January 2013

With our continuing growth, our fleet of Toyota Hiluxs has now grown from five to seven with the addition of two more identical vehicles.

December 2012

Maydencroft’s continuing investment in highly efficient specialist pieces of machinery is continuing with the purchase of a Spearhead 655T long reach telescopic side-arm flail. This brand new piece of equipment will help make savings when carrying out hedge cutting operations.

We have also invested in a new ‘Quadsaw’ attachment that is used for cutting larger trees, which is perfect for tasks such as woodland ride widening.

October 2012

Maydencroft Limited has achieved the status of ARB Approved Contractor (ArbAC)

ArbAC is a national tree surgery competence accreditation scheme operated by the Arboricultural Association, a national tree-care industry body (see www.trees.org.uk), which requires the contractor to meet 65 detailed criteria points covering four key areas and then exhaustively tests all aspects of a tree-care business’s operation and management:-

• High standards of work and tree knowledge

• Uncompromising approach to Health and Safety, and competent working practices

• Comprehensive record keeping and efficient administrative procedures

• High quality customer care

Tom Williams said: “Achieving this accreditation is of great importance to the business. This recognition gives our clients the assurance of our high standards of work. It also allows us to aim for large contracts where accreditation is a requirement. This means a huge amount to me personally and of course to the team of tree surgeons as we have worked so hard to ensure that our working practices are at the very best level possible.” .

September 2012

At the beginning of this month Ben Salt, 18 and Joshua Hayes, 23, started their apprenticeship with Maydencroft. We are delighted to be running this scheme with Shuttleworth Agricultural College and look forward to establishing the careers of two enthusiastic additions to the Maydencroft team, which now totals 32 permanent employees.

There was a great deal of competition for the places and Ben and Joshua impressed us with their positive and hardworking outlook, and determination to succeed.

Ben has been placed on the Arboriculture Apprenticeship and is being mentored by the experienced and highly qualified Tree Team leader, Tom Ruffle.

Joshua has been placed on the Countryside Management Apprenticeship and is being mentored by David Hooper, a very skilled project leader with 17 formal qualifications ranging from the operation of large excavators to hedge laying.

We wish Ben and Joshua every success for their year ahead.

August 2012

This month marks the launch of a new team of expert landscapers under the Maydencroft ‘umbrella’.

MJT Design and Landscapes has merged with Maydencroft Limited as part of a strategy between Matt Turner (of MJT) and Tom Williams to increase the scope of specialisms within Maydencroft, and to attain additional, experienced support for some of the large-scale projects that Maydencroft is working on. Additionally, the size and expertise of Maydencroft means that MJT’s clients can enjoy seamless continuity of service.

Matt brings with him 12 years of horticultural experience and a team of skilled employees. He joins Maydencroft as ‘Contract Manager – Landscaping’ and will be responsible for all of Maydencroft’s soft landscaping and maintenance contracts.

As a member of the Association of Professional Landscapers, Maydencroft will also gain Matt’s accomplished and creative technical drawing skills to provide a design and build land-scape service.

Tom and Matt would like to thank all the clients of MJT for their understanding and trust that their experience of the merger has been one of smooth transition and Tom and the team at Maydencroft extend a very warm welcome to Matt Turner, Adam Dilley and Stuart Gardner and look forward to working together in the future.

July 2012

Maydencroft Limited launches this month as the new company name to encompass the entire Maydencroft group of businesses. This reflects the fact that the company has grown rapidly since inception five years ago and there are now a number of divisions, of which the contracting arm Maydencroft Rural - the previous company name - is still a fundamental part.

Maydencroft Limited group comprises four complementary trading divisions:

• Maydencroft Land Advisory; qualified and experienced consultants providing practical and forward-thinking ecological and land management advice.
• Maydencroft Rural; a highly skilled and well equipped team of contractors and tree surgeons, offering a wide variety of services from lake dredging, fencing, to long-term tree management contracts.
• Maydencroft Farm; specialist conservation grazing services for public and private clients, with a pedigree herd of Longhorn Cattle.
• Maydencroft Renewables – Renewable energy advice with a select group of specialist contractors.

