Garden Design & Landscaping throughout Hampshire,
Dorset, West Sussex & Wiltshire.
News
The Great British Escape
‘The Living Room’ brings together the great British love affair with
their gardens and the new ‘vogue’ in outdoor living areas. Using the
revival in verandas for a covered area to sit under and taking it one
step further, award winning garden designer Mike Hodges of Hambrooks has
designed the ultimate in creating a room for the great escape into our
gardens.
‘The Living Room’ creates a comfortable and attractive entertainment
area that extends the home while also showing how we use our outdoor
spaces for maximum enjoyment. A small moat surrounds a glass roof
veranda complete with a glass chandelier, vertical water features and an
open fireplace, while contemporary weatherproof sofas face a coffee
table to provide the setting for outdoor socialising or relaxation. The
moat links the ‘living area’ with the remainder of the garden, which is
laid to a soft palette of white, grey and green planting, paving, trees
and a day bed.
Mike Hodges said, ”With our company celebrating 40 years in business the
driving force behind my idea was to embrace the current trend for
outdoor living with a design that worked on several levels including
being attractive, practical and functional in addition to being able to
stand the test of time. I visualised it as being a place where you could
unwind after a hectic day at work so the calm and soft colours of
white, grey and green planting worked very well with the contemporary
design.”
Lighting is also a major feature of ‘The Living Room’ where the vertical
7ft water walls are illuminated at night from lights situated behind
the pale blue Perspex base with underwater lighting helping to reflect
light from the water features. Through its use of outdoor space to sit
and relax in, or to entertain and with many of us now staying at home
rather than spending money on expensive holidays ‘The Living Room’ is
set to become the new ‘Great British Escape’! more..
Don’t miss us at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2010
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show has accepted one of our most innovative garden designs for exhibiting at this year’s show from the 6th to the 11th July. The brainchild of our designer Mike Hodges, the design epitomises the current trend in creating ‘outdoor’ living spaces for 21st century lifestyles.
The contemporary design features a veranda created by a glass roof with metal supports, while an open fireplace and two stainless steel vertical water features run into a ‘moat’ that surrounds the veranda, set with outdoor sofas and table.
With our inclement climate often affecting the use of our gardens, this design provides cover, warmth and light to create an ideal setting for outdoor socialising or relaxing, whatever the weather.
Seen as the second most important show after Chelsea, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show has been running since the early nineties and we are thrilled to be exhibiting one of our gardens especially as we celebrate 40 years in business this year.
Please go to www.rhs.org.uk for further details and to book tickets for the show. We look forward to seeing you there. April 2010
Spring Newsletter 2010
Forty Years leads us to Hampton Court
Innovative Design at Hampton Court
Is your garden ready for spring?
Celebrating 40 years in business
All thing bright and beautiful
Taking to the water with the Hampshire Wildlife Trust
We take to the water with the Hampshire Wildlife Trust
We are delighted to report we have become the proud sponsors of a boat for the local Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
The Trust requires a boat for vital marine and wildlife work on their coastal reserves, which are difficult and at times impossible, to access by foot. This also includes a series of marshy islands in the western Solent and Pewit Island where a small population of harbour seals live.
Norman Hambrook, Managing Director says, “It is great to become involved with a local charity especially
an organisation such as the Wildlife Trust because it fits in so well with our commitment to supporting our local community in addition to our increasing involvement with environmental issues.”
In the next couple of months the Wildlife Trust will be advising us on the building of a wildlife garden at our Garden Centre in Titchfield, which will be one of our new show gardens due to open in the early summer. For anyone who would like to know more about the Hampshire Wildlife Trust please go to their website www.hwt.org.uk. March 2010
Celebrating 40 years in business with staff day out.
Managing Director Norman Hambrook gave his staff a day out on Friday 12 February to celebrate 40 years in business. Closing the entire company including the garden centre in Titchfield, Norman took over 80 of his employees to enjoy a day of staff celebrations including awards, entertainment, shows and lunch at the UK’s largest capacity planetarium, Intech Science & Planetarium Centre in Winchester.
The event was held in the digital state of the art planetarium, which projects film in high-contrast images across the entire domed ceiling. Prize winning speaker Terry Ryan was Master of Ceremonies for the day and he conducted a lively ‘TV’ sofa style interview with Norman asking him about his forty years in the landscaping industry and what his vision was for the future of the business.
Norman paid tribute to his staff by giving out many awards including several long service awards, while managers also took to the stage to give recognition to their staff who had gone that extra mile in their work.
