BALI membership brings holiday windfall for contractor

Little did Paul Hermon know that, when he approached BALI’s Membership Officer Carly Button at the 2017 Landscape Show about joining BALI, he would end up a few months later a BALI Registered member and the lucky recipient of a £1,000 TUI holiday voucher! He now plans to take his wife and two children on a special trip in the October half term, courtesy of BALI’s trade promotion to encourage potential new members to sign on the dotted line and begin the vetting process.

Before entering the world of landscaping, Paul graduated with a degree in Marine Geography and then spent seven years working in the film industry in London. Realising office life in the city wasn’t for him he decided to re-train and completed an RHS Level 2 in Horticulture through distance learning. He moved down to Frome in Somerset and, in 2006, started Green & Gorgeous, initially as a garden maintenance company.

Today the company employs 12 skilled staff and specialises in garden design and build, predominantly for the domestic market. Paul sees BALI Registered status as an important way of raising his company’s profile and giving him the opportunity to talk to other business owners, sharing experiences and ideas:

“When I first started the company it had always been in my mind to join one trade body when the time was right. Last November at the Landscape Show I was able to speak to BALI’s Membership Officer, Carly, and really find out more about the association. Following that conversation and subsequent communication with the staff at BALI HQ, I felt confident BALI had the right ethos for us. We are absolutely thrilled to have achieved BALI Registered Contractor status and then to be pulled out of the hat to win the holiday voucher was an incredible surprise.”

Over the next five years, and with BALI at his side, Paul will continue to develop the business to deliver larger domestic projects in and around the Somerset area that are recognised for their plant-focused design. In the meantime, however, he has more pressing decisions to make – not least, where he and his family will choose for their ‘BALI’ holiday!