- National Coverage: Devon | Wales | Scotland
I’m a farmer first and a sawmill operator second. National Sawmills didn’t start in an office — it started because I needed a better way to use the timber on my own farm.
Before we became distributors, I was already milling timber through my own business, Grantland Timber, using a Wood-Mizer and a Lucas mill. We worked on farms, estates, and storm-damaged sites across the UK. The more experience we gained, the clearer it became that there was a huge gap. There was plenty of good timber, but the systems around it didn’t work for smaller operators or rural communities.
As margins in farming continue to tighten, more farms are looking for practical ways to stay resilient. At the same time, land use is shifting towards more environmentally responsible systems, with agroforestry, woodland creation, and regenerative approaches becoming part of everyday farm management. Timber is already part of many farms, but too often it’s underused or seen as a liability rather than an asset. Converting and utilising that timber on site is one of the most practical steps a farm can take. It adds value, reduces waste, and creates new opportunities without moving away from food production.
When we began setting up our timber conversion site in Scotland, the scale and type of timber we were working with changed. We needed more capacity, more flexibility, and proper long-term support. After struggling to get the backing and guidance we needed, I went directly to Peterson Sawmills. They understood exactly what we were trying to build and provided a solution that matched our work on the ground.
That experience led to the creation of National Sawmills. My role within the business is focused on making sure customers receive their machines as promised. From placing orders and coordinating production to shipping, import, and final delivery, I manage the process from start to finish so buyers have clarity at every stage.
Alongside this, I’m involved in developing a timber conversion site in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, focused on processing local timber locally and demonstrating how decentralised sawmilling can strengthen rural economies. The installation of a large-scale mobile sawmill there is part of a wider effort to rebuild local capability in areas where traditional sawmills have declined.
Most of my time is spent travelling across the UK meeting customers, organising demonstrations, and building long-term relationships. When I’m not on the road, I’m back on the farm managing livestock, milling timber, and working on ways to bring farming and forestry closer together.
Sawmills should serve communities. Local timber, processed locally, is how rural areas become resilient again.
I’m based in South Wales and most of my background is in practical forestry, fabrication, and building things from timber. I’ve always been more interested in making and solving problems than talking about them.
I started using portable sawmills through my own work, processing timber for structural projects, outdoor builds, repairs, and one-off pieces. A lot of that work takes place in difficult environments where access is limited and things rarely go to plan. You learn quickly that equipment needs to be reliable, simple, and backed by proper support, because when something goes wrong on a remote site, you can’t afford delays.
That experience shapes my role at National Sawmills. My focus is on ongoing customer support. Once a machine arrives, I’m the person customers speak to for setup, troubleshooting, parts, and practical advice. Whether it’s helping someone get started, sourcing components, or working through problems in the field, the goal is to make sure operators have the confidence and backup they need long after the initial purchase.
When Jerry and I started working together, it became clear that this was the biggest gap in the industry. People weren’t just looking for machines — they needed someone they could rely on when things didn’t go smoothly. National Sawmills was built around that idea: clear communication, practical knowledge, and long-term support from people who actually use the equipment themselves.
I’m particularly interested in helping farmers, woodland owners, and small rural businesses become more self-reliant. Portable sawmilling gives people the ability to use their own timber, build skills, and create real value locally.
When I’m not working with customers, I’m usually in the workshop building, fixing, or experimenting with new ideas — often all at once.
Steve Rees didn’t come from a timber background.
He started out in livestock—working as a cattle AI technician, a role built on precision, timing, and understanding systems most people never see. It’s a world where outcomes matter, and you don’t get results without getting your hands dirty.
That same mindset is exactly what he’s brought into the timber industry.
Now based in Pembrokeshire, Steve is building his own sawmilling enterprise from the ground up. Not as a side project, not as a hobby—but as a deliberate shift into producing something tangible, something that stays local and holds value.
He’s part of a growing number of people who have stepped outside their original industries and recognised what timber can actually offer when it’s processed properly.
Under the National Sawmills umbrella, Steve takes on two key roles.
First, he’s responsible for organising and managing events and demonstrations across the UK. These aren’t polished trade shows. They’re working environments where people see machines run, timber being processed, and conversations happening that don’t usually get airtime.
Second, he leads operations in Wales.
Pembrokeshire isn’t short of timber; what it has lacked is access. Steve is helping to change that by building a presence that connects land, timber, and people—without relying on the usual systems to make it happen.
He’s still early in the journey. And that’s exactly the point.
Because National Sawmills isn’t built on finished businesses. It’s built on people willing to step into it, learn it, and push it forward.
And Steve is doing exactly that.
Eve Jenkins brings a different kind of backbone to National Sawmills.
