The TRA Members’ Day 2026: Part 2 – Opportunities to Thrive

Here is Part 2 of our coverage of the TRA Annual Members’ Day 2026. We look at ‘Opportunities to Thrive’ – the day’s presentations and workshops that suggested ways to make the most of your products, your services and your team…

The TRA and TDUK: a marriage made in timber heaven

The TRA has recently struck up an official partnership with Timber Development UK (TDUK) to work together on communications, promotion, media and marketing.

David Hopkins (CEO of TDUK) gave a presentation explaining all the many ways in which the two organisations are working together to promote the products and services of TRA members.

Which are the products that TRA members most want promoted?

As a fact-finding activity, attendees were asked to rank the products they thought most needed promoting; and to also rank the target audience they most wanted to reach. The results were very interesting.

By far the most voted-for product was metal web joists – winning a total of 58 out of a possible 60 votes – with trussed rafters/attic trusses and spandrel/gable panels coming in at a tied second place with 46 votes each. Cassette floors were the next most-voted for with 26 votes, and then roof panels and I Joists languished a fair distance behind.

Which audience demographic do TRA members most want to reach?

When it came to target audiences, architects were in first place with 49 votes, with housing developers second at with 46. Next came engineers, then contractors, and then timber frame/MMC manufacturers. Delegates also cited self-builders, domestic homeowners, regional/local government and bodies such as the NHBC as groups they would like to reach.

TDUK is uniquely well positioned to bring TRA members and their work to the attention of designers, engineers and specifiers. Its timber-focused editorial and media team are very keen to hear from TRA members – and to promote their work. So please ensure that all your product news stories, project case studies and any new developments are shared with the TRA via: info@tra.org

Sponsor presentation: Hundegger

Chris Osborne, General Manager of Hundegger UK, echoed the day’s theme of dialogue across the industry in an afternoon presentation.

He pointed out the value of closer collaboration between suppliers and explained the advantages of Hundegger’s Turbo Drive machines – nearly 200 of which are installed across the UK – in terms of monitoring productivity and idle periods.

Chris was keen to emphasize that the effectiveness of what they provide is heightened by dialogue with the sectors software providers  – and vice versa.

A new QA scheme for spandrels and gables

“The changing landscape for construction products requires us to take more responsibility for the products that we deliver,” said Glenn Sharples of CATG certification. At the day’s first workshop, Glenn explained the repercussions of the Construction White Paper (published at the end of March).

This confirmed that CE and UKCA-marked products will continue to be endorsed in the UK. As trussed rafters and metal web already have harmonised standards, they can be CE and UKCA marked. But products that don’t have a harmonised standard will be subject to a risk-based general safety requirement. So for spandrels and gable panels, the TRA is looking to develop a formal quality assurance scheme to pre-empt the general safety requirements. This will need to cover their scope, design, manufacture and installation.

Delegates all took part in a very useful engagement exercise – each table in the room provided feedback which the TRA will be using as valuable input on the scheme.

Sponsor presentation: Cullen

Sam Kirkham of ITW Construction Products told us all about the latest developments at Cullen connectors. He introduced us to the Cullen Universal Truss Shoe, a simplified roof hanger that eliminates any onsite confusion by providing one fixing type for all applications. Its design takes advantage of the revised Eurocode 5 bearing rules; its load values can be up to 16kN.

Sam also showed us the new Cullen website – an updated, streamlined site with readily available specifications for all products, links to technical materials, and detailed information on load data, fixings and installation guidance.

We hope you enjoyed this year’s Member’s Day and found it as worthwhile as we did.

Click here to read Part 1 of this year’s write-up to learn about ‘Business Survival’; alongside more of our sponsor presentations.

Thanks to all our Members’ Day sponsors: Simpson Strong-Tie, BPC, Hundegger, Cullen and James Hardie. They were on hand throughout the day to help attendees better understand their products and services. Without our sponsors, the day could not have been the success that it was.