Confor awards dinner 2022: the winners

Hamish Macleod of BSW Timber won the Dedicated Service to Forestry Award, while  Laura Jermy, of TG Norman and DS Norman, won the Changing Attitudes Award for her work in sharing positive messages about the forestry and wood industry with new audiences in schools and across social media. 

Matt Stevenson, of ECOSystems Technologies, won the Innovation and Research Award, while Michael Cresswell of Natural Resources Wales took the Future Leader prize. 

Confor’s National Manager for Scotland, Jamie Farquhar, was also honoured ahead of his retirement - receiving a standing ovation from the audience in Edinburgh.

Confor award winners 2022: L-R: Michael Cresswell, Future Leader; Laura Jermy, Changing Attitudes Award; Matt Stevenson, Innovation & Research; Hamish Macleod, Dedicated Service to Forestry Award.

This was a theme picked up by Hamish Macleod, after he was presented with the Dedicated Service to Forestry Award by Confor Chief Executive Stuart Goodall.  

Mr Macleod, who is a semi-retired Public Affairs Adviser with BSW Timber after a long career in the industry including a spell as a Forestry Commissioner, said: “Forestry has to be by consensus and we ignore that community aspect at our peril.” 

He also said he was “humbled and grateful” for his award and described the “fantastic growth” of the industry during his career, stressing that innovation - like that shown by Matt Stevenson and others - meant there were enormous opportunities to use wood in new markets. 

The judges  praised Mr Stevenson - founder of Ecosystems Technologies, based in Inverness - saying: “The winner’s dogged determination and vision to innovate and commercialise new construction products and systems which creates new added value uses for homegrown timber, as well as increasing the opportunity to store more carbon in long-life products, is outstanding.”  

Michael Cresswell of Natural Resources Wales, was named as Future Leader in a very strong field, with EGGER’s Mike Yerbury also commended by the judges for his leadership within his own business and across the wider industry. 

Judges said they had been impressed by the leadership qualities of Mr Cresswell, as both Forestry Operations Team Leader with Natural Resources Wales and through his roles with the Institute of Chartered Foresters. They said he was “passionate about supporting young professionals”. 

David Leslie, Joint Managing Director of James Jones & Sons Ltd, presented the Future Leader award, created in memory of Tom A Bruce Jones, who Mr Leslie had been a great leader himself who went on to inspire many others. 

Mr Cresswell received a carved wooden bowl made by Angus Clyne in Perthshire, while the three other winners were presented with wooden trophies made from ash, walnut and oak by Alice Blogg at her studio in Dorset. 

Left-right, back: Jamie Dewhurst, J A Growers (finalist, Innovation & Research); Alexander Lambton, James Jones & Sons (finalist, Future Leader); Mike Yerbury, EGGER (finalist, Future Leader); Josh Roberts (finalist, Innovation & Research); Shona Smyth, Pryor & Rickett (finalist, Future Leader); 

Front: Matt Stevenson, winner, Innovation & Research; Michael Cresswell, winner, Future Leader; Laura Jermy, winner, Changing Attitudes; Hamish Macleod, winner, Dedicated Service to Forestry.