In this issue of Building and Construction Review, we have selected Tomorrow’s Forests as our Timber Build Company of the Year.
“We are very proud to receive this award. It’s a massive team effort, from our amazing planters, foremen and women, supervisors and office staff. They are all hard working and dedicated and we are very grateful to have them on board on our crazy journey. This award is a nice way to highlight everything they do and how it is being perceived out there,” stated Elisabeth Boivin, Managing Director of Tomorrow’s Forests
Encouraging biodiversity and sustainability, Tomorrow’s Forests (TF) are experts at tree planting in the UK. Specialising in high volume commercial reforestation, Tomorrow’s Forests is a longstanding provider of quality support services for industry, resource management, government, private landowners and public institutions.
On a mission to fight climate change by creating UK forests, the company provide the latest reforestation industry leading practices to the UK market. With state-of-the-art technology alongside UAV support, TF offer clients a full range of products from tree planting, vegetation management, UAV (Ariel Drone Services), eco logging, woodland surveys and land reclamation. Further to assisting in the planting of local trees, TF can also supply sundry products required for any woodland creation project. Following a woodland survey, TF will provide government guideline funding requirements throughout the process and offer ongoing maintenance, upkeep and professional advice. Benefits to woodland creation include the increase of timber production, the ability to provide a shelter for crops and livestock and new wildlife banks for habitats, an increase in land value and improved amenity value, alongside stabilising river banks and game cover.
We spoke with Elisabeth regarding the last 12 months, “It has been good and very busy. We launched Creating Tomorrow’s Forests (CTF) back in September 2020 and both CTF and TF have grown their workforce, their contracts and their clients. CTF is now a UK finalist in the BUPA eco-Disruptive challenge which is a global initiative challenge which seeks to find industry leading start-ups in the sustainability sector while our TF operations have begun on September 25th, 2021, one its biggest forecasted planting season to date.”
Earlier this year, CTF was the winner of the ‘Biodiversity’ challenge which looked at ways to increase, restore, or protect biodiversity around the world. In the programme, CTF worked with Bupa to create diverse new forests and habitats, encouraging people to engage with their local biodiversity and educating them to understand how to preserve it. 2021 has been a challenging yet rewarding year for the company as 
Elisabeth explained further, “We have had a boost of 30% more than expected on our TF side of the business which has put us in a great position to grow our CTF operations. Over the last two months, we have seen a noticeable rise in business partners joining our CTF venture. It shows a real interest in habitat creation, biodiversity and tree planting initiatives from UK businesses and private members.”
Recently, there have been some operational changes with the TF team, with more team leaders and planting squads being added to the business. “Callum Tennant was promoted to Area Supervisor, Toby Brusey was promoted to business Operations Manager, Dr Simone Webber was promoted to Senior Ecologist and Content Manager and Jaelee Marcotte was promoted to Operations Quality Supervisor,” stated Elisabeth.
Further to recent changes, CTF will soon launch its Defra approved biodiversity units which will be a slight change on its approach to its current habitat creation sites. “In alignment with the new environmental bill for England, we will be offering (BU’s) for sale to the construction industry. These will be measured by Defra’s biodiversity metric. These will take place on parcels of land which will be protected by conservation covenants and should provide sustainable solutions for the modern-day construction industry,” said Elisabeth.
The global pandemic due to COVID-19 has brought significant disruption to society and the environment. However, there has been an interest in sustainable living and more people have turned to a more economically friendly way of life as a result. Elisabeth explained how COVID-19 has affected the business, “If anything, we think there has been an increase in demand over the last 18 months for tree planting projects. The demand is also increasing the closer we get to COP26 and for a push for sustainable materials to be used in construction like timber. Our industry is in a good place at the moment, and we are set to grow and evolve with it.”
As Elisabeth concluded, “As far as future plans go, short-term, we are at the start of an extremely busy planting season. We are making additional land purchases to run our new programs on BU and sustainability tree planting projects for businesses. We are always endeavouring to expand our client base in the UK. As for long-term, we are looking at starting overseas habitat creation operations and getting more of a global reach. Making sure our companies grow in a sustainable growth model.”
For more information, see below:
T 01258 818003
office@tomorrowsforests.com
www.tomorrowsforests.co.uk