James plots sustainable future working with wood

The 33-year-old is realising his business potential by immersing himself in timber on 185 acres of rolling farmland in Sicklinghall near Wetherby, where his Haresign Bespoke construction company is based.

His clients are given woodland tours and can pick their own tree to be crafted for their needs, as Nidderdale businesswoman Katie Kavanagh did when she wanted to create the right setting for her Acorn Wellness Retreat.

According to research by Planet Ark, Katie and James’ other customer may just be barking up the right tree, as it suggested wood furniture and fittings have measurable health and wellbeing benefits, having been found to lower heart rate and stress responses.

For the Acorn project, James crafted fixtures and fittings to make Katie’s retreat a “shrine” to wood.

“I was always destined to do this. It’s in my blood,” James said. “I could drive an excavator when I was five. My grandparents had a holiday park so I got into ground work, digging new roads and drainage. I was bought up in that environment and loved it.”

The rural entrepreneur has a woodland studio and plans to add a pop-up restaurant nearby soon. He also plans to design “eco-pods” that could offer affordable homes.

“I’m working on the designs. They’ll be really sustainable, using solar power and rain water. So the pods will be built in the workshop and can be dropped anywhere. I’ll use untreated wood – people don’t realise the toxins they release in their homes using modern day materials.”

The business uses every part of a felled tree, from making charcoal, to the brash that fuels the biomass boiler that heats the workshop, nearby business centre and farm houses but the woodland faced a dire future, with half its trees at risk from Ash dieback, before James brought them back into management.

“It’s the kind of coppicing that was practiced 200 years ago. We’re replanting 10 different species. Coppicing lets light in, encourages wildflowers and biodiversity and keeps the woods healthy.

“The last time these woodlands were managed was probably during the war when all the high value timber was ripped out. Our work strikes a chord with our clients, it’s not about buying timber off the back of a lorry; it’s about a bigger story.”

BACK STORY

After qualifying from the Leeds College of Building and Joinery and Carpentry, James moved into property renovation. He opened a joiner’s shop, then expanded dramatically bringing in plumbers, electricians, and designers.

Entrepreneurship is in the Haresign blood; James’ mother owns dress shop, Snooty Frox, and his sister, The Wild Plum restaurant in Harrogate.

The Trust for Conservation Volunteers take adults with mental health or learning disabilities to James’ woods to learn about bush craft and conservation, with paid work, planting trees in the winter.