Work is underway at a recently completed £22.5m state of the art sawmill, at Lockerbie in South Scotland.

Scotland's largest independent sawmiller, James Jones & Sons Ltd, aim to employ 85 people at the new timber processing "super site".

The plant has a single shift capacity of 150K sawn, more than doubling the capacity of James Jones's existing sawmill in Dumfries.

Output from Lockerbie 3 primarily focuses upon carcassing timbers although it will incorporate added flexibility to offer a range of specifications for the construction, fencing, pallet & packaging markets which complement the existing product portfolio.


The sawmill will also deliver improvements in quality, yield and production speeds, using three dimensional laser technology to scan each log and calculate optimal cutting patterns.

Joint Managing Director of James Jones and Sons, Mr Ian Pirie said: "This is the largest single development project the company has undertaken to date and has progressed very smoothly. This reflects the long term partnerships we have with all of our contractors and suppliers."

Site investment, upon completion of the new sawmill, totaled approximately £40m.

When fully operational the site's total annual roundwood requirement, sourced from both private growers and the Forestry Commission, will exceed 500,000m3 per annum.

(GK/BMcC)