£150,000 cash boost helps artificial tree business put down roots in Northumberland

Treelocate was set up by brothers Jonny and Mark Nesbitt.

Treelocate, which designs, makes and exports artificial plants and trees around the world, has received backing from the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

The grant from its Rural Business Growth Fund has helped it build a new factory a few hundred yards from its existing premises on the other side of the A1.

First established in a small barn by brothers Mark and Jonny Nesbitt in 1995 after they bought a consignment of artificial trees from Asia, Treelocate has outgrown its current four-acre site.

Mark said: “We started the business by working with interior landscapers and supplied quite simple products for offices where live trees would have struggled to survive. Our customer base has expanded since then, and we need more room. A lot more.

“We’ve outgrown the premises here in Belford and have, for five years now, been looking for somewhere new.

“We identified a site which was a field for agricultural use and then spent three or four years getting planning permission for the new facility.

“We’re well into the construction now and hopefully will be moving in within the next months.

The company designs, manufactures, and exports artificial plants and trees around the world.

“What the Rural Business Growth Fund money has really allowed us to do is to complete the building more quickly and to the standard we wanted.

“We have some quite important clients coming in and our products are very showy. We wanted to show them off in the best way possible.”

The firm counts Dubai International Airport, ANZ Bank in New Zealand, the BBC, Marks & Spencer, and Next among its clients.

In 2016, Treelocate completed a £275,000 order to supply 17 23ft high olive trees for the seven-star Four Seasons Hotel in Bahrain.

It has supplied man-made trees to Norway and to be sited in parts of the volcanic landscape of Iceland, where live trees struggle to grow.

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson, North of Tyne cabinet member for Culture Creative and Rural, said: “I’m glad the new premises is being built in Belford, where they began. They’re an important employer there and continue to recruit locally.

“It’s good to see them going from strength to strength and really flying the flag for our region.”