What started out as a teenager wanting to help his struggling father has turned into a blooming business for Jason Harker.
In 1995, a then 16-year-old Jason decided to turn his love for gardening into a small business to help his dad rake in some extra cash.
Twenty five years later Jason is at the helm of a group of successful gardening, landscaping and development companies whose 28 staff operate out of new £1 million headquarters in Barlaston, Staffordshire.
And this month, Blue Iris Landscapes celebrates its milestone 25th anniversary.
Jason said: “My dad was a joiner by trade. One evening he was working and a spanner broke and went into his eye, which meant he wasn’t able to work for a while.
“I wanted to help and gardening was a hobby, so I started helping out my neighbours, pruning their bushes and other things, and it turned out that I knew quite a bit so I decided this was a way for me to make some money.
“My first customer was a friend of my mums. I looked after her garden for her and I made £5 a fortnight.
“I picked up some other small jobs and by the time I’d finished my A-Levels I was working six days a week.
Most Read
“I was working by myself for a whole year, and in the second year my brother joined me.
“Over the next 10 years we carried on, and there was just two or three of us.
“But as I got a bit older I realised I needed to bring in some younger lads and that’s how things started.”
Over the years, the company has operated under a number of guises including JH Gardening Services, JHPS Ltd and JHPS Gardens Ltd and eventually Blue Iris Landscapes.
It has outgrown offices in Longton and Fenton and relocated to a brand new office in Station Road, Barlaston, in 2019.
Revenues have also grown – from £12,500 in the first year to group turnover of £1.5 million today.
Jason attributes the company’s success to its workforce and three core values.
Don’t miss
He said: “Customer focus has always been super important for us, it’s one of our core values along with a drive to succeed and the ‘golden rule’ of treating people how you would like to be treated.
“Our aim is to make a positive difference to our colleagues and clients.”
Jason added: “We could not have achieved what we have done if it wasn’t for our brilliant team.
“It makes me very proud to see people who joined us as apprentices or trainees getting to the stage where they are able to buy their first house, and we really try to support them to do that.”
Want more business news straight to your inbox?
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the country - and you can stay in touch with all the latest news through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
Blue Iris is part of the Planterra group of companies developed by Jason and his senior management team – including Japanese Knotweed Expert, ProHort Ltd and OakHouse Professional.
And over the next five years, the company plans to grow revenues across the group to in excess of
£5 million – and become recognised as the leader in the grounds maintenance and landscaping industry.
It also has plans to expand its revenue streams to include other businesses, such as the recently-launched Barlaston Tool Shed, which provides garden machinery repair for both domestic and commercial customers.
Jason said: “We want to be a company with a great reputation across the areas we operate.
“We want our people to enjoy their jobs and provide a great service to our customers, and we want to become a £5 million to £10 million company within the next 10 years.”