Every year thousands of people see Appley beach and the Spinnaker Tower in a new way – from a height of 15 metres, with Goodleaf Tree Climbing. Like their climbers, business is on the up, with year-on-year growth and the team are also branching out into training. Vogue magazine calls it “social climbing” – Tom Stroud finds out more
Appley Park is home to a unique attraction. Husband and wife team Paul McCathie and Abigail Fox will take around 2000 people on a climbing trip this year. Their business idea is simple but effective, with one tree and no other premises or buildings. It’s a growing business too, with a 25% increase in turnover between 2013 and 2014, and a 32% increase in net profit.
“Essentially we brought recreational tree climbing to the UK from the States and we wanted to do it properly,” Abi says. She grew up on the Island but was living in New Zealand when she met Paul. He was working as an arborist and Abi was employed in administration at a university in Auckland. Pulled back by the lure of the Isle of Wight, they decided to relocate to the UK. Once settled here the idea to do something a bit different began to form.
“Paul was doing arboriculture work here and wasn’t enjoying it,” Abi explains. “He’s a bit of a treehugger and didn’t like what he was being asked to do to the trees. Recreational tree-climbing had been established in the States for 25 years at that time. Paul had always loved climbing trees and he went to train at Tree Climbers International in the US in 2004. We then tried out the ideas on our friends and we gave it a go. In that first year we probably took about 30 people tree-climbing.”
The business began with the location of a suitable tree, in a private field at a secret location near to East Cowes. Paul and Abi gave out flyers, took bookings over the phone and provided directions by text message. The first location didn’t offer much in terms of amenities and wasn’t easily accessible by public transport. For the business to grow, it became clear that Goodleaf Tree Climbing needed a new tree. When the golf course at Appley closed, a new potential site became available. A deal was struck with the council and now Goodleaf rent their tree each year. Conveniently Paul and Abi live very close to their place of work.
“It’s never been solely about climbing a tree,” Abi says. “We always wanted to create an experience and a lovely time. We offered refreshments, a picnic blanket and a nice setting. We’re always down here, with our four year old daughter, checking that the tree is ok because it’s vital to our business! A typical day starts very early, with packing up the picnic baskets. Paul will set up the tree at 8am, ready for first climb at 10am. We have 8 people on a climb, perhaps two family groups, even inter-generational climbs with grandparents, parents and children. We do three climbs a day, at 10am, 12.30 and 3pm. We pack up at 5pm and we’re usually home by around 6 o’clock.”
Today Paul and Abi have four part-time seasonal colleagues working the long days in the summer, with some of the administration outsourced. Their season runs from Easter through to the October half term. Good weather helps, but it isn’t essential. Last summer only two days were lost because of strong wind or rain. Even then, climbs were rescheduled to other days of that week to accommodate holiday-makers. It is a tourist business too, with Abi estimating that the mainland provides “at least 80%” of their visitors.
“For a lot of people we’re a special treat, a holiday thing. Our Island business has grown in the last couple of years but the tourism market is by the far the biggest for us. We really notice it with our school groups from urban areas – the freedom of being out in the park, climbing the tree, the beautiful view and being that close to nature. In the summer holidays we have quite a few scout groups through and numbers are going back up again, having dropped in the recession. That’s a really good sign. A few years ago people didn’t want to spend on a second holiday for the kids.”
Although the business is pitched largely at family groups, there are other markets too. Corporate tree-climbing is proving popular and Appley Park has hosted teams from Nandos, Topshop and A J Wells. Goodleaf Tree Climbing’s unique approach has also attracted national coverage. Abi and Paul have appeared on BBC and ITV and been featured in Vogue and The Observer. It pays dividends too, as Abi explains.
“We’ve always jumped at any opportunity and we’ve offered press trips. The piece in The Observer was back in 2008 but we’re still getting people coming to us because of it. It’s been more beneficial to us than a lot of paid advertising.”
Abi and Paul have seen steady and sustained growth in their business. With net profits up by a third year on year, they’re definitely getting something right. They’re learning as they go too. Their business is growing at a time when their business environment is also changing.
“Going into business was a bit of a risk but we’ve always moved slowly and carefully,” Abi says. “We’ve got bigger organically and we’ve learned more about our markets. We’ve developed formats to make our sessions more enjoyable. We’ve adapted to social media too. We try to offer a great customer service experience, right from the first enquiry. We’re friendly and we’ve always got our eye on the ball with health and safety. However, we try to deliver that in a relaxed manner. We always send a ‘thank you’ email after the climb, including pictures. Paul also sits on the board of the Global Organisation of Tree Climbers so he regularly attends their conferences in the States. We’re investing in the future.
“We really love the Island too. It does have a captive audience and we look at our location as an additional selling point really. The local business community has been amazingly supportive. That’s something really special about the Island. We were one of the first to sign up for Education Destination. The school group market is one that we were already aiming it but we’re really hopeful that Education Destination will work for us in our shoulder season of May and June. We do go to the mainland for special events like the National Forest’s Woodland Day. There are times when I think ‘wouldn’t it be great to have a nice tree in the middle of Hyde Park in London’, and we have looked at that too.”
Abi and Paul are set on expanding their horizons. They’ve developed a training package with LANTRA Awards, the land based skills agency, and they will be training people to become tree climbing facilitators, as part of the Goodleaf system. There will be advice on training and marketing too. In September they’ll start training in Ireland on a glamping and farm diversification project who want to deliver unusual activities for corporate and hen groups. In October Goodleaf will even go international, with a trip to a new 5 star resort in Portugal where Abi and Paul will train staff to offer something “completely individual.”
“The main thing is that tree climbing is incredibly safe,” Abi says. “There’s never been a serious incident in over 30 years of the industry and that’s amazing, particularly compared to mountain or rock climbing. That means there’s also a responsibility there, for us as a business. We do one thing and we want to do it really well. We know that the experience we offer is of a high quality and that there is a demand on the Island for high quality experiences like ours. We want to grow at a rate that doesn’t compromise the quality of what we do, so that we can introduce more people to the magic of life in the canopy.”
First published in the May 2015 issue of Island Business magazine.
