Devon firm creates new jobs after acquisition

Okehampton-based Forest Fuels has further increased efficiency and coverage for its wood pellet customers in the UK by acquiring the ‘woodpellets2u’ business.

The move significantly increases the scale of Forest Fuels’ operations, enhancing the company’s ability to deliver sustainable wood fuel.

Peter Solly (pictured), managing director of Forest Fuels said: “This is great news for our wood pellet customers as it further enhances our coverage, especially for blown deliveries, where a blower vehicle blows the wood pellets directly into the fuel hopper with minimal fuss and mess.

"We can now get to more customers, much more efficiently. Adding a further eight skilled and experienced staff members to bolster the existing 50-strong Forest Fuels’ team also means that our knowledge base is now unprecedented in the UK.”

Forest Fuels has completed the acquisition of the wood pellet assets and customer base of ‘woodpellets2u’ from CPL Distribution Limited, which includes staff, equipment, specialist delivery vehicles and plant along with an additional 1,200 customers.

Kevin Smith, sales and marketing director of Forest Fuels said: “We’re really pleased to have completed this acquisition. The ‘woodpellets2u’ business adds very neatly to our customer offering. Not only does it fit in very well geographically but it also means we won’t be driving past each other’s customers anymore so we can be more responsive, drive fewer miles and reduce our carbon footprint. It’s a strategic fit as well as a cultural one because ‘woodpellets2u’, like Forest Fuels, enjoys an excellent reputation in the marketplace for the highest standards of wood fuel and exemplary customer care.”

Forest Fuels has long-standing credentials in its commitment to growing a sustainable and high-quality business in the biomass industry, with a focus on local delivery and customer service.

The new customers to Forest Fuels will also be able to benefit from the many other products, services and financing that Forest Fuels has available for example ‘ESCOs’ (Energy Supply Contracts), enabling the funding of larger biomass installations as well as commercial biomass boiler ‘buy-backs’ where new and existing customers can receive a cash lump sum for their boilers; Forest Fuels then operates and runs the biomass installation, delivering trouble-free heat, paid on the meter on a long-term assured heat supply agreement.