Tilhill
Tilhill Forestry is the UK's leading sustainable forestry and woodland management services company, providing woodland creation, timber harvesting, natural capital advisory, peatland restoration, and carbon unit trading to landowners, institutional investors, government bodies, and corporates across England, Scotland, and Wales.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1948
- HeadquartersStirling, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Tilhill does
Tilhill Forestry Ltd is a UK-based sustainable forestry and woodland management services company founded in 1948 and headquartered in Dunfermline, with regional offices across England, Scotland, and Wales. The company provides end-to-end forestry services including woodland management, woodland creation, timber harvesting and marketing, peatland restoration, agroforestry, natural capital advisory, growing timber insurance (FCA-authorized, Ref: 309846), grant navigation across England, Scotland, and Wales, and operates CarbonStore as a sub-brand for woodland and peatland carbon unit trading. Its customer base spans farmers and landowners, institutional investors and pension funds, government bodies (Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry, Natural Resources Wales), corporate entities, and NGOs.
Tilhill is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSW Group, the UK's largest forestry and timber business, which itself was acquired by binderholz (Austria) in January 2022, making Tilhill part of the 5th largest global sawmilling group. This integration provides guaranteed timber offtake into seven UK sawmills plus one in Riga, Latvia, with group production capacity exceeding 1.2 million m3 of sawn timber. Tilhill manages the UK's largest UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) Group Scheme, covering approximately 40-50% of privately owned certified woodland in the UK, with FSC and PEFC Forest Management and Chain of Custody certifications. Technology is built around GIS, Aerial LiDAR Surveys, UAV-based mapping, GPS ground surveys, and 3D laser scanning for standing timber volume prediction and product assortment modelling.
The business model combines subscription/recurring revenue (forestry management fees, insurance), transaction-based revenue (timber harvesting and marketing, CarbonStore carbon unit trading), and professional services fees (investment advisory, valuations, grant applications). Go-to-market is predominantly direct enterprise field sales through a countrywide network of regional offices, supported by webinars, case studies, and content marketing. Harvesting operations trade over 2 million tonnes of roundwood annually and inject approximately £100 million into the UK forestry sector per annum. The company employs 230+ people, has planted over 1 billion trees cumulatively, and holds ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, NHSS Sector Scheme 18, FSC, and PEFC certifications.
Tilhill firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tilhill
- Legal name
- Tilhill Forestry Ltd
- Website
- https://tilhill.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1948
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Tilhill Forestry is the UK's leading sustainable forestry and woodland management services company, providing woodland creation, timber harvesting, natural capital advisory, peatland restoration, and carbon unit trading to landowners, institutional investors, government bodies, and corporates across England, Scotland, and Wales.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tilhill industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Forestry and Woodland Management Services
- NAICS
- Forestry and Logging (113), Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Timber Tract Operations (11311), Logging (11331), Support Activities for Forestry (11531)
- SIC
- Forestry (800)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Forest Management & Silviculture Services (Cruising, Planning, Compliance) (IMAMAAAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Reforestation & Afforestation Services (Planting, Site Prep, Regeneration) (IMAMAAAE), Timber Tract Operations & Forest Ownership (Timberland) (IMAMAAAA), Timberland Operations Planning & Contractor Management (AFAMAKAE), Timberland Carbon & Natural Capital Project Development (Offsets/REDD+) (AFAMAKAH)
Keywords
Where Tilhill is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Stirling
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Tilhill business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Forestry and Woodland Management Services: Expert management services for forests and woodlands, focusing on maximizing returns and ensuring access to premium timber prices. Includes woodland creation, protection, maintenance, and ongoing advice.
- Timber Harvesting and Marketing: Harvesting team handles harvesting of trees for timber with countrywide network of professional managers. Trades more than 2 million tonnes of roundwood per annum with relationships across all processing and biomass markets in UK.
- CarbonStore - Carbon Units Trading: Works with companies and landowners to design, plant and manage new woodlands or plan and oversee peatland restoration projects. Facilitates buying and selling of woodland and peatland carbon units.
- Growing Timber Insurance: Insurance product for woodland owners covering growing timber for fire and storm damage. Tilhill is authorised and regulated by FCA (Reference: 309846).
