Shropshire business club member scoops top award

Mark Chester, who runs Cedarwood Tree Consultants based at Wormbridge, won the Best Tree Care Consultant Expert for the West Midlands category at the SME (Small Medium Enterprise) News Awards for 2021.

Mr Chester is a member of BNI Thomas Telford – a chapter within BNI Shropshire.

“I was absolutely delighted to be told about the award win – it came as quite a surprise because I didn’t even know I had been put forward for it! I have no idea who nominated me,” he said.

“Someone was clearly impressed with how we operate and thought we were worthy of consideration so thank you, whoever you are.

“My link with BNI Shropshire has been hugely beneficial. If it hadn’t been for lockdown and Zoom I wouldn’t have got involved with BNI and after joining as a member of BNI Thomas Telford I made contact with people I wouldn’t otherwise have connected with. It has been very powerful."

Mr Chester started working with trees about 25 years ago and has helped clients over a wide geographical area including Herefordshire, the Midlands, the South East, South West and Wales.

“I was studying a degree in horticulture and just couldn’t connect with it. It wasn’t for me. I saw a job for a tree officer, managing trees for a local authority and knew that was what I wanted to do.

“I loved the technical part of trees – trees and planning, tree subsidence and trees and legal cases during my time as a tree officer.

“I then set up my own tree consultancy in 2005. It’s really interesting work but can be extremely complex.”

Mr Chester offers a highly specialised service in providing tree reports to support planning applications, planning feasibility assessments, tree valuations TPO appeals and applications, home buyer reports, safety and management inspections, tree planting advice and woodland management.

He is also an accredited expert witness in legal matters including things like legal boundary disputes and personal injury claims where a tree is involved.

“People often want to know about what the best thing is to do with trees in their garden, dropping branches and so on, and I have been involved in neighbour disputes over tree-felling and compensation and regularly advise people on planting the right tree in the right place.

“Talking the client through the process they are facing with a planning application is an important part of my role, as well as contributing a detailed report.

“If pruning or felling a tree is advised, the tree surgeon (arborist) is able to use the report to inform and guide their work," he added.