In January 2005, I set up a company, providing forestry and ecological consultancy, having spent my years prior to this working as a tree surgeon. Then as now, we focus on providing you with unsurpassed customer service, ruthless attention to detail, and speed.
Those first couple of years were a real slog to be honest, but eventually my efforts started to pay off. Either that, I suppose, or I just spent those early years learning my fair share of life’s lessons the hard way.
Today, I am director of one of the largest and foremost ecological consultancies in the UK: Arbtech.
What do I do all day?
I spend most of my days reading, and talking to our team and clients; all with the aim of trying to extract actionable feedback. I also spend a significant amount of my time on what has become my magnificent obsession: making our operations faster.
Faster means less stifled, more robust, even elegant. And it means cheaper. At any one time I manage a multitude of projects and technology investments, all of which are designed to contribute to increasing the speed and lowering the cost of the service you receive when we work with you.
My ambition is to continue to build a business that is profitable; that is respected for its commitment to conservancy; that contributes positively to the projects of clients and above all, the careers of our employees.
More about Rob
I am a former infantry solider with 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Army Reserve), a weight training and fitness maniac, and (long-suffering) student of Spanish. I enjoy reading about everything psychology and economics; from the financial markets to game theory, and have probably averaged about a book a week since my early twenties.
In the winter I snowboard, and in the summer I can be found doing practically any sport or activity that involves being outside in the sun! I’ve always been a competitor rather than a spectator, so to round things off, I compete internationally in Brazilian jiu-jitsu; with my recent highlights including super-heavyweight gold medals at the 2017 IBJJF European Masters, 2017 and 2018 IBJJF Spanish Nationals, 2017 and 2018 Zurich Open (among others).
Rob has been at the helm of Arbtech for 14 years.
Amy Stanley, sales manager, says:
As an insurance policy against his 5-a-day not being enough (he probably gets 15-20!), Rob has a blender in the office kitchen that gets loaded up with raw veg and fruit every day, and blended. Kind of like an Innocent smoothie. Only it usually ends up a greeny-brown colour and smells a whole lot less appealing! He also steals everyones’ chocolate.
What Makes Arbtech Different?
We are one of the very few consultancies to have a strongly differentiated offering: Unlike most of our ‘we’ll do anything as long as you’re paying us’, competitors we only undertake planning-related tree and ecology surveys; assuring you of our commitment to providing an unmatched depth of planning-related expertise, faster, and at the lowest possible cost. You can find out more about us here.