Tom Williams says:

“I’m delighted that the exciting new developments within our company have led to this name update. We really want to emphasise and clarify that we offer a number of different but linked speciality services; from expert advice for maximising land management potential from Matt Perry and the team in Maydencroft Land Advisory, to the technically skilled contracting team doing a huge variety of work from woodland restoration, lake reconstruction to hard landscaping, grounds maintenance and tree surgery."

“The company is going from strength to strength. A great deal of this is down to new and existing clients taking advantage of the many services we offer and then coming back over and over again. I like to think this reflects our high standard of work, wide scope of capabilities and of course is very much thanks to the skilled and hard-working team here.”

June 2012

Maydencroft provides a Kubota U20 excavator for the fourth year running for the Herts County Show. With over 250 children having a go over the Jubilee weekend, the stand was once again hugely popular.

May 2012

The brand new fleet of matching Toyota Hiluxs have now replaced our Mitsubishi pickups. Standing beside them are a proud Digger Cooke-Hurle, Contract Manager and Chris Beer, Operations Supervisor.

April 2012

This shows us using our forestry lorry for the first time with one of our unimogs behind producing G30 woodchip for the woodfuel market.

March 2012

Maydencroft Goes Green: Keeping operations green at Maydencroft is an integral part of our ethos and this week saw the installation of solar photovoltaic panels in a bid to reduce our carbon footprint.

The 32 panels will provide up to 8 kilowatts of electricity at peak output. Even now, in early March, the panels are generating an impressive amount of energy so we look forward to the benefits to come.

The panels have been discretely installed on one of the farm buildings, carefully chosen so as not to detract from the historic interest of the buildings here.

February 2012

With the beginning of the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council young tree maintenance contract, Digger and Chris are demonstrating to local volunteer tree wardens how urban street trees are planted. They will then be able to help look after them along side us.

January 2012

Further expansion of the existing yard to accomodate the growing fleet of vehilces, plant and machinery.

December 2011

Maydencroft Rural wins the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council young tree maintenenance contract!

We have exclusively been awarded this prestigious 6 year contract in our neighbouring borough.

November 2011

The purchase of a Hookloader lorry. Maydencroft is now carrying out all haulage operations 'in house'. The lorry is equipped with a 40 yard skip for hauling bulk woodchip and topsoil, a 20 yard skip for aggregate, a flat bed for moving machinery and equipment and a forestry carrier for bulk timber haulage.

Maydencroft now has complete control of the supply chain, ensuring our customers have the best possible product at an even lower price. 

October 2011

Maydencroft joins Constructionline and becomes an accredited supplier.

We are now a registered supplier with Constructionline. Being accreditated means that we no longer need to repeatedly fill in standard pre-qualification forms for every construction tender. What's more, with 8,000 buyers already using the Constructionline database to source contractors and consultants, Constructionline is a great tool to market our company.

October 2011

Tom Williams hosted a field trip for The Local Access Forum (LAF), Hertfordshire across Ellenbrook Fields, an open access site in Hatfield, managed by Maydencroft on behalf of Goodman .

The LAF is a strategic advisory body. Their role is to advise County Council and other bodies on access issues. One of the first tasks the Hertfordshire LAF considered was the Countryside Agency's draft 'Open Country' maps. Since then they have also been involved in the RoWIP (Rights of Way Improvement Plan).

An interesting and informative day, enjoyed by all. 

September 2011

Renowned chef and Masterchef judge, John Torode and a film-crew spent a day with Robert and Tom Williams at Maydencroft Farm in September, filming for an episode of the series ‘The Great British Food Revival’ this autumn on BBC2.

The episode, broadcast on Wednesday 2nd November 2011, repeated on Saturday 5th November and viewable through BBC i-player (until 24th November 2011), was an opportunity for John Torode to follow his passion for native UK breeds of cattle and to sing the praises of British beef. Father and son Robert and Tom Williams featured on the programme as a result of their efforts for the ancient longhorn breed of cattle, as well as for the success of their conservation grazing schemes throughout Hertfordshire.

August 2011

Maydencroft Rural are proud to sponsor 'Indian Row'.

James Cowan and Leven Brown are trying to achieve a dream of a lifetime. To be the first people to row from Fremantle, Australia to Durban, South Africa. The voyage covers over 5000 nautical miles of Indian Ocean and will take approximately 150 days to complete.

This photograph shows James Cowan raising money in Canada Quare, London with the help of one of our 4x4s. 

