Meet the team… David Warren

Today we are joined by David Warren to talk about his role with Glendale, how he got started in arboriculture and why he loves working in the industry.   David has been a climbing arborist with Glendale’s Harrow arb team since the beginning of June 2015

What date did you join Glendale?
1st June 2015

In your current role what are your main responsibilities?
I am a climbing arborist responsible for providing a full range of tree services for commercial clients.  I am also responsible for supervising and ensuring set tasks are carried out correctly as well as team safety.

What position did you hold before joining Glendale as an arborist, how long were you there for and who did you work for?
I worked as a climbing arborist for Down to Earth Trees for a year.  Down to Earth Trees are based in Sevenoaks, Kent.

What were your main responsibilities within that role?
My role was the same as with Glendale except I provided tree services for private and domestic clients which is massively different to the commercial work I undertake now.

How did you hear about the referral scheme?
Through a colleague, I worked with in Sevenoaks

Did you find the arborist referral scheme a useful way of gaining employment?
Yes and no.  I obviously still had to go through the correct channels in order to gain employment but it did give me a heads up about the opportunity and the company policies.

How long have you been working in the arboriculture industry?
I have been in the arboriculture industry for two years and before that, I was a section commander in the British Infantry for 12 years (Corporal).  I was stationed all over the place but I was last stationed in Woolwich.

What attracted you to the industry and how did you get started?
I was originally intending to get into the security industry when I left the army, arboriculture was always going to be a backup, but instead, I ended up getting a job in the arboriculture industry.  I requalified whilst I was in the army putting myself through my tickets including NPTC 30, 31, 40 and my utility tickets.  The army helped me pay for NPTC 38 and 39 through their resettlement scheme.

What are the benefits of being an arborist?  Do you enjoy it?
I get to work outside and I enjoy working on the tools.  The benefits of being an arborist with Glendale are that, with it being a bigger company, the pay and the company structure are much better than I was experiencing.  There is also a pension scheme available which isn’t something you always get from private companies as they are too small.  Being a bigger company there is a lot of investment in people and their future development which improves my future aspirations.

What are the main goals you want to achieve in your first few months with Glendale and are you enjoying it so far?
I’d really like to look at entering the management side of things through the company’s management training programme.  I want to develop my career further with Glendale.