A leading UK timber specialist has acquired the trade and assets of a Swedish company.

Premier Forest Products - which has a Newport base - has announced the acquisition of Bitus UK Ltd from Bergs Timber.

Bitus UK, formerly known as Continental Wood Products (CWP), is an importer and distributor of timber, panels, and garden products.

It serves the industrial manufacturing, furniture-making, construction, and merchanting sectors.

The acquisition means Premier Forest will take over Bitus UK's warehousing and distribution activities at the Baltic Distribution port-side facility in Creeksea, Essex.

The Bitus UK sales office in Cirencester will also be taken over, with all staff members retained.

Nigel McKillop, CEO of Bitus UK, will join Premier Forest Products as commercial director, specialising in softwood and the furniture sector.

Mr McKillop said: "The Bitus UK team are delighted to be joining the Premier Forest family.

"Being a part of such an established and well-respected company provides the platform for us to strengthen, grow, and develop a much wider product range to our customers from our Creeksea distribution hub."

Terry Edgell, CEO and co-founder at Premier Forest Products, said: "We’re very happy to welcome Bitus UK to the Premier Forest group.

"The strategic dockside location of the site will enable us to improve operational efficiency by providing a more direct route to our customer base.

"We plan to expand the range of products distributed from Creeksea to include our whole portfolio, which includes the full range of softwoods, hardwoods, and sheet materials, in order to create a one-stop-timber-shop for our customers."

The operational activities of the Premier Forest Products Langley site are relocating to Creeksea in Essex, to take advantage of the logistical efficiencies of the port-side distribution facility.

The Langley sales team will continue to work from a location in the area, supporting customers in the South East region as usual.