For more information go to www.indian-row.co.uk

 

July 2011

The purchase of brand new Kuhn hay making equipment. We have just invested in two brand new pieces of equipment for our hay and silage making. The purchase has been made so we can continue to become more efficient for our customers.

Cut and lift operations are an important part of land management, hay cutting and baling year on year reduces soil fertility, as nutrients are removed when the plant matter is collected. Over time, this helps improve biodiversity.

June 2010

Logs for sale: one cubic metre bags of seasoned hardwood logs. Guaranteed moisture content of less than 20%, suitable for open fires and log burners. Every purpose-made heavy duty bag is checked with a moisture meter and all wood is sourced from local, sustainably kept woodlands. Please call the office for a price, free local delivery.

May 2011

The purchase of a brand new Spearhead multicut 165 topper.

This narrower 165 topper has all the strength of our other multicut 420 but can squeeze into those 'hard to get' places. It is perfect for tracks, small meadows and woodland glades.

April 2011

Launch of 'Maydencroft Renewables' Our new Renewables branch specialises in giving advice to customers seeking renewable energy alternatives. We have many industry contacts and can help our customers get the best prices from the best companies.

March 2011

Ellenbrook Fields opens. The site, to be known as Ellenbrook Fields in Hatfield, was once part of the British Aerospace site and was at one time used as a jet engine test area and airfield. Maydencroft Rural has now converted it into a large open space for the public to enjoy and will continue to manage the site on behalf of Goodman, the owners.

February 2011

The new Dymax Tree Shear arrives, imported from the USA, we are the only contractors in Hertfordshire to have one and it is perfect for delicate operations such as hedge coppicing to large-scale forestry work.

January 2011

The Maydencroft fleet grows ever larger, and this really is large! We are now the very proud owners of a Volvo EC140BLC. This 14 tonne excavator and has three buckets for conventional groundwork but we have also had extensively adapted it so it can operate a range of specialist attachments.

The photograph shows it in action with our land clearance grapple, which is particularly useful for property developers.

December 2010

We have sealed a minimum of a two year contract restoring a country estate near Oundle in Northamptonshire. Works include 11km of hedge restoration and 14km of fencing and many hectares of woodland restoration.

November 2010

Here is a photograph of our Case CX130 (13 tonne) excavator being unloaded from our Unimog and trailer before it starts a lake excavation.

October 2010

The purchase of a second brand new TP 200 wood chipper.

Imported from Denmark, this top of the range machine is even heavier duty than the first. It allows us to operate the two unimogs side by side for clearance and tree surgery operations.

It produces up to 8 cubic metres of wood fuel per hour.

September 2010

The purchase of a new John Deere 6520SE tractor.

It has a 2 tonne front-end loader with a range of attachments including forestry and muck grabs, re-handling bucket, pallet forks and bale spike and clamp. It will operate alongside the unimogs for the most heavy-duty tasks. With a 116HP engine there will be nothing to stop it!

August 2010

The purchase of a brand new Spearhead multicut 420 topper. This piece of machinery is a monster for removing and destroying scrub but is equally happy mowing grass, it really is an adaptable but powerful piece of equipment. With a 4.2m cutting width and a cut height ranging from between 400mm to 10mm it can eat up the acres and give our customers real value for money.

July 2010

Staff training day. Here is a photograph of some of the staff updating their 'Emergency First Aid at Work' qualification. In the picture from left to right, Chris, John, Paul, Stanislaw, Dobromor, Jamie, Digger, Dave, Chris, Patryk, Zbigniew and Piotr.

June 2010

The purchase of a new low loader HIAB trailer. This 8 metre trailer carries all our machinery up to a weight of 14 tonnes and has an 8.2 metre reach crane capable of lifting up to 6 tonnes. It rides on air suspension, has disc brakes and is even painted in the company colours!

May 2010

Launch of 'Maydencroft Land Advisory'

We specialise in assisting farmers and landowners wishing to join Environmental Stewardship through ELS and HLS. We have a specialist service able to offer practical help throughout the range of considerations needed to make a successful application. We are skilled to help you to make the right decisions about your business, the landscape, wildlife habitats and the historic environment.  

March 2010

Maydencroft Rural wins the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council landscaping contract!