After a number of entertaining speeches by guest speakers and a 20 minute Cosmic show Norman made a closing speech where he said, “I want you all to feel proud to be working for Hambrooks because it’s a rare thing for an independently owned company to last 40 years, but I couldn’t have done it without a great team – you all deserve a pat on the back.” February 2010
Lighting our future with an APL Award
We are very pleased to announce our first garden design award for 2010. At an award ceremony held on February 10th our designer Mike Hodges won an APL (Association of Professional Landscapers) Highly Commended Award in their Category Project value under £15K.
Calling it ‘The Night Garden’, Mike’s masterpiece features a stunning outdoor fireplace as the focal point. The garden design was praised for its stylish contemporary feel with exemplary attention to detail while also making best use of a restricted space.
Mike says, “It was a great opportunity to be a little more imaginative and with clever use of lighting we have provided them with their wish, which was to extend their home into the garden by creating an outdoor living room.”
With the lighting helping to project a warm ambiance once the sun has set, the owners have expressed their delight in being able to use the garden for extensive entertaining purposes.
Judges at the ceremony commented that ‘once again it is good to see the well built gardens from Hambrooks with their exceptional value, high quality workmanship and excellent construction ethics.’ February 2010
Cycling through Cuba to raise vital funds for the Alzheimer’s Society
For the second time in less than a year, Managing Director Norman Hambrook, has taken on a challenge to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society. Last year it was trekking in the Himalayas and just recently he has returned from cycling nearly 300 miles through the Cuban countryside.
Cycling with a group of 28 volunteers with ages ranging from 20 to 60 year-olds, Norman admits he was probably the most mature fundraiser there! The journey began near the famous Bay of Pigs, along the coast through to Trinidad with the finishing line in Havana.
Cycling mostly off road on gravel and sand Norman said there were some days when he was covered head to foot in red sand. Riding through the countryside he felt he was often going back in time as he past fields still being ploughed by oxen pulling wooden ploughs.
Petrol is still rationed in Cuba which meant there was very little transport on the roads and Norman recalled incidences such as a road suddenly being blocked for no reason, requiring the group to find a detour. After five days in the saddle the group had a day of leisure in Havana where they wandered round Revolutionary Square and witnessed the presence of the many American vintage cars for which Havana is so famous.
Norman said, “I feel it was a great achievement and they were a fun crowd of people to be with and full marks to the organizers from Alzheimer’s. However, it was hot, it was dusty and the cycling was certainly a challenge and I was very glad to get across the finishing line and even gladder to be back on the plane going home!”
To date the group has raised just under £80k with the aim to reach £100k by the end of March 2010. February 2010
Paving the way to Success
One of our designers Wayne Brans, recently won an award at the Marshalls trade road show for ‘Best Project by New Regional member’ while also clocking a runner up award for ‘Best Driveway Transformation’.
Marshalls is the UK’s No. 1 leading company in supplying the landscaping, construction and home improvement markets with a range of natural stone and bricks for drives, gardens and commercial landscapes. Established in the late 1880’s, they have a reputation which is synonymous with quality, distinction and innovation as all approved contractors must adhere to strict workmanship guidelines, which are backed by a 10 year guarantee.
Wayne says, “I was totally surprised and of course thrilled that we won these awards in our first year of being an approved contactor of Marshalls because the standards are very high and this particular project was not your average job.”
The original driveway was on a steep slope which had an existing garage built into it. Wayne had to devise complex specifications to fit the owner’s own ideas of what he wanted, which was to improve access to the house in addition to providing an additional parking space at the bottom of the property. The result was a stunning success as the awards testify!
February 2010
Winter Newsletter 2009
Please take a few moments to read our winter newsletter:
Norman at the Garden Gate
Climate Change & Urban Greening
Hambrooks sets the Wildlife Trust afloat
Our Garden Maintenance Team wins BALI Principal Award
MD recognised as early pioneer of modern day landscaping industry lands Lifetime Achievement Award
Our managing director, Norman Hambrook has recently received one of the industry's highest accolades in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to landscaping.
At the Landscape and Amenity Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London he received the Horticulture Week Lifetime Achievement Award. A past chair, founder and active committee member of the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL), Norman has been in the landscaping business for nearly 40 years.
Continually evolving the business to meet the demands of the market and the economy, his contribution to improving and developing standards within the landscaping industry over four decades was recognised as being immense. Renowned for giving freely of his time throughout his career to help nurture new talent, now Norman is currently looking to set up a Landscape Training Academy at our head office in Curdridge. Today with over 80 staff, we are proud to say Hambrooks is one of the country's leading independently owned landscaping companies in the UK.
On receiving the award Norman said,
"Receiving this award is overwhelming and I feel deeply touched and honoured. My passion for the landscaping business has never waned in nearly 40 years and now my aim is to encourage the return of apprenticeships and help mentor the next generation of talent."
