Marty Verry – How NZ's wood industry impacts (and could solve) the economy, climate change and housing shortage

#13 – In this episode Tristram Clayton talks with Marty Verry, CEO of Red Stag Timber in Rotorua, New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere’s largest sawmill.

Marty describes how he turned a struggling publicly owned mill into a thriving export business that produces over 600-thousand cubic metres of timber annually and supplies 25 percent of the NZ framing market.

He also discusses the government’s One Billion Tree programme, how a ‘wood first’ policy could help the economy and our climate change obligations as well as the impact of prefabrication and cross-laminated timber on New Zealand’s housing shortage.

About our guest:

Marty Verry is the chief executive of the Red Stag group which invests in forestry, wood processing, pre-fabrication, Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and property development.

The company supplies 25% of the structural timber market in New Zealand, has revenues in excess of $250m, 400+ staff and exports around 40% of its produce to Australia, Asia, Middle East, South Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Marty is one of the country’s leading proponents of a ‘Wood First’ policy as a way of helping New Zealand’s economy, climate change objectives and housing shortage. He appears regularly in print and broadcast media and assisting and advising government, building officials, developers and construction firms.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marty-verry-772a08/?originalSubdomain=nz

Website: https://www.redstagtimber.co.nz

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RedStagTimber