We have exclusively been awarded this prestigious 5 year contract in our neighbouring borough.  

February 2010

With an expansion of Japanese Knotweed Control contracts across Hertfordshire we have invested in Stem Injection Tools to be used by our fully qualified operators.

Stem injection works by injecting a concentrate of herbicide into each cane of the weed. Because stem injection only targets the weed, the treatment can be used in watershed and environmentally sensitive areas.

Effective for Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam.

January 2010

Continuing our investment in forestry equipment, a new grapple and land rake for the Kubota diggers has been purchased. This gathers and clears scrub and trees with minimal damage to the ground.

December 2009

The purchase of a new 7 tonne winch for the front of the Unimog. It has a 25 metre cable for directional felling and timber extraction.

November 2009

The new JCB 4x4 telescopic handler, with a lifting capacity of 3.5 tonnes and a reach of 9.5 metres, it has revolutionised certain aspects of our work. With specialist attachments such as a forestry grab and two man access platform we are further developing our forestry operations.

October 2009

Maydencroft Rural wins North Herts District Council Tree Contract!

We are one of the lucky contractors to be awarded this prestigious 4 year contract in our home district.

September 2009

The second unimog is fully restored in matching blue livery to the first. This photograph shows it carrying out an agricultural fencing contract.

July 2009

Purchase of a second brand new 2.3 tonne Kubota U20 "zero tail swing" digger.

This photograph shows the two of them side by side.

June 2009

Purchase of a Iseki 2160 4WD compact tractor with specialist boomless sprayer, seed and fertilzer spreader and a Wessex finishing mower. With sets of both turf and agricultural tyres, this setup can cover a wide range of applications.

May 2009

Purchase of a fourth identical Mitsubishi L200 4x4 pickup truck.

May 2009

'The Digger Challenge', Herts County Show: We helped the Young Farmers Club pull in the crowds by hosting a 'Digger Challenge'. Members of the public, particularly children had the opportunity to drive our digger by picking up a tennis ball, dodging the straw bales and dropping it off in the dumper truck, raising money for the Herts Air Ambulance.

May 2009

Top safety accreditation: We are one of the latest group of successful companies to join a leading edge scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record.

We recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors.

Our application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com.

April 2009

New web site goes live

Purchase of brand new Thwaites 2.0 tonne swivel dumper

Purchase of brand new Bomag 80 ride on vibrating roller

January 2009

Following the success of the first vehicle, we have now added to the fleet with the purchase of a second U1200 Unimog.

October 2008

Purchase of a brand new U20 Kubota "zero tail swing" digger.

This top of the range 2.3 tonne machine has retractable tracks to spread ground compaction or to access sites with restricted access.

October 2008

The first Unimog is fully refurbished, including a new paint job in the company livery.

September 2008

Purchase of brand new TP wood chipper. Imported from Denmark, this top of the range machine is one of the heaviest duty of it's type and will chip wood up to 7 inches in diameter.

July 2008

Delivery of a new top of the range electric fuel tank, the first of two identical tanks.

April 2008

The expansion of the existing yard to accomodate the new fleet.

March 2008

Team photo
Back Row (left to right)
Stevan Stacey, Dobromir Berej, Stanislaw Berej, Zbigniew Ernest, Christopher Cooke-Hurle (Digger)

Front Row (left to right)
Grzegorz Gawin, Tom Williams, Linda Eldridge, Patryk Zielinski, (Jack the dog), Darryn Hornblower

March 2008

Purchase of a brand new 'Quickfencer.' This new piece of equipment allows us to use 500 metre rolls of sheep netting and 2,000 metre rolls of barbed wire.

Together with a Unimog and Wrag post driver this makes us one of the most efficient fencing teams in the country!

March 2008

Purchase of brand new Wrag Powerswing Commander Opus post driver: "A new era for indispensible post drivers has arrived.

The Opus complements the most modern powerful post driver range on the market today." Fully hydraulic with a rock spike and 300 kg hammer.

March 2008

Purchase of the first U1200 Unimog. "No other four-wheel drive truck or tractor can handle difficult jobs so professionally and competently. The Unimog tackles terrain that would swallow other vehicles whole and carries the tools and equipment to achieve the most arduous tasks."

It can travel to site at over 50 mph and arrives fully equipped to start work.