News / marketing
Bristol business founder plants 5,000 trees
Park Row Marketing, a Bristol-based sales and marketing agency, has reached a significant milestone in its sustainability journey by planting 5,000 trees worldwide in celebration of its eight-year anniversary.
Since its founding in 2016, the company has been aiming to have a globally positive impact on the society and environment, by “making profit not only work for businesses, but for a much wider community of people and the planet”.
During National Tree Week (Nov 23 – Dec 1), the firm is celebrating by sponsoring a tree on one of its favorite streets in Bristol, Gloucester Road.
Owen Pilcherwood, founder and managing director of Park Row Marketing, shared his thoughts on the tree planting initiative. He said: “Living in a city center, I often missed the greenery, and I wanted to do something long-term to change that.”
“Living in a city center, I often missed the greenery, and I wanted to do something long-term to change that,” said Owen Pilcherwood (left), founder of Park Row Marketing
According to Owen, his idea to plant trees as the business grew was inspired by his desire to bring more nature into urban spaces.
He explained: “Britain is becoming more and more concrete, and I wanted Park Row Marketing to help change that in a long-term way. That’s when I got the idea for us to plant trees as we help our clients grow their businesses. It’s a win-win, I figured!”
As a dedication to his two-year-old son, Owen decided to sponsor a tree along Gloucester Road, a street he frequently walks with his family.
“Gloucester Road is quite built-up, and I really want to do something to help the wildlife around here. It’s especially important to me now that I have a son,” he shared.
“He gets excited when we start our walk because he knows we’re heading to St Andrew’s Park. I thought it would be a lovely idea to sponsor a tree on his favorite street to celebrate our business milestone in a meaningful way.”
Founded in 2016, Park Row Marketing provides a range of sales and marketing services to clients around the UK – photo: Park Row Marketing
Owen had the blueprint for the firm he was about to launch while living in what he describes as a “dingy flat on Park Row” with his wife. After working in a series of minimum-wage call center jobs with limited career prospects, Owen shifted his focus to sales, leveraging his people skills and business acumen.
“Sales is an amazing thing because if you’re charming and tenacious enough, that’s all you need to make change happen for yourself,” Owen said.
“The problem is that most call centers aren’t set up to give these opportunities to their staff at all. So I decided to start a call center that was different. At Park Row Marketing, all the salespeople are shareholders, so they actively own the business they work in every day.”
The tree sponsorship is part of the Trees for Streets initiative, run by the charity Trees for Cities, which collaborates with Bristol City Council.
The tree sponsorship is part of the Trees for Streets initiative, run by the charity Trees for Cities, which collaborates with Bristol City Council – photo: Trees for Streets
Lizzie Pace, local and council engagement manager for Trees for Streets, said: “It’s so encouraging to hear about business owners like Owen who are building sustainable practices into their business models.
“Planting 5,000 trees is a great milestone, and sponsoring trees is such a worthwhile way to ensure our cities stay healthy for humans and wildlife.”
To find out more about tree planting events in National Tree Week, visit www.treecouncil.org.uk
Main photo: Owen Pilcherwood
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
