Blaise Brogan started cutting trees when he left school at 16 years. He was working for various tree companies and eventually started his own. He first bought a middle skid steer boxer machine which he’d imported from America. He was impressed with the first product he made and decided it was something he could actually do.
HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED
He was working for a firm on week days and then work on the weekends cutting trees. He’d just bought a house and was working on it every evening trying to completely renovate it. One day in 2001, he decided to quit his job and just do his own thing.
Blaise has only been serving clients in his little village in North London. They love him because he creates unique products and is quite affordable.
When he started, he was trying to save the wood by cutting the hedges since there is a big reduction in trees. Afterwards, he started cutting the trunks in the yard after which required him to buy a milling machine. He mainly does tree trimming, but also does milling.
DEVELOPING MARKET FOR HIS PRODUCTS
In the UK, the market is quite different from USA. People prefer buying things like antiques from stores rather than having them made from scratch. It’s a more of a younger market that is growing.
He’s got a really big stock which is a good opportunity for him. He feels that in the next five years, his business is going to take off. He’s trying to get into some design agencies and talk to people, and also push a mixture in materials as well, such as getting metal cast into the pieces. He’s been experimenting with that a lot.
GROWING THE MILLING BUSINESS
For Blaise, it’s really about getting the woods to use and getting the word out there. For example, he is specializing in big stuff like conference tables and he works really hard to make them outstanding since it’s the kind of product he’s pushing for.
FUTURE PLANS
He just got a new work shop which is ten times bigger than the old, which has now created a bigger working space. He can now work on more stuff and he also has a small kiln that he made to keep the wood dry and cared for.
Twitter: @BlaiseBrogan
Instagram: Blaiseintrees
Facebook: Blaise Brogan