OCKENDON-based building company H W Wilson Limited will celebrate 90 years as a Limited Company on Thursday (20 February) 2020 with a breakfast for current and past employees at Thurrock Garden Centre.

The breakfast will be attended by Mayor of Thurrock Cllr Terry Piccolo who will assist H W Wilson's Managing Director Peter Wiffen in cutting a special 90th Anniversary cake.

To mark its commitment to preserving the environment, and wanting to create an important legacy from its anniversary, H W Wilson has announced its '90 trees for 90 years' initiative as part of a plan that will continue until its Centenary in 2030.

On the anniversary date itself – 20 February – H W Wilson will arrange for 90 trees, one for each year as a Limited Company, to be planted in 2020. This will continue the company's sustainability efforts and offset its carbon footprint. In fact 90 trees account for 40% more than what guidelines suggest the company should plant as those guidelines state that one tree should be planted for every one tonne of carbon produced.

Trees contribute to our environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil and supporting wildlife. During the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe.

H W Wilson will work with Carbon Footprint Ltd who use the local knowledge and expertise of tree planting partners to ensure the right trees are planted in the appropriate places. The trees are predominantly planted in school grounds, reserves and managed woodland where they will live their natural lifespan and meet their biodiversity targets.

For every tree H W Wilson secures, a tonne of carbon will also be saved in the Brazilian Amazon via Carbon Footprint's VCS avoided deforestation programme. H W Wilson will therefore be offsetting carbon, planting and protecting forests and biodiversity in two continents.

On 20 February 2021 the company will arrange for 91 trees to be planted in its 91st year as a Limited Company, on 20 February 2022 it will arrange for 92 trees in its 92nd year and so on. By the end of H W Wilson's Centenary year in 2030, when 100 trees will be planted, a total of 1,045 trees will have been planted in the local area.

Managing Director, Peter Wiffen, says: "H W Wilson has always taken great pride in being a local company and has been Ockendon-based since its founding in the early 1920s by Henry Wilson.

"On 20 February 1930 H W Wilson became a Limited Company and we wanted to acknowledge our 90th Anniversary in a special way and there is nothing more special than investing in our future and that is what we intend to do this year and in the ten years to our Centenary in 2030. We will make every effort over the next decade to build upon our current extensive undertakings to offset our carbon footprint.

"We currently use the strapline 'Building on our Reputation since 1930' but with this commitment to plant an increasing number of trees over this decade we are certainly building for the future!

"It is a privilege to lead H W Wilson. It is a proud company that has never forgotten its roots nor its traditional values of providing the highest quality service by using local experienced tradesmen and efficient management"