Our Story, So Far....

13/10/2008

Wow! What a start to the launch of Hillcrest Branch Limited.

We hit the ground running and we haven’t stopped since. April was a typical showery April and then it started to rain properly, the grass grew, then it rained some more, as the summer progressed the grass continued to grow and rain continued to pour. Not the easiest conditions under which  to start a grounds maintenance business, but we survived it - with thanks to our customers for their patience and a big well done to all the staff who soldiered on through the inclemency of wind and rain. Our empathy goes out to anyone who has tried to cut grass this year.

We welcomed Simon Yorke, the assistant manager, to the company in early June, since then he has done a great job of delivering the ‘Vocational Rehabilitation Training Program’ to our service users.  We have 10 trainee placements available on the weekly program, by July we were full. Our service users are doing very well and are getting some good results.The big change for Hillcrest Branch came along very quickly. In May we were approached by Devington Park, a neighbouring residential estate with several acres and over 100 domestic units, most of which have gardens of varying sizes.  At the time of take over the grounds had got out of manageable control, we are now in our fifth month on the site and big improvements can be noticed, all the guys on the team have worked really hard to bring Devington Park up to a better standard - we’ve nearly cracked it.

We’ve picked up a handful of other jobs and hired more staff along the way. We have grown from having five people on the payroll now we have nine. By August we had too much work and too many people to manage with just one vehicle so in August we purchased another truck. Our current aim is to fill the working week so both trucks are out on jobs every day.Things have almost stopped growing and we are beginning to put the gardens to bed for the winter. We are currently planting out winter bedding displays and preparing for the autumn leaf fall. This doesn’t mean that work stops, on the contrary this is when we get done most of the major jobs in preparation for next year.

Thank you and well done to the Hillcrest Branch team for the enthusiasm and commitment shown over the first six months of independent trading. Also we must thank the New Leaf team, with whom we share storage space, for patiently putting up with us getting in their way!

Where it all Began

In 1997 Hillcrest Growers took over the running of a small gardening team originally based at Warkworth House, which had a few small garden maintenance jobs. This was done in addition to the work carried out by the staff team at Hillcrest Growers.

In October 2002 the situation was made more formal with the launch of Hillcrest Branch the first step towards becoming a social

firm and the start of a more formal contract to maintain several small

NHS properties. This was still managed by the staff and service users

of Hillcrest Growers.

The work carried out was for the Estates Department who supported the team and offered guidance. Throughout this period all interested service users were given the opportunity

to try working off site with Hillcrest Branch.

In April 2003 the first paid posts were offered and four members of staff were employed on the Vocational Rehabilitation Bank.

This coincided with the start of the first large contract to maintain Wonford House Hospital. In addition several private sector contracts were obtained and the business started to grow.

A new vehicle was obtained along with more equipment, ride on mower, strimmers, hedge trimmers etc.In April 2007 a second large contract was gained to maintain Langdon Hospital site. By this time several people had used Hillcrest Branch to make their first step into employment and subsequently move on into open employment. 

In September 2007 a full time Manager was appointed.

In April 2008 Hillcrest Branch Limited was launched as an independant social firm.

The company currently employs 4 skilled gardeners and 4 assistant gardeners, and currently maintains 10 large sites. (July 08)