About us
Our Story
Our founder George, was brought up in leafy Sevenoaks, where he enjoyed an idyllic childhood filled with outward bound activities. It was these early years outdoors and a move to East Sussex that helped George forge a career path as far away from a 9 to 5 office job as possible.
Following the completion of aboriculture courses at Plumpton College, it was whilst studying a degree in Construction Management at Southbank University in London that George first established himself as a tree surgeon, working part-time when coursework allowed. After graduating in 2016, George spotted an alignment of skills and interests including a passion for nature and trees, a love of climbing, together with strong project management and communications skills, and made a full-time commitment to arboriculture – Gimbles Tree Works was formed.
In the past five years, the company has gone from strength to strength, growing rapidly and establishing itself as a trusted and respected tree surgeon for both residential and commercial clients across the South East of England.
Accreditations & Certifications
At Gimbles Tree Works, we pride ourselves on ensuring our team and company are conforming to industry best practice.
Please find below a list of accreditations and certifications we currently hold.
Arb Approved Contractor
An ARB Approved Contractor (ArbAC) is a business that has been assessed by the Arboricultural Association (AA), has met and continues to uphold the AA’s Standards (both the ArbAC Standard relevant to the size of the business and the AA’s Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct and has paid the appropriate annual scheme management fee.
The Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor scheme has been setting the standards for tree surgery work for more than 40 years. The Arboricultural industry is not regulated by government but has a high accident potential and a responsibility to care for the UK’s rich tree heritage.
Trustmark
TrustMark is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme covering work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home
When a consumer uses a TrustMark Registered Business, they know they are engaging an organisation that has been thoroughly vetted to meet required standards, and has made a considerable commitment to good customer service, technical competence and trading practices.
By ensuring all Registered Business adhere to and maintain these standards through our expert network of Scheme Providers, TrustMark gives consumers increased confidence and choice. Additionally, in the event that a problem does arise, TrustMark offers a range of remedies to give further protection to consumers.
Contractor Health And Safety Assessment (CHAS)
The UK’s Leading Provider of Risk Prevention, Compliance and Supply Chain Management Services for Clients and Contractors.
CHAS works in partnership with leading industry bodies and independent organisations to provide clients and contractors alike with a single solution for accreditation, risk assessment, supply chain management and industry training.
CHAS is an authority and trusted advisor on health and safety compliance, responsible for setting industry benchmarks and providing the new Common Assessment Standards.
Construction Skills Certification Scheme
CSCS cards provide proof that individuals working on construction sites have the appropriate training and qualifications for the job they do on site. By ensuring the workforce are appropriately qualified the card plays its part in improving standards and safety on UK construction sites.
Holding a CSCS card is not a legislative requirement. It is entirely up to the principal contractor or client whether workers are required to hold a card before they are allowed on site. However, most principal contractors and major house builders require construction workers on their sites to hold a valid card.
Constructionline
Constructionline has been working with construction buyers and suppliers for 20 years. Constructionline pride themselves on opening up opportunities for members to access a wide range of procurement contracts and projects – and for buyers to access a validated pool of high quality suppliers.
Compliance is at the heart of what Constructionline do. Whether it’s getting to grips with new standards and requirements or updating systems to enable buyers to search on a wider range of criteria, Constructionline experts keep ahead of changing regulation – and so does their platform.
In using the Constructionline platform, buyers can expect to simplify and speed up their search, validation and purchasing decision processes considerably, improving resource and cost efficiency.
City & Guilds Land Based Services
City & Guilds Land Based Services (formerly NPTC) is the UK’s largest awarding body in the land-based sector – encompassing agriculture, horticulture, forestry, animal care, conservation, machinery and more.
City & Guilds Land Based Services creates qualifications that reflect the industry’s needs, working closely with Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for landbased training and education.
Many give workers vital licences to practice in their industry.
As well as creating and assessing mainstream qualifications, City & Guilds Land Based Services creates awards tailored to particular companies. This helps workers in niche businesses to achieve the level of qualification they deserve.
Customer Privacy Notice
At Gimbles Tree Works (the “Company”), we understand that we have a responsibility to protect and respect your privacy and to look after your personal data.
This Privacy Notice and our Business Terms and Conditions explain what personal data we collect, how we use your personal data, reasons we may need to disclose your personal data to others and how we store your personal data securely.
