Armstrong expands with six

Two new staff hired on the back of record turnover last year

Edinburgh-based Armstrong Gardens and Landscapes has made two key appointments as part of investment in a new division of the business.

The city landscaper has expanded its operation to include a design division, on the back of recently-reported record turnover of £1.2m.

This has allowed founder Fraser Armstrong to bolster his team with the recruitment of Jack Verran as landscape design and horticulture manager and Matt Nelson as a landscape architect.

Most recently, Verran worked on key public realm landscape architect developments across Glasgow, including the development of the Pollok Country Park in preparation for the Burrell Collection's reopening.

He has 15 years’ experience across landscape architecture, landscape design and build, horticulture, forestry and eco-tourism.

Nelson brings extensive experience from various landscape architecture, ecology, engineering and garden design practices throughout the Lothians, with projects including Portobello High School, Shawfair Park and various environmental assessments.

“It’s four years since I set out on this journey and right from the outset, I wanted to build a successful business by growing steadily,” said Armstrong, who has also introduced some of the latest software as part of the six-figure expansion, including high performance architectural software and surveying equipment.

“Our recent financial results show we have achieved that and we can push on from here - we have the people and technology here who can bring these visions to reality.

“We have a good balance of skills between the design and installation team, allowing us to focus on large-scale domestic contracts as well, as commercial projects.

“There are lots of contractors who only do the hard landscaping, having been given a plan by designers, but will not have had any input themselves, which can be a bit disjointed - very few firms do both areas and do them well and that’s our target.”

Verran said: “It’s an exciting time to be working for the company as we have the skillsets, experience, technology and innovative spirit to meet the needs of both domestic garden design and commercial projects.

“We’re channelling the craftsmanship of stonemasons, joiners, landscapers and horticulturists - it’s exciting to collaborate with all these skills and interpret them into the design element.

“Through our design and build process we can allow customers to secure a guaranteed date in the diary, whilst having the luxury to choose from costed 2D and 3D design options that work with their needs on a functional, aesthetic and costings level.”

Meanwhile, the entrepreneur behind the world’s first ‘Airbnb for gardens’ has unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered garden advice guru he hopes will help attract younger generations to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

AllotMe’s new ‘Hazel’ service can answer questions about gardening and growing, powered by generative AI platform Chat GPT, trained using the platform’s extensive growing guides.

Conor Gallagher, founder of AllotMe, says the Hazel launch is the latest phase in the platform’s mission to break down barriers to the nation growing its own.

“The two greatest barriers to more people growing their own are lack of space and insufficient knowledge - we’ve already provided a solution to space with AllotMe, and now it’s time to tackle the knowledge with Hazel.

“People can ask Hazel what plants will be best suited for the conditions where they live, order seeds from AllotMe’s curated collection, and have them delivered to their door or plot all in one space. It’s a one stop shop.

“We’re here to break barriers to growing for all generations, and a crucial part of that is dragging gardening into the 21st century – innovation like Hazel is an important part of that.”

Gallagher, originally from Belfast, launched AllotMe in 2021 in response to rising demand for growing space in the face of diminishing availability in urban environments - particularly in London - where some areas have waiting lists of up to 40 years for allotments.

It has since flourished with more than 500 plots listed and a community of 5,000 hosts and enthusiasts registered across the UK.

Gardeners pay £15 to £30 to rent plots on minimum three-month terms.

The start-up last year secured more than £250,000 investment – which included £120,000 from venture capital outfit QVentures and £50,000 from the HBAN Angel Network in Northern Ireland.

Gallagher, a Glasgow School of Art-trained architect, gave up a career as an architect and urban designer - during which he worked on £30m construction projects in New York and London, as well as involvement at startup Farmacy NYC - to focus full time on AllotMe.

AllotMe is also home to a catalogue of free-to-access growing guides, designed to help gardeners of all levels get their plots moving.

Gallagher’s innovations have also included the creation of the AllotMe ‘GrowPod’ - a sustainable hydroponic planter that only requires seed pods, water and sunlight to allow people with limited indoor space to grow vegetables indoors.

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