A TIMBER merchant is increasing production after investing £200,000 in technology.

Robert Duncan Timber, of Gateshead has installed an automated and computerised timber stacking system.

The family-run business, which also has centres in Middlesbrough and Leeds, is believed to be the first UK timber firm to import the machines, which are made in Switzerland.

The company, which employs 83 staff, expects the investment to boost production by ten per cent, as it speeds up loading times for its 11-strong delivery fleet.

Chairman Robert Duncan, son of the company founder, said: "We had long felt automated stacking was the next big advance.

"We searched for more than a year for a manufacturer able to provide us with the step-up in technology that we were confident could be achieved."

Robert Duncan Timber, founded in 1946, supplies timber to builders from Edinburgh down to the North Midlands.

It turns out 250,000 feet of timber and MDF mouldings a week. Recent high-profile contracts include supplying the Duchess of Alnwick for the treehouse in Alnwick Gardens and the cedar cladding for the £5m Quadrus office block in Boldon, South Tyneside.

Production director Brent Duncan said: "By adding computerised stacking to our existing range of modern sawmill machinery we are now able to offer customers faster delivery times in machinery service."