Flintshire-based couple Jason and Vicki Bell have returned to their roots to run their own lawn care business, GreenThumb, delivering a bespoke lawn care service to over 3,500 homes and businesses across North East Wales.
The entrepreneurs are now the proud owners of five branches, including neighbouring Wrexham, the Wirral, Oswestry and Bridgnorth.
Vicki and Jason seized the opportunity to buy the Flintshire and Wrexham franchise branches when they came up for sale.
“It has always been our goal to acquire these areas in North East Wales, so when we learnt that it was available, we jumped at the chance – it was a no-brainer,” said Jason Bell.
“Prior to our ownership, the branches were owned by GreenThumb’s corporate office and was the first franchise in the network to have been launched over 30 years ago. There is also a sentimental reason why we wanted to buy this franchise, as my uncle got me my first job at GreenThumb in 2007 and now we are the proud owners of multiple GreenThumb franchises. Having this family connection means so much to me, and with him sadly no longer around, it makes me even more determined to be successful.”
With two young boys, the duo are committed to building a business where they can continue to grow across North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire. With the recent acquisition of the three new branches, Flintshire, Wrexham and the Wirral, GreenThumb now has a customer base of over 5,300 and delivers lawn care from small domestic homes to large country estates. Operating their fleet of seven branded vans from their base in Sandycroft, the Bells are supported by a team of seven longstanding lawn operatives.
Born and bred in Flintshire, Vicki and Jason embarked on their GreenThumb journey in 2008, when they bought their first franchise in Oswestry. Prior to this, neither Jason nor Vicki had any experience of running their own business. Jason previously worked as a lawn operative for GreenThumb’s head office and Vicki as a travel agent, but after much careful consideration, they decided to invest in the business and work together. With Vicki’s experience in administration and customer service, combined with Jason’s knowledge of the lawn care industry, they knew that they could make a success of the business.
“Although we have only been operating GreenThumb Flintshire and Wrexham for a couple of weeks, we are very determined to carry on making an impact in the area. We will be looking to expand the talented local team, who all deliver exceptional customer experience, as well as grow our customer base over the five branches to over 6,000 within our first year and increase our turnover by 5% year-on-year. We also recognise the importance of excellent customer care, so our aim is to continue to provide a consistent and high-quality service for every customer and to keep the community at the heart of everything we do,” added Vicki.
Based in Sandycroft, GreenThumb covers Caerwys, Flint, Connah’s Quay, Mold, Shotton, Buckley and Aston Park, as well as Llay, Rossett, Coedpoeth, Gresford, Gwersyllt, Brymbo, Ruabon, Bangor-on-Dee and Penyfford. It is part of a national network of over 220 local territories, many of which are franchised, with more than 2.5 million treatments carried out each year by professional and caring lawn care teams.
