure, and beyond.
Fredrik Westin will share insights on how the European Wood Protection Association is strengthening advocacy efforts at the EU level to ensure a fair regulatory framework, supporting the sector’s long-term competitiveness. He will highlight the important of industry-wise collaboration to drive market growth, improve policy recognition, and unlock new business opportunities in the evolving European landscape.
Strategic priorities for the WPA
Steve Young, Chairman, Wood Protection Association
Supplying treated wood is a highly competitive business. Achieving volume sales in such markets means price often drives the buying decision at the expense of quality. Competitiveness is made worse when buyers are unaware of the need to tailor the treatment of wood to its end use.
Steve will examine how the UK treated wood industry has responded to these challenges and outline the WPA’s strategic priorities to support its members succeed in producing and selling treated wood.
To book your tickets, please contact Caroline Hewison: caroline@thewpa.org.uk