Tilhill’s Future Forestry Leader

Tilhill Forest Manager, Andrew Macqueen, based in South West Scotland, won the ‘Future Forestry Leader Award’ at The Annual Forestry Dinner and Awards 2020 organised by Confor at The Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh on Tuesday 25th February.

The Award was sponsored by James Jones & Sons and presented by their Chairman, Tom Bruce Jones. It was given to the individual that the judges considered had outstanding skills and who had the potential to be a leader in the forestry and timber sector – someone showing initiative, passion and making a real difference.

Andrew Macqueen was nominated by both a client and a colleague. The words used on his Award entry were inspiring: “Andrew has brought a refreshing angle on how UK commercial forestry has to evolve, particularly getting the most from non-Sitka conifers and broadleaves in a way that mixes financial objectives with creating a real ’living‘ forest. His knowledge of alternative species and silvicultural approaches must be adopted on a much wider scale if we are to successfully increase tree cover to the level planned without losing the hearts and minds of the public. His broad knowledge of species, soils and silviculture is impressive and he combines this with a good-natured manner, making him a pleasure to work with. Very occasionally, one comes across someone with ’star quality‘ – Andrew definitely has this.”

The Awards were attended by Tilhill’s Forestry Director Tim Liddon who said:  ”The Annual Confor dinner was a great evening – Fergus Ewing (Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Tourism) gave an up-beat message that we must plant even more trees to drive the rural economy and make a significant positive contribution to climate change mitigation. The Annual Dinner was a busy place with a lot of networking with colleagues, clients and old friends.

“Confor have introduced a number of new annual awards and it was absolutely fabulous to see Andrew Macqueen awarded as the winner of the ‘Future Forestry Leader’ category – his knowledge of alternative species and soils has led to some exciting new forests. I am also pleased that Andy Baker, one of our Forest Managers based in Southern England,was one of three finalists in the ‘Changing Attitudes’ category.”

Tilhill’s Managing Director Gavin Adkins said: “It was an enjoyable evening at the Confor awards dinner on Tuesday. It was a fantastic event and a great opportunity to network with colleagues within the UK forestry and timber industry.

“Really proud that contributions to the industry from Tilhill colleagues were recognised at the awards.  Congratulations to Andy Baker shortlisted for the Changing Attitudes awards and to Andrew Macqueen for winning the Future Forestry Leader Award.

“Also many congratulations to Martin Gale, our former Chairman for receiving his award for Dedicated Service to Forestry, truly well deserved recognition of a lifetime giving back to the industry he loves.”

For a full list of winners and announcements visit the Confor website here.