Frequently Asked Questions

You may only see someone mowing, strimming, cutting hedges or clearing up every so often but, a bit like the tip of an iceberg, that is only a relatively small part of what we have to do as an ecological estates management firm. It is often not appreciated, quite understandably, just how much else we must account for. In the early days of professional ecology and biodiversity work thirty or more years ago, much of what we must now include as a responsible business keeping up with the times, did not exist or was far cheaper (Health & Safety, Statutory Agencies, Best Practice Guidelines, etc.). There has been a revolution in administrative procedures and a snowstorm of multi-level regulation and law-making since the 1980s. Also, what we now sometimes call the “blame culture” has necessitated more extensive professional indemnity insurance cover which is expensive. The combination of these has led to greatly increased costs for almost every professional service in Britain.
Don’t forget our main aims for your open greenspace are not only to enhance the value of your home by improving the environmental and the integrated ecological aspects of your estate, but particularly the protection and promotion of biodiversity. This is in compliance with national and international policies, including climate change and United Nations’ halting the loss of biodiversity to which Britain is a signatory. It takes very many years to acquire adequate ecological field and other skills: personnel must be experienced and possess the relevant knowledge of science and business to perform to the demanding standards of modern ecology-based estates work.
Here is a listed summary of the main reasons for the costs behind what we do that you may not always see. The list is not exhaustive but when you consider what must be done, the Service Charge is very good value:

• Staffing which includes sufficiently competent ecological scientists and field operatives doesn’t come cheap and can be hard to find;
• Training and research needs are exacting and extensive — and must continually be updated;
• Laws and regulations about wildlife, environment, greenspace and planning have increased dramatically since 1980 when wildlife legislation broadly began;
• There are over 650 legally protected species in Britain and many more that are “notable”, plus many categories of protected habitats and landscape; some of these are relevant to our urban greenspace and we take our duty of legal and policy compliance seriously;
• Detailed requirements and agreed guidelines published by the British Standards Institute, statutory authorities, other professional bodies and councils must be carefully followed to ensure there is no criticism of non-compliance or variation of defined standard methods;
• Health & safety rules are far-reaching and detailed — this means more training, more administrative systems, special clothing and equipment and costly specialised insurance (two people may also sometimes be required to do site work that used to be accomplished by one);
• Insurance costs, with new taxes placed upon premiums, continually increase;
• Computers, scientific instruments, office machines and communications equipment are dear and date quickly, but are essential for a responsible business in our sector to function;
• The road network is seriously inadequate and congested — traffic density and travel time, and resultant delays and costs, have escalated;
• Like any business, we must allow funding for significant cash flow and financing challenges caused, for example, by slow payment and bad debt; also, as well as wages to pay, there are administrative, rent, rates and overhead costs, record keeping, customer service, public relations, accountancy, budgeting, repairs, estates equipment servicing and replacement, cleaning, general maintenance, vehicles, fuel, scheduling, planning, project management, purchasing, estimating, certification, risk assessments, CPD, corporation and other business taxes, agency & legal fees,

So … that person you may see on the mower is only a very small part of the costs which the Service Charge must meet.