MEMBER PROFILE
HAPPY PEOPLE HAPPY TREES
(l to r): Imam Sayyed, Charles Beaumont and Ed Beaumont
Characterised by a familiar atmosphere yet a flair of innovation and future, Trees Please continues to grow a sustainable and resilient business with excellent quality of both plants and service. Richard Hunter meets them in Northumberland.
L
ocated on the banks on the River Tyne, Trees Please is a family run business covering more than 300 acres. Led by Charles Beaumont with Operations Director Ed Beaumont and Production Director Imam Sayyed; the business has grown from two million plants in 2013 to around 15 million this year. The core business is conifers for the commercial timber market, however, at least a quarter of the plants grown are broadleaves. The range of broadleaves stretches from hedging and native woodland whips to larger amenity species, catering for most markets. As the desire for more broadleaves emerges from the England Trees Action Plan those figures will undoubtedly shift, as any good business moves with the market. However, Charles is cautious and does not plan to jump the gun on planting more than the industry wants, commenting that trying to predict trends can result in getting your fingers burnt. Demand for hedgerow species has increased and is expected to continue to grow especially with the launch of ELMS. Exhibiting at the recent Groundswell Show, Charles and Ed realised that the farming sector is starting to consider new ideas; and Trees Please are well situated to cover all bases. On the range of species they grow, Charles is content that they are in a position to cover demand. He points out that
the nursery’s soil type is excellent for a wide range of tree species and, combined with their ground rotation, the site is not stretched to breaking. But talking about the site, they take their responsibility towards the environment very seriously – while future-proofing their business at the same time: They are exploring the option of reducing the use of chemicals by employing robotic weeders and are researching opportunities to improve automatic graders. Tree production is labour-intensive and the restrictions on EU workers is a massive cause for concern. To address this, Imam is in the process of recruiting two horticultural apprentices. The apprenticeship is ideal for tree growing and allows the business to invest in long-term staff. The apprentices will work at Trees Please and then attend Houghall College for their required off-job training elements. Trees Please have a history of recruiting local young people, one of their supervisors started on a Youth Training Scheme many years ago.
“THE COMPANY IS A CREDIT TO THE STAFF; THEIR TIME AND DEDICATION TO THE BUSINESS”.
22 FORESTRY & TIMBER NEWS • August 2021
The next stage of the company’s growth centres around the recent recruitment of Imam who will be driving the emphasis on improved growing techniques, genetic improvement, better training of staff and use of apprentice schemes to attract new talent. They have plans to create their own seed orchard and take it a step further with seed collecting and in-house seed treatment. Imam’s mantra of “Happy People, Happy Trees, Happy Customers” is mentioned several times and is very much the family feel you get when visiting the business. The environment features heavily in our conversation. Trees Please are a Tubex supplier and promote the recycling of used tree tubes reducing the amount of plastic left in the forestry environment. But closer to home, Charles was keen to point out that the nursery has several breeding pairs of wading birds which return each year, taking advantage of the ideal ground cover for nesting. Ed believes the reason behind the success of the business is the staff, including Imam, who only joined this year. The family feel runs throughout the company, with many of the 18 full time staff having been here for years, four from when Charles
CONFOR.ORG.UK
