A FESTIVE York family business is celebrating it's 25th anniversary.
Olly and Kirstie Combe, owners of the award winning York Christmas Trees in Wigginton, have completed their 25th year helping to make York’s festive celebrations special.
The last 25 years have seen York Christmas Trees become a festive fixture for so many local families and amongst the many highlights was winning the annual British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA) competition to supply the Christmas tree for No10 Downing Street in 2020.
Once again their trees are on show in the Nave of York Minster and also in hundreds of homes making all the hard work during the year worthwhile. Olly and Kirstie, and the 16-year-old son, Joe, marked this special year by receiving the BCTGA Innovation Award for developing the ‘Doziroller’ which helps create the best possible shape for a Christmas Tree.
While November and December are hectic months at the York Christmas Trees Barn, which features a forest of trees and an amazing range of wreaths and decorations, that is just a small part of the successful operation in Wigginton.
Olly said: “We plant around 20,000 young trees every year and they are regularly pruned and cared for by our expert staff. It takes around 10 years to produce one of our 6ft trees and that gives you an idea of the time and effort involved. All of our Christmas trees are grown within two miles of our Christmas Barn at Wigginton Lodge.
“ Over the last 25 years we have focussed on what I call the “ circle of life” for our trees and that is why we offer a recycling service that turns them into woodchip to which we add farmyard manure and special bacteria to accelerate the composting process.
“Having reached this important milestone, we are not standing still and we added five Shropshire sheep to the team this year who act as ecological grass mowers reducing the need for mechanical help in the growing fields.
“We are determined to maintain our position as a leading environmentally friendly grower have replaced plastic bags in our Christmas Barn with paper alternatives. We have invested in specialist machinery to tend our trees with minimum impact on the environment and our growing methods are evolving to improve our soil management.”
A strong connection to the local community has also been a key element in the success of the business as Olly said: “We have been grateful to be able to build up a loyal customer base who come back every and recommend us to friends and family, some of their children grow faster than our trees.
“Supporting our local community is very important to us and we are delighted to be sponsoring Flora Eckert, of York City U12s, who is a real footballing talent. We will be keeping a close eye on her progress in the women’s game which is enjoying such a fantastic growth in popularity thanks to the success of the England Lionesses.”
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