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Twenty years of Gloucestershire trees, grounds, and graft. From a one-man operation in 2004 to thirty-plus staff across seven specialist teams, still based at Shurdington, still run by the bloke who started it.

Est. 2004

YEARS OF TRADING

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SPECIALIST STAFF

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EXPERT TEAMS

ACCREDITATIONS

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It started with one man and a saw

Silver Tree Services began in 2004, when Paul Craddock started taking on tree work around Cheltenham. No fleet, no yard full of machinery, no teams. One car, a trailer, and £1,500 of kit on a credit card. Just qualifications, a work ethic, and the view that’s still on the wall of the business today: do the job properly, leave the site better than you found it, and the phone keeps ringing.

It did. Word of mouth in Gloucestershire is worth more than any advert, and tree work led to grounds work, grounds work led to landscaping, and one van led to a fleet. The first client we ever took on is still a client today. So is the first major contract we ever won. From the first member of staff to the thirtieth, every day since has been a push forward, even if only by a fraction.

Paul is off the tools these days, but the focus has not changed. Whether someone is climbing a 100ft tree or sat at a computer, on their first day or their fourteenth year, they are all part of the same team, and all of them matter.

Growing from historic ground

In 1830, Stroud engineer Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, and the way the world cares for its green spaces changed forever.

Nearly two centuries later, Paul Craddock founded Silver Tree in the same town. Different tools, same ground: the arboriculture and landscaping tradition of Stroud and Gloucestershire, carried on by people who work its trees, hedgerows and gardens every day.

Growing roots at Shurdington

The business put down roots at Shurdington Nurseries on Whitelands Lane, between Cheltenham and the Cotswold escarpment, and the site shaped what Silver Tree Services became. A working nursery meant we could grow what we planted. Space for processing meant timber from tree work could become firewood, biomass fuel, and woodchip instead of waste. The yard became the hub of a closed loop that now underpins our ISO 14001 environmental certification: what our crews fell, our yard processes, and Gloucestershire burns, mulches, and plants.

From tools to teams

Today Silver Tree Services runs more than thirty staff across seven specialist teams: tree surgery, grounds maintenance, landscaping, clearance, and the supporting operations that keep them moving. We hold ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification, ARB Approved Contractor status, and the NPTC, IPAF, and safety accreditations that let us work for the most demanding clients in the county: the NHS, Gloucestershire Police, Stroud District Council, Savills, the Church of England, The Grange in Bishops Cleeve and the Bugatti Owners Club at Prescott Hill Climb.

And alongside the contracting business grew the rest of the family: Silver Tree Nurseries growing stock at the home site, Silver Tree Biomass turning arisings into fuel, and Silver Tree Training passing the trade’s qualifications to the next generation.

Still the same job

Paul still walks sites. The standards are still set in person, the quotes are still honest, and the test is still the one from 2004: would we be happy with this work on our own ground? Twenty years and thirty staff later, the answer still has to be yes before a crew leaves site.

If you want the people behind it, they’re on the team page. If you want them on your ground, ask for a quote.

Ready When You Are