Sticx deal in a wide range of timber systems and since 2011 have grown to become a specialist provider of sustainable design and build options. We spoke to co-founder and director John Maddock.
Sticx was founded by two directors that were very experienced in construction, rather than manufacturing. Chris Dermody had 20 years of experience running a company erecting timber frames for other manufacturers and John Maddock had 20 years of main contracting experience. This has served them well over the last 12 years.
“A framer’s performance at site level may only account for 20% of what they do, but it is almost entirely what they are judged on by clients,” says John. “Sticx has grown organically with a long list of repeat clients who know that we understand that the proven benefits of timber frame construction. Our ability to prefabricate open or closed panels is matched by our considered approach to delivery. We can erect prefabricated panels, stick build frames where access is limited, fabricate floor cassettes on or offsite and other options that are selected to suit site requirements.
The timber material supply chain has been under real pressure for some time and the Ukrainian conflict has added to this – and does seem to be stabilising – but still has created a number of business pressure points. “Timber pricing went through a crazy period as Covid finished,” says John. “We buy directly from the importers and prices, that had been relatively stable for many years, suddenly went up around 250%. Given that the construction industry over the last 30 years has all but forgotten about inflation and clients expect extended fixed price periods, it has been a challenge.”
With continual discussion over the quality and quantity of housing required across the UK, timber frame is in a perfect position to capitalise on the requirement for quicker and more sustainable homes. But is housing still the main sector driving timber frame specification – or have others started to catch up such as education and retail?
“Unusually, we have come the other way,” says John. “Most of our work was in education and student accommodation, until we made the decision to take our experience to clients who were interested in saving money through design improvement. We have clients now who are more willing to invest in design, to standardise details and to save money through the elimination of waste. Whilst everyone is concerned about material price hikes, the real issue that is coming down the road is the skill shortages in traditional trades. Partnering with a specialist framing contractor, secures clients ability to deliver projects that they may struggle to deliver otherwise. Long-term relationships de-risk so much of the work, clients are really cottoning on to this.”
“We have partnered with the Sovini Group on Merseyside, who have a pipeline of 1000 new units to build. We are helping them to standardise their designs, to make the small adjustments that reduce wasted effort from following trades, to take the lessons learnt from site and feed them back into the designs for the next project. The partnership allows us to work as a team with our partners and the success of the relationship is a continuously improving outcomes for all of our partners. The entirety of this arrangement is the definition of sustainable building.”
You can read the full feature in the Winter Timber Construction magazine
