Announcement came on same day insurance giant said it was stopping production at its own timber modular housing firm

Cala Group has bought timber frame builder Taylor Lane in a move designed to boost its timber frame production in England to 1,500 units annually over the next five years.

The 40-year-old firm has factories in Hereford and Wales and will supply the L&G-owned housebuilder’s five English businesses in the Cotswolds and South of England.

Taylor Lane, which has turnover of around £30m supplying 2,000 timber frame units per year, will retain its existing management team and continue to supply timber frames to existing customers and expand into the wider market.

timber frame

Taylor Lane has been producing timber frames since the 1980s

The acquisition, announced yesterday, came on the same day that Cala’s parent company, L&G, said it was ceasing production at its own timber-frame modular housing business, L&G Modular, following years of losses.

L&G did not say whether the two announcements were linked but Taylor Lane’s timber panel product is different from the complete volumetric houses produced by L&G Modular, and it is not known whether Cala had ever considered using L&G Modular as a supplier.

Cala, which reported a 9% rise in turnover to £1.36bn last year in an unaudited trading update in January, said it aims to use timber frame in as many homes it builds in England as possible.

In Scotland, 80% of Cala’s homes are built with timber frame construction. The firm has been using this method of homebuilding north of the border for more than 40 years.