A LOCAL tree surgery business is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.

Chapel Tree Services was set up in 2005 by Matt and Jenny Long, taking the name from the couple’s home, a converted Chapel in Upton Bishop.

The company have been delivering expert tree care across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire over the past two decades.

The business began as a small sole trader operation, but the long-term goal was to create a business delivering high quality tree work for local customers, only hiring staff who were as passionate about trees as Matt.

Two decades on, with Jenny having joined the company in 2015, they are now a thriving arboriculture business with a passionate and experienced team offering exceptional tree services to homeowners as well as commercial and public sector organisations.

They work hard to operate in a sustainable way that protects and enhances the environment, and they are still as passionate as ever about protecting and managing trees.

They are still a completely family run and independent business and are rightly proud of their excellent reputation and their role within the arboricultural sector and the local community.

Commercial director Jenny said: “We think it is vital as a local business to engage with our customers, staff and neighbours and help and support whenever we can.

“It has been known for Matt to come home with homemade cider or a jar of honey as payment.

“We could not have grown our family business without the support of our community in Ross and our amazing team, so it’s important they all know how much they mean to us and how they are a part of our success.”

Last year Matt joined a national team of volunteer arborists who helped the Grenadian island of Carriacou, which was devasted by a category four hurricane which claimed 50 lives during its path through the Caribbean to America’s Gulf Coast, leaving path of destruction in its wake.

Matt was part of the Disaster Arborist Response team and was the second time he had represented the organisation having deployed to the Caribbean Island of Dominica in 2017 after hurricanes destroyed much of the island.

As part of the company’s ethos of giving back ethos, they undertake local projects that have included a free Christmas Tree chipping service at Ross Community Gardens as well providing the gardens with woodchip and log seats to create areas for the garden users to enjoy.

The company also support local schools in the area along with the Ross and Monmouth Sea Cadets by providing materials for forest school areas as well as providing free tree advice and expertise.

Matt said that the team behind Chapel Tree Services are all hard workers who enjoy what they do and bring a wealth of experience, skill and enthusiasm to the organisation.

“Our staff are our greatest asset. We support them by allowing them to continue to attend training courses to develop their skills and we run in-house training days to practice rescues and develop climbing techniques.”