Landplan GB Limited
Landplan Ltd is a Hull company with strong family roots and links to the city. Established in 1969 by Alan Russell, the company has now been passed down to his son Joe.
The company began as an active interest in horticulture and agriculture in 1969, but progressed to a ltd company with five employees within eight years. Landplan now specialises in tree moving, drainage, construction and maintenance of green areas, landscaping, recycling, and even the simple tasks such as grass cutting.
The hands-on team of 25 remain focussed on the quality of their work and take pride in their tradition, but are constantly taking advantage of advances in the industry and the modernisation of equipment by committing to invest in the latest machinery available.
This investment illustrates the company's commitment to ecological care and sustainability, by ensuring they are aware of the latest industrial recycling opportunities. Landplan have restricted the need for landfills in their work by researching alternatives and using specialist equipment which allows for the re-use of natural materials, which were once thought unusable.
The strong commitment to sourcing all materials used from HU postcodes made the company particularly attracted to working with Hull Esteem Consortium, sharing the ideology of keeping business local. A successful bid to work with the company was made and Landplan have now completed work on many of the BSF school sites, with more schools lined up for the company in 2012.
Landplan began their involvement with work on the now completed Archbishop Sentamu Academy, involving landscaping on the site and the construction of the new sports field. This site provided a particularly good example of the working attitude of Landplan, as many of the shrubs for the school site were sourced from the horticulture site at the nursery next door to the school. The company were also able to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable use of materials when working on the Thomas Ferens Academy. Trees that were not used for the new site were turned into wood chippings, which were then donated for charitable use.
The local resourcing Landplan commits to does not stop with materials. All of the company's employees were also recruited from the Hull area, with many working on schools they attended as pupils. The site at Winifred Holtby School is being maintained for the next year following completion of work on the site by an ex-pupil of the school, the same employee whose brother is still an attending pupil there. Employees also used to attend Andrew Marvell School, part of the current phase of developments, and Landplan's founder and retired company owner, Alan Russell attended Malet Lambert School as a child.
Alan's son, Joe Russell, managing director at Landplan, said: "The connection we have as local residents with many of the schools in the BSF programme inclined us to get involved. We really encourage local business wherever possible and were thrilled to find such a large-scale project working with the same attitude. We have now worked on a number of BSF schools and are still developing our involvement to reach more schools next year.
"This encouragement to keep the programme local has no doubt contributed to the local economy in a way appreciated by everyone involved. At Landplan we have been able to recruit a new apprentice as a result of the work we gained, both expanding our business and giving back to the educational developments surrounding the programme."