2007
1 Man, 1 Wee Van, 1 Dog, 450 garden visits.
In the beginning, Hugo Greaves did the rounds with a small van and his dog, Henry. That first van was bought by selling his wife’s car!
2008
2 Men, 1 Wee Van, 1 Dog, 600 garden visits.
During the season of 2008 the business had expanded enough that Hugo required additional help to maintain his current customers and the high standards he set.
2009
2 Men, 1 Big Van, 1 Dog, 900 garden visits.
During 2009 it was clear the wee van was struggling so the wee van had to be replaced by the big van. This allowed for more jobs per day whilst still maintaining the high standard and finish.
2010
4 Staff, 2 Vans, 1 Dog, 1800 garden visits.
As the business was doing well, the reputation of the company kept clients returning and the business needed another vehicle. A big step taking on the vehicles and staff but the reward was employing some staff all year round.
2011
6 Staff, 3 Vans, 1 Dog, 3000 garden visits.
Now with some permanent staff rather than just seasonal, we needed another van to keep up with demand. Still running the business from home put pressure on Hugo’s relationship with his neighbours…
2012
8 Staff, 3-4 Vans, 1 Dog, 3500 garden visits and a new home for the business.
During the early part of the 2012 season we moved the business to a local yard where we could store equipment and the vehicles and stop disturbing Hugo’s neighbours every morning!
2013
11 Staff, 5 Vans, 1 Dog, 5000 garden visits.
During 2013 Hugo needed spend all his time running the business which meant he was no longer pushing mowers! With the administrative overhead growing he needed to take on an office assistant, the business was growing and evolving.
2014
15 Staff, 7 Vans, 4 Dogs, 7000 garden visits and a new area!
Between 2013 and 2014 Hugo decided to expand the business further south into the Scottish capital Edinburgh. John joins Greaves Gardening early in the year, he’ll go on to become Hugo’s right hand man. Simon joins the company during 2014 too.
2015
17 Staff, 8 Vans, 4 Dogs, 8000 garden visits and another new area.
To continue the expansion of the business Hugo opened another new area, Dundee. Originally from the area and schooled there Hugo always wanted to expand into the area. There’s now a loyal customer base with some of the most well known and respected families in the area employing Greaves Gardening.
2016
19 Staff, 9 Vans, 4 Dogs, 9000 garden visits and another new area.
It made sense for the business to expand into covering Glasgow as well as Edinburgh and the east coast. Hugo needed more help so promoted John to the position of Head Gardener. Simon received the correct training to become a Tree Surgeon and now heads up the Tree Surgery section of the business.
2017
20+ Staff, 10 Vans, 4 Dogs, 10,000 garden visits
The business continues to grow with John, Simon and Hugo working together to build a strong leadership team. The teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh increase in numbers and business start to build towards autonomy.
2018
25+ Staff, more than 10 Vans, Still the 4 Dogs and now pushing into 12,000 garden visits annually.
2019
The business had fantastic growth over the year. Hugo no longer feels like he’s ‘going to work’ in the morning. There’s over 25 staff, about 12 vans and 4 dogs. And over 12,000 garden visits per year!
2020
What a year. Expansion was next to impossible but through hard work and massive effort from the whole team at Greaves we managed to keep contraction of the business to a minimum.
2021
Another difficult year with COVID doing what it did to many businesses and causing chaos! Simon and his wife with their little one return to southern shores and the tree team is now headed up by Callum. Still over 25 staff, about 13 vans, 4 dogs and nearing 13,000 garden visits per year.