How to start a firewood business in the UK

A firewood business can start small: a supply of wood, somewhere dry to keep it, a vehicle and a few customers. Turning it into something that pays means getting the wood dry, selling it legally, and delivering efficiently through a very seasonal year. This guide covers the start-up decisions. If you're already trading, our guide to running a firewood delivery business covers the day-to-day.

1. Decide how you'll get dry wood

Everything follows from this. Broadly there are three routes:

• Buy in ready-to-sell wood (seasoned or kiln-dried) from a larger supplier and resell it. Lowest set-up cost and quickest start, but thinner margins and you depend on your supplier's stock in a cold snap.
• Buy in round wood or cordwood and season it yourself. Cheaper wood, more margin, but you need space, time and equipment for cutting, splitting and drying.
• Your own timber, for example from land you manage or tree work. Cheapest raw material, but the volume and species can be unpredictable.

If you season wood yourself, the main constraint is time. Wood cut this winter won't necessarily be dry enough to sell next winter, so plan stock a season or more ahead and buy a moisture meter so you know rather than guess.

2. Understand Ready to Burn (England)

In England, gov.uk's guidance for sellers says wood fuel sold in volumes under 2 cubic metres must be certified as Ready to Burn, meaning a moisture content of 20% or less. For sales of 2 cubic metres or more, certification isn't needed, but you must give customers a notice explaining how to dry and store the wood and check its moisture before burning (gov.uk: selling wood for domestic use in England).

For a new domestic business this matters a lot: bulk bags and nets are under 2m³, so most domestic deliveries need certified wood. If you resell someone else's certified wood, check how their certification applies to what you sell. If you produce your own, you'll need your own certification.

Gov.uk explains how to get wood fuel certified. The application asks for things like fuel samples, how you control moisture, your depot locations and retail outlets, and your annual sales figures, and there are fees; if approved you get a certificate with a unique ID. Certified products must show the Ready to Burn logo, your name and the certificate number. Read the gov.uk page in full before applying.

These rules apply in England. If you'll sell in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, check the current rules with the relevant government or your local council before you start.

3. Storage and handling

Dry wood is only dry while it's kept dry. You'll need:

• covered, ventilated storage for seasoned stock, off the ground;
• separate space for wood that's still drying, so nobody bags it by mistake;
• a way to move bulk bags (a pallet truck, forklift or tractor with forks, depending on scale);
• a moisture meter and a habit of recording readings, which also helps if you're certified.

Cutting and splitting equipment brings real injury risks. Get proper training for chainsaws and log splitters, wear the right protective kit, and check your insurance covers the work you do.

4. Set up the business

If you're starting as a sole trader, gov.uk says you must register for Self Assessment if you earn more than £1,000 from self-employment in a tax year, and you can start trading before you register (gov.uk: set up as a sole trader). Keep records from day one: what you bought, what you sold, and to whom.

If you take anyone on to help, gov.uk says you need employers' liability insurance as soon as you become an employer, with at least £5 million of cover, with some exemptions (gov.uk: employers' liability insurance).

5. Choose your vehicle carefully

Logs are heavy. The question isn't how many bags fit in the van, it's how many you can carry legally within its payload. Weigh a typical bag of your product, check the vehicle's payload, and remember the driver and equipment count too. A standard car (category B) licence covers petrol and diesel vehicles up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass, with a higher limit for some zero-emission vehicles (gov.uk: driving licence categories). Trailers have their own rules, so check those if you plan to tow.

6. Price your products

Customers compare log prices closely, often without comparing volumes. Make yours easy to understand:

• Say exactly what's in a bulk bag or net, and whether volumes are loose-tipped or stacked.
• Price delivery separately or build it in, but be consistent. A flat charge within a set radius and more beyond it is easy to explain.
• Price the extras that cost you time: stacking, carrying through to the back garden, awkward access.

Work out your cost per drop first. The delivery cost calculator does this from your mileage and time, and the round pricing calculator helps you set a price that covers it.

7. Find customers and smooth the season

Demand peaks in autumn and winter. A few things help a new business:

• Start selling in late summer. Early-order offers fill your diary before the rush.
• Offer regular top-ups. Customers who get a delivery every few weeks are easier to plan for than one-off panic orders.
• Pick delivery days by area. "North villages on Tuesdays" keeps drops close together.
• Ask for reviews from happy customers. Local search and word of mouth do most of the work in this trade.

8. Plan the delivery round

Log customers are often rural and spread out, so the route makes a big difference to profit. Group drops by area, plan by load as well as by route (which drops go on the first load, and whether a second trip to the yard fits), and record any cash taken at the door. The free route planner orders a day's drops by real road times.

RoundSorted keeps the rest together: customers and their usual orders, a load list for the day, routes in driving order, photos of where the logs were left and cash recorded at each drop. See RoundSorted for firewood and log merchants.