The Official Announcement…
Dear Customer
We are excited to announce that as of the 1st September 2018 the trading assets of Forever Fuels has been acquired by Balcas Timber Ltd, the UK’s largest manufacturer of ENplusGrade A1 pellets (branded brites). Our entire Forever Fuels’ team are now part of the Balcas family and this acquisition represents an important opportunity for two long established and market leading businesses to strengthen our customers’ security of supply and improve the efficiency in bringing locally made brites wood pellets to you.
Who is Balcas Timber Ltd?
Balcas Timber Limited is a leading timber products supplier, and one of Britain and Ireland’s largest sawmills. Having over 50 years’ experience in the timber trade Balcas branched out into renewable energy in 2004, specifically biomass, to pioneer wood pellets branded brites for the UK and Irish markets.
brites are manufactured from pure sawdust, a by-product from the sawmills on site and all wood used is sourced from sustainable forests approved by the Forestry Stewardship Council® (FSC® C021367). Both the brites pellet manufacturing plants (Enniskillen, Northern Ireland and Invergordon, Scotland) are self-sufficient in electricity, displacing energy previously generated from fossil fuels and permits Balcas to sell surplus electricity to the grid. Enniskillen produces 55,000 tonnes per year and Invergordon 100,000 tonnes per year.
What does this mean for me as a customer?
We would like to take a moment to talk to you about why this is such an exciting transaction, and the benefits it will bring to our customers.
Ian McCraken brites Business Development Director said “We are confident that the combination of the Forever Fuel teams experience making industry leading deliveries of wood pellets and the Balcas teams experience in manufacturing wood pellets will make brites the best choice for all users of wood pellets. This will strengthen our already unrivaled security of supply. We will continue to develop our friendly service offering including online ordering and technical know-how.”
On behalf of Summerleaze (parent company to Forever Fuels), Bruno Prior, Director said:
“We are pleased with the potential of this new direction and a clear determination from the new owner to harness the existing strengths of both companies to provide a long-term future. All of the employees of Forever Fuels have transferred to Balcas and we look forward with confidence to the business growing strongly under its new owners.”
We know this news will likely result in many questions, and we will do our best to answer them. Please take some time to review the Q&A section below. If there is a question you’d like to ask that hasn’t been covered, please do not hesitate to contact the team on 01628 509 690 or at sales@forever-fuels.com.
Thank you!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our customers for your business and support over the last 10 years. We look forward to continuing our commitment to you as we embark on this next chapter together, and providing you with the same reliable service that you are used to.
Questions & Answers…
Check out some questions and answers. If you have a question that isn’t covered here please contact us.
How will it affect me?
You will continue to order as before and use the same contact numbers and emails. We will likely change and merge our systems over time and we will make sure we communicate any change before this happens.
What is the name and details of the company I am now dealing with?
The legal entity you are dealing with is Balcas Timber Ltd trading as Forever Fuels. Our VAT number and registered office will appear at the bottom of your invoice. That should be the only change you notice.
Are there two sets of my data, how is my information being managed?
Your data is stored as before on either the Balcas system or Forever Fuel system. Our privacy policies are available and you can opt out of communications at any time by letting us know.
Personal data /financial – bank details?
You can continue to contact us and order on the same telephone number, emails or website you used in the past. You do not need to change anything. If you pay by BACS you will find new details at the bottom of the invoice, please note these and use them for any payments to be made. (unless you have an outstanding Forever Fuels invoice).
I have an outstanding invoice from Forever Fuels, who do I pay?
If you had an invoice from Forever Fuels (any invoice dated prior to 1st September 2018 and has Forever Fuels above the address on the top left of the invoice) you will need to pay Forever Fuels as usual.
Do I need to open a new account?
No everything remains as before. We will likely merge our systems over time and we will make sure we communicate any change before this. The customer portal, DMS will reflect your trading activity with Balcas Timber Limited, however, all historic order details will be available for you to see. Your logins remain the same. If you use a debit or credit card to pay us this will continue to be processed by a secure third-party site. We, nor the secure third-party card processing site store your card or bank details. As before you can simply let us know if you want to opt out of communications or change your contact preferences.
Are my previous T&C still the same?
Your existing T & C’s remain the same should we need to change anything in the future we will notify you in advance.
Do the pellets still come from the same source?
Balcas are the largest local manufacturer of wood pellets in the UK and Ireland. All the pellets we produce are made using wood grown locally and with renewable energy generated on site. These wood pellets, therefore, have one of the lowest greenhouse gas impacts from manufacturing and transportation available in the UK market.
Will the quality of pellets be the same i.e.: size?
All of the wood pellets supplied by us comply with ENplus A1. Our ENplus A1 registration number and BSL numbers have changed only to reflect the change in the legal entity. The pellets we supply remain to the same high standard as before.
Will my price change?
Prices in the market change all the time and we always ensure we deliver a competitive service to you. The merging of our two companies should improve our efficiencies of delivery and we, therefore, hope the impact of any price changes should be kept to a minimum. If you have signed a supply contract or agreed a fixed price with us we will continue to honour that agreement.
Will my driver be the same? Will deliveries still come from my local depot?
If you bought from Forever Fuels in the past the answer is likely to be yes. We will be expanding our delivery team and fleet to meet the needs of the new combined business. But rest assured due to our training program and industry-leading fleet you will still get the same friendly professional service. We also now have an impressive combined storage capacity of 31,500 tonnes!
Will you offer the same communications, incentives, and promotions?
If you have registered to receive communications from us we will let you know when we are in your area and if we have any relevant offers. Depending on your needs we can offer multiyear deals if you want peace of mind over the security of supply and prices.
Delivery schedules? Extended or reduced?
Like any fuel delivery service we will continue to be busier in winter months and we therefore as before, encourage you to contact us and place your order in plenty of time to allow our team to make your delivery in good time.