Meet the Team | Environmental Solutions Plus People

Meet the people behind Environmental Services Plus

Skilled. Approachable. Committed.

Our team brings together decades of hands-on experience with a genuine passion for doing things right. We’re not just experts in grounds, trees and infrastructure – we’re real people who care about delivering reliable results and building lasting relationships.

Get to know us

Adam James

Field Manager

With 17 years’ experience in arboriculture, Adam has all the know-how to support our teams out on site and make sure we are meeting clients’ expectations. It’s been his whole working life. “I come from a country background and every Saturday when I was little I went to my granddad’s.

He'd always have his chainsaw out, cutting up firewood. It’s been a natural progression.” “I miss the more physical side of the work, but now I’m focused on making our contracts as successful as possible. I like the face-to-face contact part of my role. Coming from the same background as the team, I understand the issues they have, the challenges they face.” “We’re going in the right direction here and as long as I've got plenty to do, I'm happy!”

Alex Gurney

Contract Director

Environmental Solutions Plus is headed up by Alex Gurney, a former forestry industry professional with Fountains who switched to utilities and vegetation management in 2007 and hasn’t looked back. To most of our clients, Alex is Environmental Solutions Plus – such is his commitment to customer care. “If somebody has

a problem,” insists Alex, “I want them to ring me. I want to be the first to know. I certainly don’t want them ringing a call centre. That’s not the way we operate.” “In this industry you need to be customer focused and you need to be agile. You need to care about who you’re delivering for and how you're delivering it. You can’t have customer service without customers!” “The contractor-client relationship is critical, and I’ve always enjoyed the rapport with clients.” “I’m proud that we have such a great reputation, both organisationally and individually. We have some of the most experienced operators in the sector working for us. The strength and commitment of the team here is what carries us through. It’s what enables us to deliver excellent service.”

Antonio Dixon

Field Manager

Antonio is focused on giving his best for the client, working with them to define the art of the possible. He’s an ambassador for the business in every sense. He’s been in the industry for more than 10 years, learning the basics as a groundsman before graduating to climbing. The

MEWP (mobile elevated work platform) became his second home! “I love the outdoor life,” says Antonio. “Even though it’s the same work, nothing’s ever the same, if that makes sense? You could climb 100 oaks, but each oak is individual, which is kind of a nice thing. “It’s the same with people. No one is ever the same. In my role, once you work out people’s strengths and weaknesses you can match the work to them, making all of us more productive and more effective. And the people here are fantastic. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Dan Penney

Senior operations manager (DNO)

By his own admission, Dan has been in the industry ‘a long time’ since leaving the Armed Forces. And when it comes to clients, experience counts. “It’s what separates us from some of our competitors,” says Dan. “If you look at everyone in our management, top to bottom, we’ve all

worked on the tools at some point. It’s one of our biggest selling points.” Back in 2010, Dan was flicking through a careers catalogue, looking at his post-Forces options. He wanted something outdoors, something physically active. That’s how he found himself in this industry, progressing through the ranks to become a senior team leader in the power sector, then a field manager before moving into operations management. Now, he’s overseeing power line activity on three major contracts – a demanding, but very satisfying role. “I really enjoy it,” says Dan, the planning, the weekly P&Ls, great teamwork, the relationship management. All of it.”

Darcie Victor-Trott

Environmental Works Manager

Environmental sustainability and biodiversity mean a lot to our business. Compliance is a minimum. And in Darcie, a 2020 geography graduate now studying part-time for an MA in Applied Ecology, clients are in safe hands. “I make sure our people and partners are meeting (or exceeding!) legislative requirements and are

ecologically conscientious when they’re undertaking their work. I’ll carry out site surveys and let clients know what they can or can’t do, and how they can bring sustainability and biodiversity to the heart of their operations. “I’ve got bit of the green thumb!” Darcie oversees a part of our business that, in common with the wider industry, continues to grow. Environmental appraisals are prerequisite in many projects and Darcie are our resident expert. “It used to be a bit of a background function in the industry,” says Darcie, “but not anymore. We can help clients understand where the gaps are, where they might be liable for damage and how they step up on biodiversity. It’s gone from nice-to-have to critical support function and it’s only going to get bigger.”

Darren Russell

Contracts Manager

Apart from five years out as a site manager in the retail sector, building cold stores, Darren has been in the industry for nearly three decades. He’s one of our most experienced people and the perfect person to manage that interface between client and contractor. “It’s the personal relationship stuff

that really matters,” says Darren. “Building a relationship with clients, networking, learning, problem solving.” It’s a role Darren’s been doing for six years, having worked for the business since 2014 when he started off as a cutter working on the highways before switching to the power sector as a surveyor. “When I left school, I wanted to be a mechanic and did motor vehicle engineering for two years, but there were no jobs going around at the time. Then a friend of mine told me about a job opening with a small firm called Greenfields. The rest is history!”

