BSW Group is the UK’s largest integrated forestry and timber business, encompassing every stage of the timber supply chain—from tree nurseries and forest management through harvesting, sawmilling, manufacturing, distribution, and circular‐economy initiatives. The group comprises numerous specialist businesses, each supporting an integrated forestry ecosystem and includes BSW Timber, Tilhill Forestry, Maelor Forest, BSW Timber Solutions, Scott Pallets, The Pallet LOOP, Allwood Recycling Solutions and the CarbonStore UK.
The Challenge
BSW Group is a diverse organisation made up of multiple businesses covering the full lifecycle of timber from forestry and sawmills through to finished products such as fencing, sheds, and pallets. Each part of the group historically managed training independently, using different systems or in some cases relying on offline processes.
This fragmented approach created several challenges:
- Whilst all businesses delivered health & safety training the content and methodologies were inconsistent.
- Lack of central oversight: Managers found it difficult to monitor training completion or compliance across teams.
- Time-consuming administration: Generating reports and tracking learner progress required regular manual innovation.
- Limited scalability: The existing LMS lacked flexibility to expand or support new initiatives and to encompass the needs of the expanding business.
With over 2,000 employees across the entire group, many of them without regular computer access but in high-risk roles where training is critical, BSW needed a consistent, scalable solution to centralise learning.
The Solution
To address these challenges, the BSW team worked closely with Cortexa to ensure that their new LMS aligned with their current needs and provided the growth and flexibility to steadily integrate their growing portfolio of businesses. In July 2024 together we launched the BSW Academy, built on the latest Totara LMS . The intention was to begin with a phased rollout with key business units and then expand across the group.
Key elements of the solution included:
- Centralised platform: A single Academy for all businesses, creating a unified brand and consistent training experience.
- Phased integration: So far both BSW and Tilhill have fully completed the LMS onboarding process, with plans to now phase in the other businesses in due course.
- Flexible content management: The Academy enables BSW to upload its own training courses at no extra cost, supporting bespoke programmes such as a new leadership development pathway.
- Health & Safety focus: Core compliance training was prioritised to ensure employees in high-risk environments had easy access.
- Support & scalability: Close collaboration with Cortexa’s consultants allowed BSW to make use of features like dashboards, certifications, and reporting, while planning for future growth.
The Results
After 12 months of operation, the BSW Academy is already delivering clear benefits:
- Reduced administration: Automated monthly reporting has saved significant time compared to manual processes.
- Improved oversight: Managers can now directly view training records for their teams, supporting compliance and accountability.
- Consistent training: A centralised system ensures all parts of the group are aligned in their approach, particularly in health & safety.
- Enhanced learner experience: Staff benefit from a growing library of training, with future plans for leadership resources and further custom content.
With over 800 active users already and scope to scale across more than 2,000 employees, the BSW Academy is laying the foundation for a stronger, safer, and more consistent learning culture across the group.
“Our new Totara LMS has been a major step forward in terms of centralising our Group online learning capabilities but the biggest difference for us is the reduction in admin and the ability to centralise reporting. Managers can now see their team’s progress at a glance, which just wasn’t possible before.”
Group L&D Leader, BSW Group
Customer
Connected Partner
Customer
Region
United Kingdom
Sectors
Manufacturing
Industry Sizes
Medium
Solutions
Engage, Learn
Connected Partner