Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd

What Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd does

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd is a privately held, family-owned arboriculture and forestry services company headquartered at Nettletree Farm, Horton Road, Wimborne, Dorset, with a second regional depot in Wiltshire. The company was formed in 2009 through a management buyout led by Managing Director Denny Sweet from predecessor Daniel C Upton Ltd, and now employs over 50 professionals — including directors Leanne Sweet and Operations Director Luke Grime — operating across the South of England (Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Hampshire, Sussex). It is a wholly Sweet-family-owned private limited company with no external institutional investment.

The company delivers a broad service portfolio across residential, commercial, developer, government, defence, and conservation clients. Core offerings include tree surgery, advanced tree inspections using Picus Tomograph and Resistograph decay-detection equipment, tree planting, hedge work, stump removal, root and soil management (Air Pick, Air Spade, suction excavation), site clearance, fencing, protective construction-site fencing, emergency 24/7/365 call-outs, and timber/woodchip/firewood sales. Large-scale forestry and conservation/heathland restoration work is run through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Upton Forestry Services, with all green waste channelled through related entity Linwood Sawmill under a stated 100% recycling policy. Notable customers include Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset Councils, the Ministry of Defence, the National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, Forestry England, Dorset Wildlife Trust, and licensed nuclear facilities.

The business model is sales-led professional services with a quote-based, pay-as-you-go pricing structure: free site assessments and no-obligation written quotes, followed by on-site delivery by NPTC-qualified arborists using an owned specialist equipment fleet. The company carries £20M public liability and £5M professional indemnity insurance and holds a deep accreditation stack (ARB Approved Contractor, ISO 9001/14001/45001, CHAS, SMAS, SafeContractor, CQMS, Constructionline Gold, SSIP, FISA, ROSPA Silver) that pre-qualifies it for public-sector and infrastructure tenders. It is an SME Climate Hub member committed to net-zero by 2030.

Name

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd

Legal name

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd

Website

https://treesurgerydorset.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd is a family-owned arboriculture and forestry services provider in Dorset and Wiltshire, employing 50+ qualified professionals to deliver tree surgery, forestry, conservation, fencing, and emergency response services to local authorities, MOD, conservation organisations, developers, and homeowners across the South of England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arboriculture and Forestry Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (115310), Forestry and Logging (113)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Tree Care & Arborist Services (IMAIAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tree Removal & Dismantling (HSAIADAB), Tree Health Care (Diagnosis, Treatment, Fertilization) (HSAIADAD), Tree Preservation & Construction Site Tree Protection (HSAIADAL), Tree Planting & Establishment Services (Manual/Mechanized) (AFAMACAE)

Keywords

• Arboricultural services
• Tree surgery
• Forestry services
• Tree inspections
• Fencing installation

Headquarters

HQ city

Wimborne

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tree Surgery and Arboricultural Services: One-time and recurring professional tree surgery services including tree work, tree inspections, tree planting, stump removal, hedge work, and emergency call-outs. Services are provided to both domestic and commercial clients.
2. Forestry Services: Large-scale forestry and site clearance services for developers, landowners, and agricultural clients including harvesting, timber extraction, and woodland management.
3. Fencing Services: Supply and installation of fencing including close board, post and rail, stock fencing, and security fencing for residential and commercial properties.
4. Green Waste, Woodchip and Timber Sales: Sale of woodchip, timber, roundwood, and firewood products from recycled tree waste materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd provides professional arboricultural, forestry, and tree surgery services across the South of England. Services include tree work (pruning, removal, crown reduction), tree inspections with advanced decay-detection diagnostics, tree planting, hedge work, stump removal, site clearance, conservation and heathland restoration, fencing installation, and 24/7 emergency call-outs. The company also recycles 100% of green waste into woodchip, timber, and firewood products sold through its associated Linwood Sawmill.

Product overview

Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd operates as a comprehensive arboricultural and forestry services provider offering a unified suite of services through its core brand and subsidiary division. The main brand (treesurgerydorset.co.uk) delivers 13 interconnected core services spanning tree surgery, inspections, planting, fencing, hedge work, root management, stump removal, site clearance, emergency response, and timber sales. The Upton Forestry Services sub-brand (uptonforestry.co.uk) focuses specifically on large-scale forestry operations, harvesting, and conservation/heathland restoration projects. Services are delivered using a modern fleet of specialist equipment including forestry tractors, chippers, excavators with grapple saws, MEWPs, and stump grinders, with all green waste recycled through the associated Linwood Sawmill operation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tree Work

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of waste material recycled with zero landfill
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Trees for WimbornecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUpton partners with Trees for Wimborne, a conservation group working to increase tree cover in Wimborne from 14% to 20%. The partnership includes annual tree planting projects, volunteer training, fundraising support, and provision of £500 worth of trees/tree planting materials plus a manager for 4 hours per year. Upton also committed a three-person team and equipment for clearance work in November 2022.
• Wilding WimborneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organisation of Trees for Wimborne. Upton supports their mission to grow, plant, and protect native trees, especially the endangered Black Poplar.
• Linwood SawmillcoreOthersRelated business entity that processes Upton's tree waste into sawmill timber and wood products. All green waste is recycled through Linwood Sawmill or used for wood energy, ensuring 100% waste diversion from landfill.
• National TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing conservation and tree management projects including heritage tree care and site maintenance across National Trust properties.
• Natural EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for conservation and heathland restoration projects, including habitat management and environmental improvement work.
• RSPBcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on habitat restoration and conservation projects supporting wildlife protection and biodiversity.
• Dorset Wildlife TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on wildlife habitat management projects and ecological conservation work across Dorset.
• Good Design WorksminorOthersThird-party website hosting provider mentioned in privacy policy as the trusted provider facilitating the running and management of the company website.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Amey plc: Large infrastructure and public services provider operating highways, public realm and grounds maintenance contracts in the UK, including tree surgery and arboriculture for councils. Broad incumbent with overlapping capability but a much wider portfolio than Upton.

Regional players

• Johnsons of Whixley: UK nursery and tree supply business intersecting with Upton's tree planting and hedging services. Comparable in tree planting supply chain, but geographically broader and product-led rather than service-led.

Emerging players

• Ground Control: UK grounds maintenance and environmental services provider offering tree surgery, vegetation management, and fencing to commercial clients and local authorities. Increasingly overlapping with Upton's commercial service mix.

Others

• Forestry England (Forestry Commission): Public-sector forest manager that purchases contractor services from Upton. Connected as both a customer and a comparator in woodland management, though it operates public forests rather than delivering arboriculture services.

Direct peers

• Tilhill Forestry: Major UK forestry management company providing woodland management, harvesting, and timber extraction services. Upton's Upton Forestry Services division competes directly with Tilhill for landowner and developer work in the South of England.
• M.J. Rees & Co Ltd: Established UK forestry contractor offering harvesting, timber extraction, haulage, and woodland management. Comparable in scale and service mix to Upton Forestry Services for developer and estate work.
• English Woodlands Forestry: UK forestry and tree surgery business providing tree surgery, woodland management and timber harvesting across the South East and beyond. Directly comparable on service breadth and customer type to Upton.
• Bartlett Tree Experts: Large international arboricultural firm with UK operations, providing tree surgery, inspections, and tree management to residential, commercial, and government clients. Direct peer due to overlapping commercial-scale tree-care offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upton-specialised-tree-services

Compliance14 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Upton Specialised Tree Services Ltd