Telford gardener is scaling new heights with jobs

Bosses at Telford based Priestgate Garden Specialists Ltd says despite lockdown property owners have been requesting new gardens, tree lopping and repairs to gardening disasters.

Now the family run service, of Lincoln Road, Wrockwardine Wood, has been declared the best landscape gardening company in the West Midlands in the SME News UK Enterprise Awards following a public vote.

Director Phil Birtwhistle, 35, says: "I have never been so busy as I am at the moment. People have been really keen to get work done in their gardens especially since their spending more time at home during lockdown.

"A lot of home owners are not now going away on holiday and have been asking us to carry out landscaping projects, to tidy up their gardens or to correct things they've got wrong.

"We've also acquired a huge contract for a children's home organisation which is keeping us very busy. We've taken advantage of promoting the business on social media which has helped.

"As a result of the upturn we've had to recruit an extra team of landscapers and buy a new van and there are seven of us in total including my parents Roger and Mary who set up the business. They do the admin work now.

"It's going really well and we're pleased to have been voted the best gardening business which we'll be promoting on the livery on one of our vans."

Phil, of Dawley Bank, attended the former Wrockwardine Wood School, and runs the business which was launched in 1982 by Roger 69 and Mary 75.

"I always wanted to follow in m,y parents footsteps by following them into the business. I grew up watching my dad doing landscaping jobs and now my own son Dylan, who is five, has been watching me.

"I hope he will take over from me one day," Phil adds.