Forest Garden
Forest Garden is extremely proud to have been honoured with the first ever King’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation – the highest and most prestigious award possible for UK businesses. Founded in 1974, Forest Garden, which employs more than 500 people, is the leading manufacturer and distributor of wooden buildings, fencing and structures for residential and agricultural gardens. A world-first The King’s Award for Enterprise is for Forest Garden’s innovation of a world-first fully automatic high-speed fence panel manufacturing process. Forest started development of the machine in 2015, with the first machine installed in 2017. It has since invested more than £2.5m in a total of five machines, with the latest being delivered in August 2022. Forest Garden CEO, Guy Grainger, says: “Whilst innovating the manufacture of fence panels may not seem particularly exciting, in our sector it has been nothing short of revolutionary. “To have successfully introduced a new panel suitable for automation into our market, alongside replacing a traditional manufacturing process with ground‐breaking high‐speed automation, is an achievement of which we are particularly proud.”
Using only sustainable British timber, Forest Garden is part of the Forest Garden Group whose operations across Worcestershire and Scotland include sawmills and manufacturing plants. FOREST GARDEN Unit 288 Oak Drive, Hartlebury Trading Estate, Hartlebury, Worcestershire DY10 4JB Tel: 0333 321 3142 • info@forestgarden.co.uk www.forestgarden.co.uk
Fully automating the manufacturing process By fully automating the manufacturing process, the company has reduced panel production time by almost 70%, improved production margins, and enabled its UK‐sourced and manufactured products to compete with imports. Automation has also delivered a more uniform, quality product and increased the business’s ability to meet storm‐driven surges in fencing demand.
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