She spent over 20 years as an accounts manager within the NHS, working across multiple trusts and dealing with the financial realities of large, complex systems. It’s a role that demands accuracy, accountability, and the ability to make sense of moving parts that most people never see.
But after two decades, she stepped away.
Not to slow down — but to build something more tangible.
Eve made the decision to move into farming and forestry, shifting from managing systems on paper to being part of them on the ground. She has been developing her knowledge through hands-on training at the Apricot Centre in the South Hams, focusing on regenerative approaches and how farming and forestry can work together rather than separately.
At Grantland Farm, she plays a key role in shaping that direction.
Encouraging more regenerative methods, engaging with people locally who are interested in forestry and farming, and helping bridge the gap between those who are curious and those already doing the work.
Within National Sawmills, Eve operates in a strategic and administrative capacity.
She supports the financial structure of the business, ensuring stability behind the scenes, while also maintaining customer relationships — making sure conversations don’t just start, but continue.
She isn’t front and centre. And that’s deliberate.
Because businesses like this don’t run on noise. They run on people who keep things moving, keep things grounded, and make sure what’s being built actually holds together.
And that’s exactly where Eve sits.
Mike’s background isn’t in timber. It’s in logistics.
He started out in large-scale haulage across Scotland — moving heavy loads through some of the most difficult terrain in the UK. From the Central Belt to the Outer Hebrides, and routes stretching the length of the country, he built an understanding of geography that you don’t get from a map.
You get it from doing the miles.
That experience matters.
Because one of the biggest failures in the timber industry isn’t the lack of resource — it’s the distance between where timber grows and where it gets processed. Mike has spent years operating inside that gap.
Now, he’s on the other side of it.
Mike runs the ASM / Dedicated Wide Slabber (DWS) combination — working directly with oversized timber across Scotland. This isn’t standard production. It’s irregular material, large diameter logs, and situations where yield is either captured properly or lost entirely.
That’s where his focus sits.
Understanding how to break down timber efficiently, maximise return from each log, and make difficult material viable — particularly in regions where transport alone can wipe out its value.
Within National Sawmills, Mike is your point of contact for Scotland north of the Central Belt, as well as Northern Ireland.
He understands the ground, the distances, and the realities of working in those areas.
Not in theory — but in practice.
Thomas Wilson operates where most people don’t.
His background is in logistics at a level that requires more than just moving things from A to B. He has worked on contracts with the Ministry of Defence, major utilities, and clients across Scotland where discretion isn’t optional — it’s expected. Results matter, and they have to be delivered without noise.
That’s the standard he works to.
But Thomas isn’t just logistics. He’s a catalyst.
He works closely with Matthew at Linn Botanical Gardens — a relationship that ultimately led to one of the most important projects behind National Sawmills’ presence in Scotland. (See Linn Botanical Gardens £3 million project case study)
That project didn’t start with a polished proposal.
It started with a phone call.
At 4am.
Missed.
Returned at 8am to a simple question:
“We’ve got oversized timber that needs processing — can you do it?”
Usually, when people say that, it’s exaggerated.
In this case, it was the opposite.
What was framed as a straightforward sawmilling job quickly turned into something far bigger — a project that demanded capability, adaptability, and the ability to deal with timber most systems aren’t designed to handle.
More importantly, it became the foundation for something else.
A working network.
Not a theoretical one. Not a government-backed scheme. A real, operational support system for small-scale sawmills across the country — built from doing the work, not talking about it.
Thomas sits at the centre of that.
He connects people, identifies opportunities, and creates the conditions for projects to actually happen — particularly in regions where access, scale, and logistics would otherwise shut them down.
He doesn’t chase attention.
He builds the framework that makes everything else possible.
This is a strange position to be in.
We didn’t get here because we’re good at selling machines.
Truthfully, we’re not salesmen.
This is what we do for a living — milling timber, up and down the country, in all conditions. The opportunity with Peterson Portable Sawmills came off the back of that. Not strategy decks. Not clever marketing.
Just old-fashioned business.
Pick up the phone. Do what you say you’re going to do. Don’t disappear.
We’re aware the history with Peterson in the UK has been… complicated.
There’s baggage there. And because of that, some of you probably think we’re just another flash in the pan.
Fair enough.
We’re not going to try and talk our way around that. We’ll just get on with it.
Earning our stripes with you comes down to one thing — being the backup when you actually need it. When it’s pissing sideways, your fingers don’t work, and something’s gone wrong.
You ring.
We answer.
And we sort it.
That’s it.
We’re not here to sell you something and disappear. We’re here because we use these machines ourselves, and we know what it’s like when you’ve got no support behind you.
Scotland & Northern Operations
Strategic Operations
Director focusing on ongoing customer support, troubleshooting, and Welsh territory operations.
UK Events & Wales Lead
Director managing import, distribution, and South West operations from the home farm.
Strategy & Operations