Grassroots Finalists
A multi-million pound company that began life 25 years ago in a North Wales bathroom is in the running for a major national award.
The lawn treatment business, GreenThumb, based in St Asaph, Denbighshire, has been named a finalist in the annual Wales Marketing Awards.
If they emerge winners at a ceremony in Cardiff in October, it will be the latest triumph in an amazing success story that began back in 1985.
That was when a local entrepreneur, Stephen Waring, returned from a trip to America buzzing with an idea for a lawn treatment service, common in the US but unheard of at the time in Britain.
Customers could have their lawns regularly treated by professional operators to ward off pests, weeds and diseases and keep the grass looking lush and green.
Waring spent months experimenting with lawn treatments which he mixed in the bath of his parents' home in Abergele until, in 1986, he found formulas that worked.
After leafleting neighbours, word of the new service soon spread in the area and over the next decade the business grew rapidly.
But in 1997 GreenThumb took off when it opened its first franchise.
Today it has nearly 200 franchisees across the UK and, with a turnover of more than £40m, it has a 90 per cent share of the booming lawn treatment business.
Despite the economic downturn, over the last year GreenThumb has reported a 25 per cent growth in business and will create a further 1000 jobs over the next three years.
By 2012 turnover is forecast to exceed £100m.
So what is the secret of the company that can't stop growing – even in the recession?
David Collison, GreenThumb Marketing Manager, said: "The service we provide actually costs less than our customers would spend on buying lawn treatment products in DIY stores.
"It means that our customers can have their lawns treated by professional technicians, cheaper than they could do it themselves."
He added: "A huge part of our growth has been due to our marketing. This year we ran an advertising campaign on national television and the press which was very successful. The early signs are that business next year will be even better.
"In the meantime, to win the marketing award in Cardiff would be the icing on the cake of a fantastic year, after we won the prestigious Brand Builder of the Year Award from the British Franchise Association in June."
The Wales Marketing Awards ceremony, staged by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, will be held at the Park Plaza Hotel in Cardiff on October 15th.
On all member companies you can gain information about the business easily and quickly by using the Information Request button on the listing. |
| 