- Forestry Investment Services: Acquisition advisory services for forestry, woodland, and land purchase including valuations, appraisals, strategic consultancy, and buying agency services.
- Grant Application Services: Assistance with navigating woodland creation grants in Scotland, England, and Wales including EWCO, Forestry Grant Scheme, and woodland restoration grants.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Scotland Forestry Grant Scheme - Conifer planting |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Scotland Forestry Grant Scheme - Broadleaves planting |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Scotland Forestry Grant Scheme - Small or Farm Woodland |
| Other | Multi-year contract | England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) - Standard Costs |
| Other | Multi-year contract | EWCO Additional Contributions |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Wales Woodland Creation Grant - Enhanced Mixed Woodland |
| Other | Annual | Growing Timber Insurance |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Tilhill product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tilhill Forestry provides end-to-end sustainable forestry and woodland management services across the UK, covering the full lifecycle from woodland creation, design and planting through ongoing management, certification, harvesting, and timber marketing. As the UK arm of BSW Group, it combines forest management with countrywide timber harvesting, peatland restoration, agroforestry, natural capital advisory, carbon unit trading via CarbonStore, forestry investment advisory, and growing timber insurance.
Product overview
Tilhill Forestry is the UK's leading sustainable forestry and timber harvesting company offering a comprehensive suite of interconnected services. The core offering consists of Forestry and Woodland Management (ongoing management of existing forests), Woodland Creation (design, planting, and establishment of new forests), and Timber Harvesting and Marketing (harvesting and sale of timber). These are supported by specialist services including Digital Maps & Surveys, Tree Surveys, Wildlife Surveys & Assessments, Growing Timber Insurance, and Forestry & Woodland Certification. Tilhill also operates CarbonStore, a sub-brand for buying and selling woodland and peatland carbon units. The company provides additional services in Peatland Restoration, Forestry Investment Services, Agroforestry & Hedgerow Planting, Natural Capital Services, Community Engagement, Invasive Species Control, Fencing Works, and Habitat Restoration. Grant and licence advisory services help clients navigate funding opportunities across the UK.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CarbonStore: Carbon offsetting business that works with companies and landowners to design, plant and manage new woodlands or plan and oversee peatland restoration projects
Products and services
- Forestry and Woodland Management Ongoing expert management of existing forests and woodlands for private owners, farmers, government bodies and corporate clients, focused on maximising timber returns, accessing premium markets, and delivering UKWAS-aligned stewardship.
- Woodland Creation End-to-end woodland creation service covering property purchase guidance, design, grant applications, surveys, planting plans, species selection, planting works and ongoing protection, maintenance and advice for new woodland establishment.
- Timber Harvesting and Marketing Countrywide harvesting and timber marketing service via a network of professional harvesting managers; trades over 2 million tonnes of roundwood annually into UK processing and biomass markets with strong relationships across BSW sawmills.
- Peatland Restoration Peatland restoration services across Scotland, England and Wales, including surveying, re-wetting, water management, re-profiling, and vegetation removal to restore degraded peatlands.
- Forestry Investment Services Acquisition advisory, valuations, appraisals, strategic consultancy and buying agency services for institutional investors, pension funds and clients seeking to build portfolios of forestry, afforestation land or natural capital assets.
- Agroforestry & Hedgerow Planting Integrated land management approach combining trees with agricultural crops and livestock on farmland, including silvopastoral systems, hedgerows, shelter belts and riparian buffer strips.
- Natural Capital Services Assessment and management of natural capital assets including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, habitat creation and ecosystem services for farmers, landowners, investors and businesses.
- CarbonStore (Carbon Units Trading) Tilhill sub-brand that designs, plants and manages new woodlands or peatland restoration projects and facilitates the buying and selling of woodland and peatland carbon units for offsetting purposes.
- Digital Maps & Surveys Bespoke forest surveying and mapping service using aerial photo-interpretation, GIS analysis, ground-based GPS, Airborne LiDAR Surveys and UAV technology.
- Tree Surveys Comprehensive tree inspection service for landowners and managers with duty of care responsibilities, including health and safety inspections using the latest technology.
- Wildlife Surveys & Assessments Environmental Impact Assessments, protected species surveys (bats, badgers, dormice, red squirrels, otters, water voles), reptile and amphibian surveys, breeding and wintering bird surveys, and aquatic surveys.