George Clarke

Field Manager

With a decade’s industry experience under his belt, including a spell in upstate New York, George is the perfect field manager – somebody who can oversee the detail on site and offer hands-on support where it’s needed. “I can still do a little bit of both,” says George. “I still

enjoy doing a bit of cutting. I was an apprentice when I started out at EOS and just progressed from there. I went from being a cutter to a team leader and I’ve always looked for progression at every stage. I like to know where I can go. It’s been pretty good so far.” George’s experience also makes a positive difference to client-contractor relations – a major priority at Environmental Solutions Plus.

James Vining

Operations Manager

James has worked in the industry for more than 20 years, having left school at 16 to do landscaping and tree work for the family business. Now he’s keeping the lights on for thousands of people. During his career, James has done almost everything the industry has to offer and

has been in this role since 2024. He also an incredible knowledge of working with mechanical kit – something he’s sharing with the rest of the business for the benefit of our clients. “I’m a hands-on sort of guy,” says James. “I love the mechanical side of the work, so although I’ve taken a step back from the frontline, I’m using my knowledge to influence and guide more people into that part of the profession. “Operations manager is a juggling act, but the support is there from the rest of the team. We have a great bunch of lads and the sub-contractors we use are a pleasure to work with.”

Jason Powell

Health & Safety Adviser

Parts of this industry are inherently dangerous. There’s no escaping that fact. Take working at height around high voltage powerlines. With a chainsaw. Switching to health and safety after a career in climbing has enabled Jason to carry on working in an industry he loves – and to keep others

safe as they follow in his footsteps. “I’ve been a lumberjack, a tree surgeon and a surveyor,” says Jason, who has almost 30 years’ experience behind him. “Now I’m poacher-turned-gamekeeper! I’ve always been physically fit, but nobody can climb trees forever. Coming off the tools has opened up a new career that I really enjoy. I wasn’t sure I would, but it’s rewarding to feel you’re keeping someone safe.” Jason has gradually become an expert in health and safety – the kind of reassuring presence that colleagues and clients expect and depend on. “I can probably get the message across to the people that work for us better than most because I’ve been there.”

Josh Harris

Operations Manager

Like many people at Environmental Solutions Plus, Josh experienced most aspects of our trade before being promoted to operations manager, where he now oversees several contracts in the power sector. Josh studied forestry and arboriculture at college, alongside work experience with a local tree surgeon. From there he did grounds

maintenance at Hereford United FC where his dad was stadium manager. But it was as a sub-contractor on major power contracts across the midlands that his career really took off. Eventually, all roads led to what was to become Environmental Solutions Plus. “The people here must have seen something in me back when I was a small sub-contractor working for EOS. I said no to start with, now I’ve been here since 2022! “I realised I couldn’t climb trees the rest of my life and that I was being offered a chance to progress. “We have one team here: an A Team. We’re all in this together. I try to treat my team the way I’d want to be treated when I was out cutting. That’s the working environment I want to create and it’s an approach that extends to our clients.”

Richard Hall

Assistant manager (Highways)

With more than 25 years’ industry experience behind him, Richard has been the linchpin of our highways division since joining the business from the highly respected AC Landscapes. He began his career back in 1998 with another respected name, Glendale, learning the ropes on landscaping and tree works, before spending

14 years with Fountains as a surveyor on their Scottish & Southern and Western Power contract. Despite such a rich and varied experience, Richard never stops learning. “In this industry, you’re always learning,” says Richard, “developing new skills, understanding clients’ needs, manging expectations. I might not be climbing trees anymore, but I’m looking after people who do, passing on my experience. Every tree is different!”

Simon Cunningham

Climber

Simon has been enjoying this role since leaving the Armed Forces in 2022, cutting his teeth with Morris Arb – “a good place to start” – before joining our business in 2024. “I had a lot of transferable skills,” explains Simon, “which made for a good transition to this kind

of work. I love climbing! “There’s a good team mentality here. Everyone has the same objectives, and everyone wants to reach the same goal. We help each other out, get the job done and we have a good laugh on site too. It’s just a good environment.”

Simon Ablett

Senior Operations Manager (Landscape and Highways)

Simon oversees major contracts across three operational areas – Northwest, Northeast, and Midlands and the Southwest – where we provide landscaping, tree work and ecology support. He’s been in this line of work since turning 17, starting at the foot of the ladder as a labourer before eventually launching his

own business in 2007. His own company grew to employ around 100 people before downsizing to focus on highways and OHL. Ablett was the ‘A’ in AC Landscapes, which became part of this business 2024. And he performs the same role as well as ever. “I’ve got guys who have been with me for 14 or 15 years,” says Simon, “I just have a larger support network around me now. I was already familiar with a lot of the team here as we’d often worked on the same contracts together, so we bedded in quite well. “It still feels like a family and that’s the way we want to operate.”