INSIGHTS - OCTOBER 2024

UK Forestry Industry

UK Forestry Industry Information

The forestry industry manages plantations, forests and woodlands to provide timber products such as roundwood, firewood and charcoal and also includes wild growing non-wood products.

Active Businesses

4,517

Annual Sales

£3bn +

Employees

19,695

Economic Contribution 

£871m

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Location of Forestry Companies

Forestry Companies by Size

77% Micro

21% Small

2% Mid

0% Large

0% Mega

Largest Forestry Companies
Turnover
Swl Limited
£111.6m
Forestry Companies by Age

30% Established

26% Young

22% Startup

20% Mature

2% New

Fastest Growing Forestry Companies

36% Declining

21% Healthy

19% Rapid

16% High

8% Low

Forestry Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Forestry Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

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Forestry Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Forestry Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

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Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Forestry and logging Industry Insights

There are 4,517 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £3 billion .

The Industry employs around 19,694 people and contributes £871 million to the economy.

The most popular location for Forestry companies is South East England with 850 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 58.

The largest Forestry company is Tilhill Forestry Limited with a turnover of £220.4m. 77% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 2% Mid companies.

20% of the Forestry Industry is made up of 20% Mature but the majority are Established businesses (30%) the oldest company is James Finlay Limited founded in 1909.

Forestry industry has a number of high growth companies (16%), the fastest growing company is The National Forest Company with a 3 year growth rate of 49%. Other fast growing companies include Tweed Forum Limited (47%), Community Forest Trust (44%) and Coombes Forestry Limited (43%).

The UK Forestry Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 11.48x, Turnover multiple of 1.96x and a Net Asset multiple of 1.91x.