New Account Manager is the final piece of the puzzle for Hillier’s Amenity team

A new appointment at Hillier Trees, marks the conclusion of a two-and-a-half year focus on developing the company’s amenity team.

Will Innes-Taylor has been appointed to the team as an Account Manager, joining Gavin Bell and Ben Kyte as the third hire to the team in as many months. While Gavin and Ben will be focusing on the Landscape Contractor sector, Will is poised to lead the sales to the Local Authority market.

Gareth Ashenhurst, Hillier Trees Sales Manager, has been busy piecing together an experienced and passionate team, and is delighted to welcome Will. Gareth said: “I’ve been rebuilding the best team possible to deliver on Hillier’s business mission statement to ‘be the industry leader in the growing and supplying of trees to the UK Amenity market’ – and I have no doubt that the appointment of Will is going to help us meet those aims.”

“Will has built an incredible reputation for himself, while at Oak View Landscapes and during his work with the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI). He has all the credentials and experience to help spearhead our sales into the Local Authority market.”

Since joining Hillier in 2022, Gareth has seen some big changes. He added: “We have bought two new farms which has allowed us to increase our field production numbers by 50 per cent, as well as make large investments into container tree production.

“We have an incredibly passionate production team, who are all very driven to produce the highest quality British-grown trees. Ensuring that we had a stellar sales force who could sell all those additional trees was becoming increasingly important! With the appointment of Will, our Amenity team is finally complete, and I truly believe we are a force to be reckoned with in the arb world.”

In recent years, the company has gone from strength to strength. Hillier has increased its production of 45-litre trees by over 80 per cent, creating an additional 25-acre container production unit as well as investing in a 100-acre field production unit, which is specifically used for growing young trees to be potted into the 45-litre tree bag, making the range a true British Grown container tree.

As well as those exciting developments, Kate Griffiths has also joined the team from Farplants to lead sales into the private estate market. Hillier grows thousands of semi-mature trees, giving it a real point of difference over any other UK nursery. Alongside that, the company has created a 10-acre mini arboretum of super semi-trees, giving customers a wide range of sizes to choose from.

Phil Hall, Senior Production Manager for Hillier, said: “We have always grown larger trees, from 60cm – 100cm girth, but they have been scattered across our 800 acres and have felt a little unloved.

“Now though, we have a rolling programme of lifting and transplanting the very best specimens from across our fields and bringing them into what we have nicknamed our ‘mini arboretum’. This gives us a great selection of high-quality 5x and 6x transplanted trees.

“Unlike most arboretums, this won’t be these trees’ final destination, as they will find their forever home in private estates and prestigious landscape projects across the UK.”

The exciting changes don’t stop there though. There have also been several internal promotions at Hillier, recognising the hard work and experience of the team. Jim Hillier has become Senior Accounts Manager, Tracey Russell has moved from a sales support role to Account Manager and Tracy Towey has been appointed as Office Manager.

Adam Dunnett, Director of Hillier Trees, said: “When I asked Gareth to join us a couple of years ago, he said he might need to make some changes. He didn’t mention the complete transformation he would be bringing about, but what an incredibly exciting team we have now! It’s a team which I know can now offer the service our customers demand, and our wonderful home-grown Hampshire trees deserve.” 

“We also strive to provide our customers with the information they need for our trees to flourish, and to that end, we have recently rewritten and published our Hillier Tree Guide, with a pocket version to be launched later this year.”

This year, Hillier has also unveiled its new amenity website, showcasing its huge offering of field and container-grown amenity trees of all sizes. Trees.hillier.co.uk allows customers to browse an extensive image gallery, as well as view detailed information about the sizes and shapes of the trees grown, which can all be easily filtered based on the needs of each project.

Adam concluded: “Hillier Nurseries has been providing plants for the horticultural trade for 160 years and with George Hillier taking on the role of Chairman recently, we are now in a really good place to continue that tradition for the next 160 years set by Edwin, Harold, and Robert Hillier.”

For further information about commercial trees from Hillier and to view the new website please visit trees.hillier.co.uk. 

Ends

Editors notes

“To inspire the creation of green living spaces for now and the future”

Hillier is the most successful exhibitor in the history of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, having been awarded 74 consecutive gold medals.

The company was founded in 1864 by Edwin Hillier and remains a family-run nursery with the fifth generation now actively involved in the family business as it continues to grow. The company employs over 750 staff across its nursery, amenity trees and 22 garden centre divisions, and grows over one million plants a year. It is the largest tree grower in the UK.

Over the years, Hillier has been responsible for numerous plant introductions, many of which have become essentials in British gardens and it continues with the tradition of innovation and the introduction of new garden plants in the present day.