12 Let’s Hear it from...
We’re going to stick to the knitting – creating new landscapes and maintaining those that have already been developed.
creating new landscapes and maintenance of those landscapes that will have already been developed. We have pioneered and are probably the market leader in the clean and green concept which is evolving towards ‘Outdoor FM’ – outdoor facilities management – giving councils the opportunity to put together different services in the outdoors. Another opportunity, as cuts and public spending bites, is that councils, strapped for cash, may seek to outsource more operations. But mostly. . . growth simply by just being best at what we do – we have got to be the best. You have to look at your business and find something about it which is unique. This is a fantastic industry, in terms of opportunity and passion, although often not particularly well organised compared to some. It’s true there is a wealth of talent in terms of landscaping, maintenance and horticulture out there, and we’re grabbing what we can so we can grow our own employee talent pool. But we are short of people who want to get into the industry, who are planners, logistics experts, engineers, scientists, mathematicians. There is a need to make horticulture sexy so that graduates want to come and work in this sector.
Are they well paid? At the lower end of the spectrum, such as outdoor workers, park keepers, seasonal workers, probably not. But as you move further up and look at management and technical positions and compare them to other industries with which I am familiar, then I think, yes, we are reasonably paid.
Is there a role for Associations to sell the industry better? I don’t know that, they do a good job at selling the industry in terms of what we produce. The BALI Awards, for instance, is an outstanding showcase of our industry achievements. But whether they get the message across outside of the people involved with the industry I’m not sure. I was the Chairman of an Association in the past and I
| October 2011 |Volume 1 Issue 2
said there are two things that determine whether it is strong, weak or successful – one being the budget and how much members are prepared to pay. And, secondly, the quality of the people and the seniority of people who get involved in the meetings. If you don’t send senior decision makers to meetings it becomes a talking shop because the people there aren’t decision makers. Guilty as charged – I don’t go to meetings , but that’s endemic in our industry.
Imported products – do you have any issues with that? It makes no difference at all. An item is purchased simply on the grounds of its best end-to-end value. It’s full life cost, sustainability, emissions, health and safety issues such as vibration, and longevity.
Would the VC company have any concerns with the machinery you use? The whole concept of VC is to make the best value for money, to make the company worth more. If you’ve got tired old kit or inappropriately purchased kit, when you come to sell the business it won’t be worth as much. It’s not for a business of our size to dictate policy on imports and exports, we just buy the best materials and equipment for the job in terms of quality, environment safety, performance, reliability, longevity and price. It would be nice if everything was locally sourced but that’s not always possible.
Are there any Companies you admire? Yes, ours!
In our industry – each company is different in
terms of strengths and weaknesses, structures and financial circumstances. Therefore if you took the best bits from each one you would make a mega company, but a business like that would never work.
Why? Because we’d all want to be in charge of it!!
If you were to ever leave the Company what would you want your legacy to be? The most important thing would be for the 1,100 staff who work for the Landscape Group to be left with a strong stable company that is able to withstand whatever the world throws at it and has their welfare at heart. But I’m not going anywhere just yet.
What do you do to relax? Of course I love cooking but also what does someone who spends most of his business life at a rapid pace do to relax? Ride motorcycles. I have three motorcycles (two Ducatis and a Yamaha) and will shortly be riding down to Southern Spain on holiday, so that’s what I do to relax.
Thanks for your time Nick and for the insight into the Landscape Group and the person behind the position – and reader if you ever bump into this man be sure to ask for his advice on how to cook the perfect steak – inspiring!
REFERENCES
The Landscape Group First Floor Offices, 3 Rye Hill Office Park, Birmingham Road, Allesley, Coventry, West Midlands CV5 9AB Tel: 024 7640 5660 Email:
coventry@thelandscapegroup.co.uk Web:
www.thelandscapegroup.co.uk
BALI
(The British Association of Landscape Industries) Landscape House, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LG Tel: 024 7669 0333 Email:
contact@bali.org.uk Web:
www.bali.co.uk
Wyevale Landscapes Upper Buckover Farm, Buckover, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire GL12 8DZ Tel: 01454 419175 Email:
wyevale@wyevale-landscapes.co.uk Email:
wyevale@wyevale-maintenance.co.uk Web:
www.wyevale-landscapes.co.uk
Banyards Ltd Nettletree Farm, Horton Heath, Nr Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7JN Tel: 01202 828800 Email:
enquiries@banyardsltd.com Web:
www.banyardsltd.com
Elysian Capital LLP Ingram House, 15 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6LU Tel: 020 7925 80 50 Email:
ken@elysiancapital.com Web:
www.elysiancapital.com
Next Month: In the November/December issue we will be featuring The Media City project in the Portfolio section of the magazine.
www.pro-landscaper.co.uk
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