Oulton Hall Hotel,
Nr Leeds
06-07 May 2026
Announcing our 2026 Awards, annual dinner and Conference​
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Four award categories - nominations now open
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Preserving Confidence in Wood conference theme
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Arxada, Bridewell Associates, Koppers and Wolman main sponsors
We are pleased to announce the launch of our 2026 wood protection Awards, annual dinner and conference. The venue is the Oulton Hall Hotel, Leeds, on 6-7 May, 2026. We are returning to this fantastic venue following the very positive feedback after this year’s events.
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The annual dinner and awards presentation is on the evening of Wednesday 6 May starting at 7.00pm. This is followed by our half-day annual conference on the morning of Thursday 7 May.
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The conference theme is ‘Preserving Confidence in Wood’ and we’ll be releasing full details next month about the delegate attendance package, conference speakers and ‘curtain raiser’ events like our annual golf competition and wine and cheese tasting challenge.
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The 2026 WPA Award categories
Project of the Year – Judged Award
This Award is open to any project in the UK or overseas that uses wood industrially pre-treated with a preservative, a flame retardant or wood modification process. The project can be of any size, in progress or completed in the past two years.
Download your Project of the Year nomination form here
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Treated Wood Champion – Judged Award
This Award is presented to an individual in recognition of their outstanding commitment to personal development and contribution to the advancement of treated wood knowledge in their place of work and/or with customers.
Download your Treated Wood Champion nomination form here
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WPA Benchmark - Treater of the Year – Conferred Award
This award is conferred by the WPA Benchmark quality schemes audit team to showcase and recognise those WPA Benchmark treated wood quality scheme members go above and beyond mere compliance with WPA approved product standards and whose treatment plant, quality systems, staff skills and commitment to fitness for purpose are exceptional.
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Best Kept Treatment Plant – Conferred Award
This award recognises the unsung heroes of the preservative pre-treated wood industry - the treatment plant operator. It applies to every accreditation category of WPA Benchmark quality assurance schemes and looks at standards of cleanliness, safety, efficiency and record keeping.
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Remember, non-WPA members can submit their nominations, too for the Project of the Year and Treated Wood Champion awards.
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More information
We will be announcing full details about our 2026 events programme, conference speakers and the all-inclusive special delegate rate for WPA Members and the rate for non-members.
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Put the 6 and 7 May 2026 in your diary now.
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Our 2026 Sponsors
It would be impossible to stage the annual WPA Awards, dinner and conference without sponsorship funding. These are challenging times for our industry which is why we are delighted to announce that our annual events in 2026 will be staged thanks to the support of four main sponsors Arxada, Bridewell Associates, Koppers Performance Chemicals and Sika Wolman.
Bond Timber is the individual sponsor of our 2026 golf competition and BSW, the individual sponsor of the wine and cheese tasting event.
The support of these members for these important networking events and opportunities for WPA Members to discuss our industry face to face is greatly appreciated.
Steve Young
Chairman
Main Event sponsors:
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Individual Events sponsors:
Golf
Wine Tasting