For clarity, our Company may be both data controller and data processor for your personal data under certain circumstances.
Who are we?
Our Company provides arboricultural contracting services, based in East Sussex.
We operate as a Sole Trader, with the Company office at Rotherfield, East Sussex, TN6 3QF.
Mr George Lineham is responsible for data protection.
How the law protects you
Data protection laws state that we are only able to process personal data if we have valid reasons to do so.
The basis for processing your personal data includes, but is not limited to, your consent, performance of a contract, to enable billing and remittance, and to contact you for customer service purposes.
How do we collect personal data from you?
We receive information when you complete the form on our website, if you contact us by phone, email, or otherwise in respect of any of our services.
If you provide us with personal data about a third party, you warrant that you have obtained the express consent from the third party for the disclosure and use of their personal data.
What type of data do we collect from you?
The personal data that we may collect from you includes your name, address, email address, phone numbers, business and company information and trading history. We also retain records of your queries and correspondence, in the event you contact us.
We merely process such data on your behalf, subject to our Terms and Conditions.
What data do we store?
- Contact details;
- Project details;
- Email;
- Other correspondence.
We do not store any payment information such as bank account details or credit card numbers.
How do we use your data?
We use information about you in the following ways:
- To process orders that you have submitted to us;
- To provide you with services;
- To comply with any contractual obligations, we may have with you;
- To help us identify you and any projects we are working on or have completed for you;
- To enable us to review, develop and improve our services;
- To provide customer care, including responding to your requests if you contact us with a query;
- To administer accounts, process payments and keep track of billing and payments;
- To detect fraud and to make sure what you have told us is correct;
- To carry out marketing and statistical analysis;
- To notify you about changes to our services;
- To provide you with information about products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you based upon the work we have completed for you;
- To inform you of service and price changes.
Due to the nature of the services we offer and the relationship that we have with our customers, we will assume that you are still a customer until you tell us that you no longer want to be considered as a customer.
Retention periods
We will keep your personal data for the duration of the period you are a customer of the Company.
Due to the nature of the services we offer and the relationship that we have with our customers, we will assume that you are still a customer until you tell us that you no longer want to be considered as a customer.
If you let us know that you are no longer a customer, we will delete all unnecessary electronic data and destroy all unnecessary hard copy data that we hold.
We shall retain any project data that is required to safeguard our legal liability following the completion of any project.
Who has access to your personal data?
For the avoidance of doubt, we do not and never shall sell your personal data to third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.
We may pass your personal data to third parties for the provision of services on our behalf, but we will only ever share information about you that is necessary to provide the service. For example, if we need to use a provider of specialist equipment or services as part of the work that we are doing for you.
We may share your information if we are acquired by a third party and therefore your data will be deemed an asset of the business. In these circumstances, we may disclose your personal data to the prospective buyer of our business, subject to both parties entering appropriate confidentiality undertakings.
We may share your personal data if we are under a duty to disclose data in order to comply with any legal obligation or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Company, our customers, or others.
This includes but is not limited to exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection, credit risk reduction and dispute policies. However, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.
Your rights
You have the right to object to our use of your personal data, or ask us to delete, remove or stop using it if there is no need for us to keep it. This is known as your right to be forgotten.
There are legal and accountancy reasons why we will need to keep your data, but please do inform us if you think we are retaining or using your personal data incorrectly.
In preventing the use or processing of your personal data, it may delay or prevent us from fulfilling our contractual obligations to you. It may also mean that we shall be unable to provide our services or process the cancellation of your service.
Our Privacy Notice shall be made clear to you at the point of collection of your personal data.
Keeping customers up to date is part of our service and we consider updating to include making you aware of new solutions to topical issues. The solution may be a new or improved service. You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. If you choose not to receive marketing communications from us about our products and services, please let us know at any time at info@gimblestreeworks.com
Where we store your personal data
All information you provide to us is stored on our secure network.
Email is held on the storage provided by Microsoft Outlook.
Project documents including photographs are stored on our Google Drive and secure network system.
Please refer to the information published by these companies in relation to encryption and security. We are comfortable that they provide a very secure storage solution.
Our IT equipment is protected by the highest grade of firewall and antivirus software available and we operate all communication via a virtual private network.
Email and project documents are backed-up regularly onto an external hard drive and this is kept in a remote secure location.
