The family-owned marketing services group planted the first tree in the initiative, an oak sapling, at its Mansfield headquarters on Wednesday (16 March). Its goal is to plant 25,000 indigenous trees in the Sherwood Forest area of the East Midlands by 2025, with the first 8,500 trees to be planted this year in partnership with the Sherwood Forest Trust.

“Here at Linney, we are aware that protecting established forest has better immediate impact than planting new, and that the two go hand in hand,” said executive director Charles Linney.

“It takes approximately five trees to sequester one tonne of carbon over their lifetime. The 25,000 trees we aim to plant will cover a total of 15.7 hectares. About 5,000 tonnes of CO2 will be captured or sequestered over the lifetime of these 25,000 trees.”

The tree planting scheme is part of a broader sustainability drive at the 1,000 staff, £77.7m-turnover business that also includes it becoming the biggest print provider in the UK to become accredited for Carbon Balanced Print with verified carbon offsetting through a partnership with the World Land Trust.

The business has a raft of environmental certifications and has been measuring its emissions since 2016 and offsetting unavoidable emissions since 2020, operating at a carbon-neutral and zero to landfill standard.

Separately, Stockport-based Glossop Cartons has donated 40 saplings to its local primary school to commemorate the packaging printer’s 40th anniversary.

The trees, which included Bird Cherry, Crab Apple, Field Maple, English Oak, Rowan and Wild Cherry, were planted in the forest school of Whitehill Primary School.

Glossops managing director Wayne Fitzpatrick said the planting was a great way to kick-off the firm’s anniversary year and engage with the local community. The school is a two-minute walk from the firm’s factory.

“It was a perfect activity to mark the occasion, whilst also creating a green legacy with each tree planted bringing benefits to pupils, staff, wildlife and the climate,” he added.

Fitzpatrick, centre right, with head of sales Matt Clarke and some Whitehill pupils

Meanwhile, paper merchant Premier, which launched its Carbon Capture tree planting initiative in 2008, has undertaken its latest tree planting day – this time planting saplings to support new hedgerows in West Yorkshire as part of Woodland Trust’s MOREhedges scheme.

Premier’s partnership with the trust has raised almost £1.4m and resulted in the planting of more than 354,000 trees.