Kern Sherwood aka Kev or the

Little Fella

Kern is one of the directors, our son and now the face of TreeMenders.

Kern studied Arboriculture and Horticulture at Sparsholt completing his course with distinction.  He joined TreeMenders full time in Sep 2009 and has been running the business along with Andrew (who's retiring).  He suffers a little from OCD, so rest assured your garden will be left immaculate, but don't be shocked if you see all the daffodils facing the same way!  He will often be the one dragging Andrew away from a customer who's eyes are beginning to glaze over at another of Andrew's intereting anecdotes. Besides trees, Kern's other passsion is snowboarding, spending every moment he can on the slopes ; he's been to Canada, Austria, France, Italy ....Japan is his dream destination.

Richard Collis (Team Leader & Lead Climber)

Richard joined us in 2012 after completing the Arboriculture course again, at Sparsholt. Rich has sported many a range (or mange if you prefer) of beards - one of which is shown here.  Rich is extreemly keen to please and can get a little over excited - He is not to be given orange Smarties or fizzy pop.  He's a keen golfer and very competitive - don't expect any help if he's playing against you!

He is also the longest serving Mender to date, some would say he's part of the furniture.

Chris Manson (Team Leader & Master of Felling)

Chris joined us in 2016 having moved from a fellow tree company ( our loss is their gain.....or something like that ) 

Chris started life as a Forester but has migrated from the dark side to also climb trees.  It's not a pretty sight and we recommend that small children and pets are kept inside if he ever dons his harness.   Chris is in charge of the machinery so don't be alarmed if you see him beating other members of the team with a Spruce branch when they dig the saw into the ground - he's the one that has to sharpen it.  He's another one that's part of the furniture (like a dog bed I guess) We hope that he'll stay with us at least until his hair grows back.

Kieran (Kez) Bates ( Lead Climber & Groundsman ) 

Kez joined us in 2014 and quickly established a reputation as a outstanding climber.  He does have a bit of a rowdy streak and is a paint ball officianado, liking nothing better than going off for the weekend to a paintball war.

He is known as the pale white knight due to his transparent complexion which can make him almost invisible to the naked eye whilst in a tree.

Kez is now a proud father and dog owner (God help us) and has now settled into Winchester domesticity, hanging up his airsoft uniform for a pipe and slippers.  Next he'll be listening to Classic FM with Andrew!

   Craig (XP) Compton (Team Leader Groundsman & Animal lover) 

Craig had done a variety of jobs in the past and joined TreeMenders in 2016 order to learn the ropes!

He's developed into an invaluable team member and now has 5 NPTC qualifcations. XP's staple diet for the past 5 years has been pizza - He has, however, got married to his long term girlfriend (Lozza) and has been fed fresh vegetables on more than one occasion!!

Craig's head has its own gravity and moon - it is impossible to tip him over due to this - Kern has tried and failed on many occassion!

Marcus Whitehead - (Groundsman & Rake King)

Marcus ( also known as Cous Cous - but only by Andrew oddly! ) joined us in 2023 as a self employed contractor - He's now employed and full time.  Be aware that, should you stand still long enough, Cous Cous will probably rake you up and into a tonne bag.  Marcus took his first 2 chainsaw qualifications in Feb 24 and passed with flying colours - He'll be taking some more later in the year and you'll be seeing him in the canopies by the end of 2024 - if he passes....... if he doesn't - he'll get a new rake!

Archie Goulding (Trainee)

Archie's been with us since Sep 24.  He was working for another local tree firm but shifted across to us to get a more comprehensive training!!- Foolish boy!  He put himself though his first chainsaw ticket, he's passed his driving test ( 2nd time mind you) and we feel looks a bit like Sam Smith ( before he got fat and weird - Sam - not Archie )  We'll be putting him through his paces - so watch this space and welcome Archie

Oh - Archie is the one with the hat - the other one is Ember who comes to the yard every day to say hello and scavenge a hob nob!

Jez Cox (Groundsman/Climber)

Jez has been with us since 2018 and is widely considered to be the most hansome Mender (A high bar indeed) - He is also the moral compass of the team (not such a high bar!).

Jezza's still trying to find his calling in the world and is currently training with the ambulance service - from what we can gather - he can now tell you what your injuries are . . . .  but can't tell you how to fix them - If you can hang on for a few months before having an accident - you may be lucky enough to have Mr Cox in attendance!

Jez comes in to work with us from time to time - not for any comradery or altruistic reasons - but to fund his next surfing holiday

Ellie Sherwood / Director

Ellie has recently taken over some of the admin to support Kern.   ( Ellie's on the left! ) She's getting to grips with it so you'll be hearing more and more from Ellie over the years.

This she does in in addition to looking after her daughter and one of our younger granddaughters Esme ( 3 year old whirlwind) and running her own cake business - Elm Bakeaway - If you don't fancy using us for trees, at least get a cake  - they're rather smashing.

www.elmbakeaway.com