The UK’s leading lawn care company is planning for major expansion by strengthening its top team.
GreenThumb has appointed two new directors to the board as it prepares to take on its 500,000th customer in the next few months.
Andy Evans and Lesley Booth say it’s a huge honour to be asked to join the board of such a successful firm with an increasing turnover of £65 million and 225 franchises across the UK.
According to Managing Director David Griffiths, there is potential for a lot more growth which could result in the company seeing a tenfold increase in size.
GreenThumb are already way out in front as the market leader but even so they currently treat only two per cent of the UK’s lawns.
Mr Griffiths said: “We have a long way to go before we reach our potential in terms of the numbers.
“In America, for example, 25 per cent of their lawns are treated by firms like GreenThumb and that’s the level of coverage we aspire to.”
It’s been a meteoric rise for Andy Evans, 31, who joined GreenThumb just four years ago.
Andy, who previously worked for a window installation company and lives in Halkyn, near Holywell, recalled; “Joining GreenThumb has completely transformed my career.
“I always said that one day I would represent a company at a national level – and now my dream has come true.”
After starting with GreenThumb in 2009, Andy swiftly rose through the ranks, writing a company training manual and establishing a successful call centre operation along the way before being appointed Business Growth Manager.
In his new role as a director, Andy will have responsibility for GreenThumb’s sales and marketing across the UK.
He said: “I am grateful for the opportunity and I really appreciate the trust that’s been placed in me.
“To have somebody say I am exactly what’s needed for the business is such a big compliment.”
Lesley Booth, who lives in Kinmel Bay, was equally delighted to be appointed to the board of GreenThumb.
Her previous career saw her work in the photographic industry for High Street firms like Dixons and Colourcare before joining Littlewoods where she retrained as a Personal Assistant.
After relocating to North Wales, Lesley joined GreenThumb in 2005 as the Personal Assistant to Stephen Waring, the company’s founder. She later became Company Secretary and also worked as a PA to Managing Director David Griffiths.
As a director, she will be responsible for human resources, IT, site management and procurement.
Lesley said: “I started at GreenThumb on a very few hours a week and was quite happy to do that as I wanted to reduce my working day and spend more time with my growing family.
“Gradually, my workload increased and the level of responsibility grew.
“Over the past two years I’ve acted as a director in an advisory capacity and working with the executive team on strategic matters.
“I have been honoured to work for Stephen Waring and I’m overwhelmed in the trust that he has put in me to do the job.
“I thoroughly enjoy working at GreenThumb, it’s a fantastic place to work. The culture and ethics of this company are outstanding.”
Managing Director David Griffiths said Andy and Lesley had complementary qualities which would help the board of directors be even more effective.
He said: “Lesley has been a PA to Stephen for nearly nine years and for me for two years. She’s a very steady hand and understands the business very well.
“She’s also very honest and open about the way things should be done and she’s quick to spot if things are being done incorrectly. She’s a very capable, able hand on the tiller.
“Andy is a vibrant marketing man, quick with ideas, quick with thoughts, wanting to act on things immediately.
“So they actually counterbalance each other very well because Lesley’s steady and Andy’s creative. The chemistry is very good – you might say they are a dream team.
“They’re joining the board at a crucial time in GreenThumb’s history, it’s a period of growth with exciting plans for further expansion.
“We now have over 220 franchisees and our turnover has increased during the recession, about another 12 per cent to date this year.
“Moving forward, we believe there is immense potential for growth. We’ve got something like two per cent of the lawns in the UK that we treat. In the States, lawn care companies treat up to 25 per cent of all lawns.
“If you were to follow an American model and there is no other one to follow, we could theoretically multiply our business by 10. So we could ultimately become a company worth maybe £500 million.”
