Willowbank is a 4th generation company started in the 1930’s as a willow farm. In the 1980 the company started using live willow spiling to stabilise and restore waterside banks. Over the last 20 years expertise has been developed and recruited in engineering design together with specialist construction techniques and combined with knowledge of natural proven techniques. Willowbank is able to combine these areas to offer the client innovative cost effective solutions in the application to; flood defence, repair and regeneration of riverbanks, waterways, drainage systems, fisheries, wetlands and associated habitat.
We are also fully versed and equipped to offer hard engineered solutions where required and undertake maintenance and installation works relating to footpaths, cycle ways, nature reserves and other similar infrastructure, including de siltation of lakes and ponds.
Whatever you want us to do, our involvement will invariably follow a wellpractised, well-proven course. We’ll start with an initial discussion, outlining your options and offering expert help and advice. A site visit will probably follow, when we’ll assess the precise
nature of the problem, quantify the work that needs to be done, and decide on the optimum design solutions for the task. Once we understand the real requirements, we’ll set to work on the solution, liaising with the Environment Agency and other regulatory bodies where necessary, developing designs that meet their stringent standards and yourexpectations
If the problem’s structural failure, our river engineers will have a significant input – assessing what’s gone wrong, why it’s happened and identifying all the other factors which could have an effect on what we plan. We’ll use their design as the basis of our estimate – and once you’ve approved the timescale and likely cost, our skilled team of specialists will soon be on site to put
our ideas into action.
We can provide heavy plant and machinery to tackle large-scale projects; undertake composite solutions incorporating gabions or reinforced earth, piling or blockstone; combine hard engineering with natural elements such as willow spiling and faggots, and finish off with turf and marginal planting to create a waterside environment that’s everything nature intended. And having done all that, we’ll doublecheck every aspect of the work – involving you in the process so you’re completely happy with the outcome. The result? A natural, sustainable solution that will stand the test of time; that combines the best of traditional and modern methods; that encourages wildlife, enhances recreational value and meets economic and environmental concerns equally well.
James Hector
James Hector (Managing Partner)
T: 01823 690113
M: 07970204889
E: james@willowbankservices.co.uk
James is the forth generation of his family to grow willow. He left Somerset to complete a physics degree and ended up working in London monitoring earthquakes under nuclear power stations. After 10 years in London he decided to come back to Somerset to help run the family firm. His scientific training helps him to analyse problems.
Steve Hancke
T:01823 690113
E:stephen.hancke@willowbankservices.co.uk
Steve Turner
E:steve.turner@willowbankservices.co.uk
Willowbank is a 4th generation company started in the 1930’s as a willow farm. In the 1980 the company started using live willow spiling to stabilise and restore waterside banks. Over the last 20 years expertise has been developed and recruited in engineering design together with specialist construction techniques and combined with knowledge of natural proven techniques. Willowbank is able to combine these areas to offer the client innovative cost effective solutions in the application to; flood defence, repair and regeneration of riverbanks, waterways, drainage systems, fisheries, wetlands and associated habitat.
We are also fully versed and equipped to offer hard engineered solutions where required and undertake maintenance and installation works relating to footpaths, cycle ways, nature reserves and other similar infrastructure, including de siltation of lakes and ponds.