Liability
We agree to take reasonable measures to protect your data in accordance with applicable laws and in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.
In the event of a data breach, we shall ensure that our obligations under applicable data protection laws are complied with where necessary.
Contact us
Please e-mail any questions or comments you have about privacy to us at info@gimblestreeworks.com.
Your right to make a complaint
You have the right to make a complaint about how we process your personal data to the Information Commissioner:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
The Contractor – the person or business undertaking the works & The Client – the person or business instructing the works (and in so doing, and accepting the quote, agrees to/accepts the following terms and conditions.)
- Notice of the Right to Cancel “Cooling off period” – the client has a min. 14 days to cancel the contract (in writing) from acceptance date. In the event of cancelation at short notice costs may be proportionally incurred by the client.
- This quotation/estimate is valid for 30 days and considers any ‘value’, monetary or otherwise, the arisings may have unless stated otherwise.
- All works will be in accordance with the current British Standard 3998 ‘Tree Work Recommendations’ where possible unless specified otherwise. Dimensions specified are approximate and, wherever possible, will be to the nearest appropriate pruning point.
- In the event of a variation to the quotation because of:
- Amendments to works required prior to arriving on site, or
- Changes in site/ground conditions since the original visit, or
- Additional works requested/required whilst on site the quotation will be revised accordingly, either electronically in advance or in a hand written on the day of work, with agreed amendments signed by the contractor and the client.
- Stump-grinding will be to a depth of 250mm below the immediately adjacent ground level and will include the removal of the stump and buttress roots but will not include lateral roots unless otherwise specified. The client will advise the contractor of any underground services near the stump prior to starting the job.
- All arisings (inc. twigs/branches/woodchips/logs/trunks/foliage etc) will be removed from site and become the property of the contractor unless specifically stated otherwise in the quotation.
- On completion of the works, an invoice will be raised, and payment is required within 14 days OR payment is required in full on completion of the quoted works (unsatisfactory completed jobs MUST be immediately notified, in writing/by email, to the contractor or within a minimum period of 36 hours.)
- Following written/verbal instructions from the client, the contractor will check with the Local Planning Authority (LPA):
- Whether the tree(s) are the subject of a Tree Preservation Order
- Whether the trees are located within a Conservation Area
The contractor will also consider whether a Felling Licence is required from the Forestry Commission (FC) or if any other permissions/consultations are required, i.e. Natural England/Environment Agency. NB Please note, if the contractor undertakes the necessary LPA application/notification an appropriate administrative charge of £25 may be incurred. Similarly, a charge may be incurred for obtainment of a FC felling licence.
- Where works are proposed to third party trees, i.e. ‘neighbour’s trees’, the contractor will require written confirmation from the tree owner (‘the neighbours’) that the works are agreed and where necessary, that access is permitted. If works only apply to overhanging branches that can be pruned from within the client’s property, then permission is not required but the neighbour should be advised where practicable (please also see 7. above as this may also apply.)
- The contractor has £1 million Public Liability Insurance and a copy of the certificate is available on request. The contractor will operate in accordance with good industry practice, their Health & Safety Policy and Procedures and undertake Site Specific Risk Assessments (the outcomes of which may place constraints on the site whilst works are in progress, i.e. the client can’t access their shed without prior agreement from ground staff.)
- The site will be left generally ‘clean, tidy and safe’ but because of the very nature of the works including the production of wood dust, chainsaw/wood chippings/twigs/leaves and needles etc. and the traversing of site personnel it will not be as it was prior to commencement of works.
- If the works spread over multiple days, the site will be left appropriately and safe and as agreed with the client beforehand.
- The contractor will undertake the works as scheduled but is aware of/may be constrained by ecological and wildlife legislation
including:- Wildlife and Countryside Act
- Countryside and Rights of Way Act
- Conservation of Habitats and Species Regs.
This legislation requires the contractor to assess the impact of the works which may result in works being delayed because of nesting birds, roosting bats or similar being present.
- Customer Information and Data Protection: Please be reassured that we only use your personal information for the purposes of completing your tree work. Our IT systems are secure, and we don’t share your details with anyone unnecessarily. We would share your details with the Local Authority if we need to make an application for permission to undertake the work and whilst it is unlikely, in certain circumstances work might need a licence from the Forestry Commission. Please refer to our customer privacy notice on our web site for full details.
