Tuesday 13 February 2018

Giving trees a new lease of life

It is always great to hear about thriving local businesses. Charlie Rutherford, from Heddon-on-the-Wall, and his business Replica Landscapes import olive trees and foliage from Spain and dry them out to create artificial greenery which is used to decorate homes and businesses, as well as the hospitality industry, shopping malls and TV shows including Eastenders and Coronation Street. The business has also just completed its biggest ever order, supplying 70 trees to the Battersea Power Station site which is now being developed into a luxury residential complex. Charlie sources all of the trees from olive orchards in Malaga in Spain- all trees must be at least 300 years old, have straight trunks, not be producing fruit and deemed to be no longer economically viable in its natural form in order to be approved by Defra. It is fantastic to hear about the business' success. I wish Charlie and Replica Landscapes the best of luck for the future.