December 2009
BALI National Landscape Awards 2009
We clinch a top award at the BALI National Landscape Awards 2009.
With five industry awards already under our belt this year, we are thrilled to report that on the 4th December against strong competition our Garden Maintenance Team won a Principal Award at the annual British Associates of Landscape Industries (BALI) National Landscape Awards 2009 ceremony.
Mr & Mrs Paul who own the garden that clinched the award were guests of Hambrooks and went up on stage to collect the award along with Gary Lawrence our Garden Maintenance Manager, our MD Norman Hambrook and Barry Turner.
Gary said, "It was a thrilling moment and our customers were over the moon"
"We have been maintaining Mr & Mrs Paul's garden for over five years and when we first begun work Norman promised them that one day their garden would win an award - so he has kept his word!"
TV celebrity Matt Allright of Rogue Trader fame hosted the event, which was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London and attended by over 700 people from the industry.
Gary also added, "It is also important to remember that we couldn’t have done this without the hard work and dedication of my team, Matt Cover and Ashley Grace. Their contribution is invaluable."
December 2009
Making the Changes for a Greener Future
We are very pleased to announce we have recently been accredited with the Environmental Management System (EMS) standard ISO14001.This is now recognised globally as the most important environment standard for supporting businesses in adopting environmentally friendly practices. Its aim is to minimise the harmful effects on the environment caused by the activities of businesses and to create a common approach to environmental management.
Environmentally Sound
The certificate applies to the business practices we have control over and we have set up new management systems to implement procedures and guidelines, which now form part of the everyday activities of our staff. On the ground level this means we are compliant with current environmental laws and regulations. We achieve this through actively controlling the way we manage our carbon footprint by decreasing our pollution and waste and becoming more energy efficient.
Driving change
One of the aims of the EMS is to highlight areas that require improvement and help staff to become much more environmentally aware throughout their working day. This may mean simply switching off monitors on computers when not in use or recycling office waste effectively. Adopting to the EMS procedures also help us to find more efficient ways of conducting business and should ultimately reduce our costs and overheads.
Thinking Environment
Our Operations Manager Phil May who was responsible for ensuring our application qualified and setting up new procedures says:” It’s a great vehicle for a change for the better and involves all staff making a contribution to ensure we as a company, make that change. Of course it requires re-educating ourselves in some of the ways we do things, which takes time, but knowing we are doing our bit to help protect the environment is a great motivator.”
Late Summer Newsletter 2009
Please take a moment to read our latest Newsletter:
It’s packed with exciting offers and a 10% discount voucher which can be used at our Garden Centre in Titchfield
You will also find it is full of useful information including what’s new in gardening and seasonal gardening tips
Read what our customers say
We are always looking for ways to improve our customer service and appreciate any feedback from you. Please email us at info@hambrooks.co.uk with your comments
‘The Living Room’ brings together the great British love affair with
their gardens and the new ‘vogue’ in outdoor living areas. Using the
revival in verandas for a covered area to sit under and taking it one
step further, award winning garden designer Mike Hodges of Hambrooks has
designed the ultimate in creating a room for the great escape into our
gardens.
Horticulture Week Interview
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show has accepted one of our most innovative garden designs for exhibiting at this year’s show from the 6th to the 11th July. The brainchild of our designer Mike Hodges, the design epitomises the current trend in creating ‘outdoor’ living spaces for 21st century lifestyles. 
We are delighted to report we have become the proud sponsors of a boat for the local Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Managing Director Norman Hambrook gave his staff a day out on Friday 12 February to celebrate 40 years in business. Closing the entire company including the garden centre in Titchfield, Norman took over 80 of his employees to enjoy a day of staff celebrations including awards, entertainment, shows and lunch at the UK’s largest capacity planetarium, Intech Science & Planetarium Centre in Winchester.
We are very pleased to announce our first garden design award for 2010. At an award ceremony held on February 10th our designer Mike Hodges won an APL (Association of Professional Landscapers) Highly Commended Award in their Category Project value under £15K.
For the second time in less than a year, Managing Director Norman Hambrook, has taken on a challenge to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society. Last year it was trekking in the Himalayas and just recently he has returned from cycling nearly 300 miles through the Cuban countryside.
One of our designers Wayne Brans, recently won an award at the Marshalls trade road show for ‘Best Project by New Regional member’ while also clocking a runner up award for ‘Best Driveway Transformation’.
Our managing director, Norman Hambrook has recently received one of the industry's highest accolades in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to landscaping.
We clinch a top award at the BALI National Landscape Awards 2009.
News
