Our Story and Ethics

Chris Frankland began his journey in tree contracting during weekends and holidays while teaching Maths at Sale Boys Grammar School. One of his first weekend assignments involved removing a large section of oak from a property in Hale. During this job, Chris encountered a troubling reality in the industry: the only available solution was to cut the timber into rings for firewood. Witnessing such a high-quality, beautiful resource reduced to firewood left a lasting impact on him. This sense of waste and frustration stayed with Chris, and when the 1987 hurricane prompted him to pursue the tree business full-time, he committed to a new approach. His goal was to maximize the value of timber and significantly reduce unnecessary waste. 

The family business steadily grew over the years, expanding its team and relocating from its original base at Stock Farm, Ashley, to its current home at Castle Hill Farm, Ashley. Most of the work has focused on urban tree management, including cost assessments, planting, pruning, felling, and stump grinding under the name FTS Ltd. However, the underlying mission has always been to maximize the value of resources that would otherwise go to waste.

Alongside the daily tree work, Chris and his team have consistently worked toward the vision of processing the urban timber passing through the business. Initially, the timber was milled, air-dried in sheds, sent to a commercial kiln, and then returned to Ashley for use in various projects. Over time, significant milestones were achieved:

• In 2010, the office was constructed which won a national building competition due to all the 27 species of timber in the building and furniture being processed from local trees that were neither planted nor felled for their timber.
• In 2011, the workshop was upgraded, increasing the processing capacity.
• In 2018, the in-house kiln was built, dramatically reducing the distance the timber needed to travel for drying.
• By 2023, the Gallery was completed, providing a dedicated space to store and display processed timber for public use.
• In 2025 work has commenced to expand the kiln dried timber store to increase the range and volume of stock available. 

The journey has not been without challenges, but each obstacle has provided valuable lessons, with the positive results outweighing the setbacks along the way.

We are now looking to develop further products and explore markets. We are looking to encourage those who share our ethics and team vision so that more contractors can avoid the pitfalls that we have had to overcome and experience at first hand this stunning local timber resource.