- Growing Timber Insurance Insurance product for woodland owners covering growing timber against fire and storm damage with extensions for Property Owner's Liability; portfolio covers approximately £275 million of growing timber. Tilhill is FCA-authorised (Reference 309846).
- Forestry & Woodland Certification FSC and PEFC certification services through Tilhill's Group Scheme; the largest FSC and PEFC certification scheme in the UK covering almost 50% of privately owned certified woodland.
- Community Engagement Community and stakeholder engagement and consultation services for public projects including woodland creation and peatland restoration proposals, enabling local communities to help shape nature-based solutions.
- Invasive Species Control Control of invasive plant species including Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and rhododendron ponticum through hand removal, cutting, spraying and replanting.
- Fencing Works Wide range of timber and metal fencing including post & rail, close board, rabbit/stock/deer fencing, estate railings, boundary fencing, MUGA fencing, acoustic barriers, and reptile fencing.
- Habitat Restoration, Creation & Enhancement Restoration of lowland Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) including drain blocking, ride clearance, coppicing, reptile fencing, wetland creation, pond creation and broader habitat creation.
- Grants & Licences Advisory Advisory service for woodland creation grants across Scotland, England and Wales, including the Forestry Grant Scheme, England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), Woodland Creation Planning Grant and Welsh woodland grants.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1 billion trees planted since 1948
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Tilhill
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Tilhill technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Tilhill partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BSW GroupcoreBSW Group is the UK's largest forestry and timber business and parent company of Tilhill Forestry. BSW has seven sawmills in UK plus one in Latvia, employs over 1200 people, and has production capacity of more than 1.2 million m3 of sawn timber.
- binderholzcoreEurope's leading timber processing operation. BSW Group became member of binderholz in January 2022 when binderholz completed acquisition of BSW Group, elevating them to 5th largest global sawmilling group.
- Maelor Forest NurseriescorePart of BSW Timber Group Limited, produces extensive range of commercial forestry and native broadleaf species, marketing approximately 28 million trees a year. Renowned for genetics research aiding tree resilience.
- Dick BrothersminorEstablished over 25 years ago in Scottish Borders, state-of-the-art forestry equipment and market leading capabilities to harvest some of the largest and most complex forests in UK.
- ConforminorThe Confederation of Forest Industries (UK) Ltd. Tilhill is a founding member. Confor works to build market for timber, create supportive policy environment, and help members become more competitive.
- Institute of Chartered ForestersminorProfessional body for chartered foresters. Tilhill is an Institute of Chartered Foresters Registered member and expects all forest managers to become Chartered Foresters.
- Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA)coreTilhill is a founding member of FISA. Works with others in industry to improve safety in forests by enabling key staff time to participate in various work groups.
- Forest ResearchminorGreat Britain's principal organisation for forestry, woodland and tree-related research. Tilhill collaborates on species research and climate resilience.
- Future Trees TrustminorOnly UK charity dedicated to improving broadleaved trees by conventional selective breeding. Tilhill is proud to support their research alongside DEFRA and Maelor Forest Nurseries.
- Conifer Breeding Co-operativeminorFormed to safeguard investment in conifer breeding for benefit of UK forests. Tilhill participates together with Forest Research, Forestry Commission and Maelor Forest Nurseries.
- Foresight Sustainable Forestry CompanycoreUK's first listed natural capital investment company. Partnership delivers fully funded Foresight Sustainable Forestry Skills Training Programme in Wales and Scotland, building workforce pipeline.
- Coleg Cambria LlysfasicoreWelsh college delivering the Foresight Sustainable Forestry Skills Training Programme. Training includes tractor driving, chainsaw skills, first aid, and tree planting techniques.
- UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS)coreIndependent certification standard for verifying sustainable woodland management in UK, recognised by FSC and PEFC. Tilhill manages the UK's largest UKWAS scheme representing ~40-50% of privately owned certified woodland.
- Forestry Plastics GroupminorIndustry group started January 2020 alongside Forestry Commission, Yorkshire Dales National Park and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. Working to find sustainable alternatives to traditional plastic tree tubes.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Tilhill competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Wykeham Forestry: Wykeham Forestry is a UK-based forestry services business delivering woodland creation, management, harvesting, and timber marketing across northern England and beyond. It is a direct private competitor to Tilhill, offering a similar integrated forestry management proposition to farmers, estates, and institutional clients.
