woodsmanBSc

Lets be frank chaps the majority of the Arb industry are know it all tree rats who have undertaken the same poor practices for many years, only doing the minimum to get by! Now its very closed minded to stereo-type all Tree Officers as green college leaving spotty guys and girls. I would advise anyone to walk a mile in another guy or girls shoes before making judgment. To come to such a conclusion merely because a TO puts an emergency TPO on a tree or requires BS 5837 data or does not climb is in my eyes a single minded individual who does not care for arboricultural best practice and only commercial gain. What we must all do is try and work to best arboricultural practice and understand decisions made by Local Authority Tree Officers. How many of you have read Trees in Towns II 2008) or the Uk Forest Strategy (1994)? There are underline targets agreed at Kyoto/Helsinki in the form of Local Agenda 21’s all councils must work too! By all means ask questions to try and understand a management decision but until you have the whole book in your hand and have read it I think you should think about what you say before you say it. Now you will always get the f**k it attitudes, I have worked 25 yrs in the tree game and have never seen that before. However, unless you read current literature how can you as an old dog learn new tricks? From my understanding as a successful consultant working for a large nationwide arb practices with many Local Authority Tree Officers, CPD is key to improve your knowledge base! What Steve says is very true! Why would you pass work onto someone slating you”? I have been luck enough to work on both sides of the coin and understand both commercial/bureaucratic pressures involved in both. The challenge is to reach a professional equilibrium between these two factors. Of course it is easer to show or tell a man how to dig a hole if you know how to dig that hole yourself. However from my experience a good professional working relationship between contactor and TO is the best way to understand, increase knowledge on both sides and have a Happy. Age is not a factor! And if you do not grasp this fact you will always be scratching around looking for the next job! There are 10 year olds that can speak fluent French or know more on a given subject than myself. This only increases my respect for an individual. Professional respect is the key and we should all be honest enough to hold are hands up and ask for advice, even if it’s from a fresh faced TO who can quote the book – on whatever arboricultural subject it may be. And there are many!! No doubt my comments will ruffle a few feathers but ha! I have a nice house, new truck and a secure job managing 60 staff!

The guys at Leicestershire County Council are a good arb team! They know their onions!! We have worked with them on larger projects and found them to be top notch! When i left uni i went for an interview for an inspector job at this LA! This lasted 3 hours!! Now i have had interviews with the FC and Tilhill etc and none of them were as in depth as this one. As with all LA contracts you have to tick all the box's to get though the PQQ process! Well woth the efort if your concern can provide a porfesional arb service. These are the sort of contracts which make a difference during hard times. I know we will be going for this one!! Good luck to all who intend to apply!

Commercial price at the moment is £20/ton roadside. I know a chap who will sell a short wheel base unimog of ash for £70. Other examples sell from between £60 - £120 per load! weight or volume capacity of truck will of course warrent price.

Most of our Council contracts require 5 million insurance, some do require 10 million. Some of our clients also stipulate AA approved status as they feel this is the best/most rigorous form of acreditation. Believe me it go's a long way! A lot further than ISA!!!! In my opinion this is due to the rigorous evaluation of the AA. I would also encourage you to get ISO 9001, 14001 & ISHO 18001 acreditation. We as a company also have Construction line approved status, CHAS, and are profesional members of the Arb assocciation (Mgt team). Basicaly the more profesional you are in every sense increases the chances of getting the bigger contracts. But dont forget it may be a £1.5 million contract, but in real terms YOU will see no way this amount. Invest in your staff!! This will increase your work skills and thus your chances of getting more skilled contracts. We now only employ charge hands/foreman who have a min Tech cert or FdSc in arb! We feel this is the right direction for a medium - largish sized arb company. As Treequip stated, but i would also include company history, including company structure, mobilisation plans for a given event etc. Show these people you have a plan and long term vision. Include or identify a company statement/environmental statement. I have built very good relationships with LA's by going out of my way to help with tree related issues. Even if this is IDing a species of tree. LA's like to know you will be there for them if the S**T hits the fan. http://www.acorntreesurgery.com

What sort of woodland survey are you undertaking? Many types, thining, volume (basal area), biodiversity, deadwod etc etc Give us a clue and i might be able to help!!