Workplace Caste Study - Building Sustainable Worlds - BSW Group

YOUNG TALENT AT TILHILL FORESTRY DRIVE INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY!

Graduates and apprentices take on business critical environmental challenges in partnership with Powering Futures.

Ten early career professionals from Tilhill Forestry - the UK’s leading sustainable forestry and timber harvesting management company, and member of BSW Group - have successfully completed a 14-week innovation challenge designed to explore and solve some of the most pressing sustainability challenges facing the forestry sector today.

As part of Tilhill’s structured graduate and apprenticeship training programme, eight graduates and two apprentices took part in the challenge, developed and delivered in partnership with Powering Futures, a specialist skills provider for the future and young workforce.

Partnering with businesses to help them solve real time climate change challenges, Powering Futures tasks teams of 16–25 year-olds with solving a sustainability problem set by their employer and supports them in coming up with creative solutions through teamwork and climate skills.   

The ten participants from Tilhill Forestry were tasked with developing practical solutions to real-world environmental problems currently being examined by the business – from reducing the use of single-use plastic in tree bag logistics, to enhancing the sustainability of operational practices across woodland creation and forest management.

Structured to complement the participants' working week, the Powering Futures Workplace Challenge enables them to dedicate focused time each week to collaborate in teams, conduct research, interview stakeholders, and develop business cases - culminating in presentations to senior leaders from Tilhill Forestry and BSW Group. 

Among the proposals that were presented were laser-guided drone technology for precise crop measurement, long term soil rejuvenation through cover cropping, and practical steps to reduce or eliminate single-use plastic from tree logistics operations. These solutions combined environmental responsibility with commercial viability, offering fresh perspectives that had not previously been considered within the business.

Julie Finnikin, Group Learning and Development Manager at BSW Group, said: “This programme offered a fantastic opportunity for our graduates and apprentices to engage directly with sustainability challenges that matter to the business. The quality of ideas presented, and the confidence shown by our emerging talent, was exceptional. Their work has provided fresh insights and inspired active conversations within our leadership team about future innovation.”