- Euroforest Ltd: Euroforest is a UK timber harvesting and marketing contractor operating across Britain, providing mechanised harvesting, haulage, and timber sales services. It directly competes with Tilhill's harvesting business in marketing roundwood to sawmills and biomass markets.
- Scottish Woodlands Ltd: Scottish Woodlands is a UK forestry management company offering woodland creation, harvesting, and forest investment services across Scotland, England, and Wales. It is the most direct head-to-head competitor to Tilhill in the UK forestry services market, with comparable service breadth, similar customer base of farmers and institutional investors, and overlapping geographic coverage.
Broad incumbents
- binderholz: binderholz is Austria's leading timber processing company and Tilhill's ultimate parent group (acquired BSW in January 2022). It is a broad incumbent in European sawmilling and timber products and the entity that sets Tilhill's strategic and capital context.
- Weyerhaeuser: Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands and an integrated forest products company. It serves as a public-market proxy and broad incumbent benchmark for how an integrated forestry business can be valued and operated, comparable to the Tilhill-BSW-binderholz integrated model.
- Stora Enso: Stora Enso is one of the largest private forest owners in the world and a major European sawmilling, pulp, and biomaterials group. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Tilhill's parent (BSW/binderholz) in the integrated forestry value chain, competing downstream for timber demand and providing an investable scale benchmark for UK forestry services.
- UPM-Kymmene: UPM is a Finnish forest industry group and was Tilhill's previous owner (UPM Tilhill, 1996-2015). It is a broad incumbent in global forestry, biomaterials, and timber, providing a useful comparison for how a major European forest products group structures its UK forestry services footprint.
Emerging players
- John Clegg & Co: John Clegg & Co is a UK forestry consultancy specialising in timber valuations, investment advice, and forest management. It directly overlaps with Tilhill's Investment Property Team services to institutional buyers and private estates, competing for the same advisory mandates.
- Forest Carbon Ltd: Forest Carbon is a UK-based company that develops woodland creation projects and sells verified carbon credits to corporates. It competes with Tilhill's CarbonStore sub-brand in the voluntary woodland carbon market, and overlaps with Tilhill in project design, planting, and long-term management of carbon-focused new woodlands.
Others
- Forestry England (Forestry Commission): Forestry England is the government agency managing the nation's public forest estate. While not a direct commercial competitor, it is both a Tilhill customer (in grant and management work) and a public-sector benchmark for UK forestry management standards, making it an essential reference point in the UK forestry ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat7 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tilhill social profiles
Digital presenceTilhill compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance10 records
Tilhill financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tilhill leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Tilhill subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Tilhill funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tilhill M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tilhill
What does Tilhill do?
Tilhill Forestry provides end-to-end sustainable forestry and woodland management services across the UK, covering the full lifecycle from woodland creation, design and planting through ongoing management, certification, harvesting, and timber marketing. As the UK arm of BSW Group, it combines forest management with countrywide timber harvesting, peatland restoration, agroforestry, natural capital advisory, carbon unit trading via CarbonStore, forestry investment advisory, and growing timber insurance.
Is Tilhill a public or private company?
Tilhill is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Tilhill founded?
Tilhill was founded in 1948. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Tilhill based?
Tilhill is headquartered in Stirling, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Tilhill make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Forestry and Woodland Management Services are the primary driver. The others are timber Harvesting and Marketing, carbonStore - Carbon Units Trading, growing Timber Insurance, forestry Investment Services and grant Application Services.
Who are Tilhill's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Wykeham Forestry, Euroforest Ltd and Scottish Woodlands Ltd. Broad incumbents are binderholz, Weyerhaeuser, Stora Enso and UPM-Kymmene. Emerging players are John Clegg & Co and Forest Carbon Ltd. Forestry England (Forestry Commission) is listed as an others.
Does Tilhill have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tilhill.
What industry is Tilhill in?
Tilhill's product category is Forestry and Woodland Management Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAMAAAD, Forest Management & Silviculture Services (Cruising, Planning, Compliance), with a secondary code of IMAMAAAE, Reforestation & Afforestation Services (Planting, Site Prep, Regeneration). Its NAICS code is 113 and its SIC code is 800.