The Tree Fella®

27/08/2026

What do the first five years of an arb career actually look like?

Andy Bradley reached five years with The Tree Fella in July this year, and his training record with an Arb Approved Contractor provides a useful map for anyone starting out.
He came to arboriculture after serving in the British Forces, with no tree work qualifications or experience. He studied Level 3 Arboriculture at East Durham College (Houghall), funded through an Advanced Learner Loan — a funding route many adult career-changers aren’t aware of.

Through college, he completed his chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting qualification in February 2021, followed by his small tree felling qualification in March. He started with The Tree Fella in July of the same year.

He went on to complete his tree climbing and aerial rescue course in May 2022, around ten months into the job and as part of his ongoing college studies. Tree inspection, QTRA, woodchipper, stump grinder, Chapter 8 and MEWP 1b/3b followed over the years that followed.

With a whole range of training undertaken during his five years in arb, along with 80 hours of CPD in the last year alone, Andy continues to develop his skills and knowledge.
Well done on five years’ service, Andy — we hope there are many more to come.

11/08/2026

Removal of a eucalyptus. Thank you Rebecca Yates from South Shields! Get your free quote at www.thetreefellane.co.uk/free-quote 😊

03/08/2026

Nice little feature in the Newcastle Magazine celebrating our ten year anniversary!

The Tree Fella was founded by Simon Forster in 2016, offering tree pruning, tree removal, hedge trimming and arboricultural surveys to customers across South Shields and the wider region. Ten years on, the business has become an Arb Approved Contractor and TrustMark Registered Business, with Simon a...

28/07/2026

🌳 We're pleased to confirm The Tree Fella® has passed our Arboricultural Association reassessment and remains an ArbAC Approved Contractor — 3 years running. ✅

Approved Contractor status isn't a badge you buy. It's an independent audit of how we actually work: technical competence, site safety, staff training and qualifications, customer care, and business practice. 📋 Every few years an assessor comes out, checks our paperwork and watches us work on site.

For you, that means the company in your garden or on your grounds has been checked by someone other than us. 🤝 Qualified, insured, properly equipped, and working to recognised industry standards — not just claiming to.

🏅 Alongside ArbAC we also hold TrustMark, QTRA, SSIP and DBS accreditation.

It was a stress-free process. Knowing we put in place every day what's needed on assessment day is a great place to be. 😌

👏 Thanks to the team for the standard they hold every day, not just on assessment day.

23/07/2026

Five years already! 🌳👏

Today we’re really pleased to congratulate and thank Andy on five years of dedicated service with The Tree Fella.

Over the last five years he’s been a huge part of the team, bringing hard work, professionalism and commitment to every job. It’s people like Andy who help us deliver the standard of work we’re proud to put our name to.

Thanks for everything you’ve done so far, Andy. Here’s to many more years ahead! 💚🌲

14/07/2026

Free trees!!

Apply online now

10/07/2026

We’d carried out a VTA (Visual Tree Assessment — basically a health check where we look for signs of decay, damage or weakness) on this tree and spotted a large cavity. Visually you can see something’s there, but you can’t tell how deep it goes or how much solid wood is left holding the tree up.

So we brought in tomography to find out. It’s like an ultrasound for trees — sound waves are sent through the trunk and the readings show us how much healthy wood remains versus decayed or hollow sections inside.

For this we’ve team Ryan and Louis up with Jim Richardson from Woodsman Arb, working from our MEWP (cherry picker) to get readings higher up the trunk, not just at the base.

The results help us make an informed call on whether the tree can stay safely or needs further work — rather than guessing.

Good example of why a visual check is only ever the first step.

12/06/2026

🌳 Ash Tree Crown Reduction in Washington 🌳

Another tidy job completed by the team, with Ryan and Andy carrying out a carefully planned crown reduction on this mature ash tree in Washington using our Hinowa MEWP.

Using the platform allowed us to work safely and efficiently while achieving a balanced reduction that retains the tree's natural shape and helps manage its size for the future. Access equipment isn't just about convenience, it can often be the safest and least invasive way to carry out arboricultural work on larger specimens.

A great result and another happy customer! 👏

📍 Washington
🌳 Crown Reduction
🚜 Completed safely using our MEWP by Ryan & Andy



📍 TrustMark Accredited & Arb Approved
📞 Call us: 0191 432 6167
💻 Visit us: www.thetreefella.co.uk.

29/05/2026

💪🏻

01/05/2026

Safe working isn’t optional. It’s built into everything we do.

One area we consistently go further than most is traffic management.

Whether we’re working roadside, near junctions, or in built-up areas, we plan properly and put the right controls in place. That means signage, barriers, safe working zones and, where required, full traffic management setups to protect our team and the public.

It’s not the quickest way to do the job. It’s not the cheapest either.
But it is the right way.

Too often we see tree work being carried out with little to no consideration for passing traffic, pedestrians, or safe stopping distances. That’s where things go wrong.

We’d rather take the time, do it properly, and know that:
• Our team are protected
• The public are protected
• The work is fully compliant

That’s the standard we hold ourselves to on every job.

📍 TrustMark Accredited & Arb Approved
📞 Call us: 0191 432 6167
💻 Visit us: www.thetreefella.co.uk