Tilhill

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.

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

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

• Forestry management services
• Woodland creation
• Timber harvesting marketing
• Peatland restoration
• Natural capital services

Headquarters

HQ city

Stirling

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. Forestry Investment Services: Acquisition advisory services for forestry, woodland, and land purchase including valuations, appraisals, strategic consultancy, and buying agency services.
6. 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

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BSW GroupcoreOthersBSW 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.
• binderholzcoreOthersEurope'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 NurseriescoreTechnology or IntegrationPart 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 BrothersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEstablished 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.
• ConforminorOthersThe 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 ForestersminorOthersProfessional 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)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTilhill 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 ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreat Britain's principal organisation for forestry, woodland and tree-related research. Tilhill collaborates on species research and climate resilience.
• Future Trees TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOnly 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-operativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormed 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 CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK'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 LlysfasicoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWelsh 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)coreOthersIndependent 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 GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/tilhillforestry
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxMNiXpdVhxKnpnE6TNcv6A/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/tilhillforestry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tilhillforestry
• Instagraminstagram.com/tilhillforestry

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tilhill