The Tree People have made a name for themselves, particularly on Banks Peninsula, where they complete a lot of the tree work for the council and in the residential sector. They often also tackle the complex tree work that others won’t work with – and they love the challenge of these complex and beautiful trees.
A passion and dedication to Christchurch’s trees, coupled with an appetite for opportunity, has seen family business, The Tree People, celebrate 10+ years in business.
Owners Ra Hammer and Megan Hancox-Hammer never sat down with a five-year or a 10-year plan, they’ve been too busy living and breathing their business since day one. But when an opportunity arises, they are very good at taking it up.
One such opportunity was what started The Tree People over 10 years ago. Ra had been working as a sole trader and he and Megan were about to start having their own family.
Moving from strength to strength
A childhood friend of Ra’s who had also gone into arboriculture, Ruben Hull, had moved to Christchurch and was looking for work. “We decided to take on our first employee, which was a pretty scary first step from being a sole trader,” Megan says.
“We thought here was our chance to turn this business into something that could support our new family. We took a leap of faith and we’re happy to say Ruben is still with us today.”
The next couple of years saw the company grow steadily to four staff. The company made a name and reputation for itself, particularly on Banks Peninsula, where they complete most of the tree work today, some for Council but mostly residential.
In 2003, The Tree People won a private contract to transplant a couple of thousand trees from one property to another. The job required more people than the company had on staff, so Ra and Megan got some extra help on contract. “We worked on that big job with that crew for a couple of months and we loved having them around. We loved the environment we had created, and we decided to keep it going. We went from four staff up to 10.”
Hassle-free tree care that customers trust
That job also required a mechanical tree spade so one was added one to their plant fleet, and the experience gained by the crew from that first job has meant that the team have since gone on to do a lot more tree transplanting. “We’ve built a crew that people understand to be the experts for all tree transplanting nationwide. We’ve done it successfully so many times now it’s a speciality, and our clients recommend us.”
Megan says the team are all in it for their passion and dedication. “We offer a genuine service – everyone here loves trees,” she says. “We have trained many apprentice arborists, and we love to see them grow through their employment.”
Now up to a team of 15, supported by commercial manager Jared Donald and residential manager Shea McDougall, Megan and Ra reflect on how much has changed. However, these is one thing that has remained a constant over all these years.
“We pride ourselves on our level of service and our reputation. Moving forward, that’s what matters. We will continue to strive to deliver the best tree service and will never compromise on that service. That’s one thing that will never change.”
A change in season heralds a new name
2019 marked the year that The Tree People changed their name from Four Seasons Tree Care. “New name, same great service,” Ra says of the change. It was important for the team to have a name that represented the heart of what they do. He continues, “we consider ourselves as tree people! And more than that we are ‘your’ Tree People. This name represents who we are and how we work. It made sense to us to make this transition.”
Moving forwards there are more exciting projects on the horizon, not to mention their very own pizza restaurant, Arbour wood fired pizza which opens in December 2020, which no doubt will end up keeping their team pleasantly full after a day’s work!