Where can I get good value birch ply?

[Jimbo]

I see all sorts of videos on Youtube where people make workshop furniture out of birch ply. What they use seems to be immaculate, with zero voids or surface damage.
I can't find good quality birch ply in the UK for less than about £100 for an 8' x 4' sheet. The stuff you get from Wickes and B&Q is cheaper but even the premium stuff seems to be peppered with voids.
Where's the best place in the UK to get good quality, good value, 18mm ply?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Avoid DIY places and Google "plywood merchants". In my own area I've bought from Hanson Plywood and Benson's but any trade timber merchant will quote you (that is a timber merchant NOT builder's merchant). Specify Finnish or Scandinavian for the best quality (the Belorussian and Russian stuff - often sold as "Baltic" - has more or less disappeared). One thing, though, "good value" is relative - birch plywood has always been a top end product with a price ticket to match. The only way to get the price down is to bulk buy (i.e a pack's worth, or 20 to 50 sheets depending on the thickness).

BTW the videos you are watching, are they American by any chance? Plywood is a completely different market in the USA and most is produced in the USA, not imported like our supplies

 

[Jimbo]

Avoid DIY places and Google "plywood merchants". In my own area I've bought from Hanson Plywood and Benson's but any trade timber merchant will quote you (that is a timber merchant NOT builder's merchant). Specify Finnish or Scandinavian for the best quality (the Belorussian and Russian stuff - often sold as "Baltic" - has more or less disappeared). One thing, though, "good value" is relative - birch plywood has always been a top end product with a price ticket to match. The only way to get the price down is to bulk buy (i.e a pack's worth, or 20 to 50 sheets depending on the thickness).

BTW the videos you are watching, are they American by any chance? Plywood is a completely different market in the USA and most is produced in the USA, not imported like our supplies

Thanks. Videos I watch are from all over really, but yes a fair few of them are from the US.

 

[Diver Fred]

Have to admit I bought a several sheets from a local woodyard a few weeks ago, paid premium prices for stuff that is now barely any better than shuttering ply. Spent half a hour sorting out 4 suitable sheets. After cutting still found voids. In fact the price was about the same as B&Q within a few pennies. With the discount card the B&Q stuff would have been cheaper; sad to say probably better quality.