Member Article

Meet the Choppington entrepreneur grinding a stump removal niche

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes in the North East and Tony Curtis of Choppington, Northumberland, epitomises exactly that.

Leaving his 9 to 5 job behind, Tony invested his life savings to start his own business - The Stump Grinder, a complete tree stump removal service to both the public and trade.

The venture comes after Tony worked in the motor trade for 25 years and spent a decade developing expert knowledge of wood chippers, stump grinders and access platforms as a Depot Manager in the Arboriculture industry.

Spotting a niche business opportunity that would make use of his specialist skills, the budding entrepreneur sold his beloved BMW motorcycle to help him get started.

However, with achieving a lifelong ambition of going it alone and enjoying a strong first quarter of trading, Tony hasn’t looked back.

He commented: “We launched in July 2017, and initially invested in a new F.S.I Power-tech B22 stump grinder, sourced locally, and chosen for its good access as it fits through regular sized garden gates, and is powerful enough to remove reasonably large stumps.”

For the homeowner using Tony’s services eliminates the perils of complicated and heavy DIY, and for trade customers such as builders, tree surgeons and local authorities, provides a cost effective solution to the tricky problem of how to quickly remove stumps following tree dismantle.

The company already has ambitious plans for the future and will soon launch a service and repair offering for all types of Arboriculture machinery, which can be carried out at the customer’s location or at the company’s base in Northumberland.

Tony continued: “We’re thrilled with the excellent response so far, and have already made a further investment in a second grinder to accommodate larger stump removal and commercial projects.”

“We’ve quickly built up a collection of repeat customers who find it so much more productive to concentrate on their work, and subcontract tree stump removal to us.”