Glendale Tree Services provides a wide range of high-quality tree surgery and forestry contracting services and has been leading the way in the burgeoning biomass woodchip market since 2011. We caught up with co-proprietor Stewart Cameron to find out more about this outstanding operation.
Headquartered in Randalstown, County Antrim, Glendale Tree Services is an exceptional tree surgery and forestry contracting business, owned and run by husband-and-wife team Stewart and Kirstie Cameron. Stewart is a fully-qualified tree surgeon, whose experience and expertise ensure effective, efficient and safe solutions across a comprehensive range of services, while Kirstie deftly handles administration and logistics, facilitating the smooth coordination of day-to-day activities.
In order to guarantee professionalism across the board – from tree and hedge maintenance to tree felling and removal as well as site clearance, stump removal and wood chipping – all members of staff are qualified to NPTC / LANTRA level.
Other high-quality services provided province-wide include fuel supply, forestry contracting, tree planting and a 24-hour emergency storm damage call-out service.
Glendale Tree Services is equipped and qualified to deal with trees of any size and in any location. Even if a tree is in close proximity to existing trees or property, Glendale can dismantle / sectional fell it without damaging adjacent trees or property in any way. All sites are left clear of debris after each job.
A range of wood products is offered, including composted woodchip mulch, firewood and biomass chip. Glendale have their own drying facilities on-site and can provide biomass chip at 20% mc in either G30 or G50 grade in bulk quantities large or small. Delivery can be arranged to suit customer requirements.
A transparent and friendly family business offering a personal touch, Glendale Tree Services provides a bespoke forestry contracting service to suit all woodland needs. Thinning, clearfelling and replanting services are all available. Timber can be marketed to maximise the landowner’s financial return and make woodlands as profitable as possible. Depending on the site and wood content, they can also chip the brash post-harvesting to further increase profit margins.
With a keen emphasis on Health & Safety, fully-insured and certified, and with each and every staff member trained and qualified in all aspects of their work (and upskilled regularly), Glendale is fully conscious of environmental considerations, implementing procedures in such a way to cause minimum disturbance to wildlife and the ecosystem at large.
Significant strategic investment has been made in a superb fleet of specialist equipment, which is regularly checked and maintained / serviced, resulting in optimal performance. No stone is left unturned in making sure that all jobs, large or small, are completed to the highest possible standards and this is why Glendale Tree Services benefits from a large volume of repeat business.
From a farming background, Stewart established Glendale Tree Services in 2004: “I was a dairy farmer and commodity prices were poor so I decided to diversify into something more profitable,” he reflects. “I had been doing some hedge cutting and tree maintenance around the farm prior to that and decided to offer that service to others on a professional level.
“I trained some men up and the Department of Agriculture were offering funds towards that, which helped because it’s expensive to train a member of staff. I also did tree cutting and tree climbing courses, which both enabled me to provide an excellent service and also added to my credibility.
“We started off doing private work for local farmers and some small commercial jobs and then started working for local authorities and education boards and built it up gradually from there. Initially, I thought the work would just be part time to supplement the farming but it took on a life of its own and started to take over, so we sold the cows and we now just farm on a small scale as a part-time hobby and do the forestry contracting full time.”
Stewart and Kirstie employ five arborists full time as well as some part-time employees, operating throughout the six counties of Northern Ireland.
“Biomass is a big thing now and to cater for this market we invested in a large biomass chipper five years ago,” Stewart continues. “It’s a 20” wood chipper, which can produce 12-15 tonnes of biomass woodchip per hour. We’re going to be adding a second machine to cater for the increase in demand for biomass woodchip, which goes to various customers.
“Some buy it fresh and dry it themselves but we also have a drying plant and can provide dried chip. We also offer landowners a contract chipping service.
“There’s more incentive now for landowners to plant new woodlands. The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme has led to an increased number of biomass boilers being installed and a surge in the demand for woodchip, which has to come from somewhere. With low commodity prices for agri produce, you would think that more and more farmers would look at planting.”
The Camerons themselves planted 15 acres in 2008. “It’s a long-term venture,” Stewart notes. “It’ll be another ten years before we start thinning them out.”
By consistently providing exceptionally high-quality solutions, Glendale Tree Services has gone from strength to strength as a viable commercial concern over the last twelve years. “You are only as good as your last job,” Stewart acknowledges. “So you have to make sure that every job is done well, provide an excellent service, keep your customers involved and meet their expectations at all times.
“There are a lot of overheads and high running costs but we don’t charge high rates and we get a lot of work from word of mouth and that keeps us busy. We’ve been at this a long time now and we have a wealth of experience.
“We’ve been doing the biomass for five years and that’s a real growth area but we’re still offering the other tree and forestry services as well and thankfully we’re busy in every area.”
Going forward, the objective is to keep providing the quality solutions for which Glendale Tree Services is renowned.
Glendale Tree Services,
Glendale,
Mucklerammer Road,
Randalstown, County Antrim.
BT41 3EZ
Tel: 028 94472233
Mobile: 07745 097225
E: [email protected]
Web: www.glendaletreeservices.com
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 6, July/August 2016
