Simon works in the London Borough of Sutton, an outer London borough south of the River Thames. He started his career in a biochemistry research role for Brooke Bond tea, then decided to become a Tree Surgeon, working in this area for 27 years before moving to a Tree Officer role with Bromley Borough Council when he stayed for 5 years. After a brief period as a consultant with his own business, Simon returned to Tree Officer roles with local authorities, firstly with Wandsworth Borough Council and latterly with the London Borough of Sutton, as an Arboriculture & Woodlands Officer.
Simon works in a small core team of four Officers, responsible for managing trees within the borough in areas such a green parks and highways, and supervising tree maintenance and tree planting contractors.
Acknowledging there is no such thing as a “typical day”, Simon identifies regular activities of his role as preparing surveys and carrying our site visits. “Much of the role is responding to enquiries and requests from different areas of the public, from residents to local councillors, as well as working with contractors to schedule their work. This requires good communications skills, being able to connect with different people – having previously ran my own firm, I’m comfortable speaking to a variety of people.”
“Being a small team, we’re kept busy all year – during the winter months, we’ll be planning and planting the new trees, after preparing for the task in the autumn. Spring through to autumn, we’ll be dealing with anything from trees damaged by high winds, managing ash dieback, and the falling leaves.”
“I gained my Level 4 qualification in Arboriculture from Merrist Wood College in Guildford, going back to studying which I really enjoyed. Before moving to work with the local councils, I worked for a while in private consultancy. I then achieved my Level 6 Diploma in Arboriculture from Tree Life, which was a great achievement as it was a tough course! As well as these qualifications, I’ve completed a lot of training courses in my career, from practical courses (previously known by their CS codes, now known by their qualification name) to training on working safely.”
“You develop a lot of skills in the workplace, learning from your peers and doing daily tasks. Having previous experience as a Tree Surgeon is a great grounding to becoming a Tree Officer – it gives you additional skills to help evaluate trees and helps when discussing work schedules with contractors.”
While there have been technological advances to support the industry, Simon is keen to point out that practical skills are still important to be able to survey and analyse trees. He said: “We use computers to collect information on the trees in a database, and there are tools such as microdrill which can be useful, but a lot of the role still relies on visual surveys and a good understanding of the trees themselves.”
Simon has some words of encouragement for anyone thinking of a career in the sector. “A great part of my job is getting the balance right for the trees – dealing with damaged trees that need to be removed, but also planting and planning for new trees where they will be best suited. People are becoming more interested in the importance of trees and how they contribute to sustainability and wellbeing. There are challenges to the job, but if you’re the right kind of person you’ll get on well in this evolving line of work.”
