Webmart responds to felling of Sycamore Gap

The famous Sycamore Gap tree, a 300-year-old tree which stood beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, was callously cut down on the night of Wednesday, September 27th.

In response to the act, Webmart, which offers a range of services including letterbox marketing and print services, has taken action to try and inspire others in the wake of the bad news.

Posting on LinkedIn over the weekend the company said it would be taking immediate action by planting ten Sycamore trees at its eco-asset Grange Wood.

The sustainable marketing agency responded with the tribute due to the strong emotional response from across its network.

With an office based in South Yorkshire, and the company having many roots in the North of England, the felling of Sycamore Gap felt particularly impactful to the colleagues at the company especially as the famous tree was situated between Webmart’s Yorkshire office and its eco base in Scotland.

Adding to the tribute on LinkedIn, chief executive officer at Webmart, Richard Boon, commented: “After waking up to the news and reading posts of high despair from my network, family, and friends, sometimes you have got to just act.

“I’m personally very proud of the ability we have to divert profits for good at Webmart, so here we are with what we can do today to provide some optimism in a time where bad news dominates the news cycle.”

The company said that it ‘tried to right a wrong’ by creating what it has dubbed “Hadrian’s Corner” which will grow over time north of the historic wall in the Grange Wood eco asset.

Speaking to Print Monthly about the project, Boon says: “We are looking to create an area at our eco site which will have a dedicated sign along with wildflowers and the new trees to pay tribute to Sycamore Gap. We’ve already spoken to the forestry manager who helped us clear an area near our Lodge and the entrance.

“As a nod to the history that was lost, everyone felt that rather than jumping to social media with angry thoughts we had to flip the situation and do something that could outweigh the negativity and counter what has happened with a project that acknowledges the history of Sycamore Gap.”

Boon says that the company is looking to improve wild areas such as in Grange Wood by protecting areas of nature, which is the purpose behind the original project – to turn income into impact.

The decision to pay tribute to Sycamore Gap came collectively from the Webmart team when its founder Simon Biltcliffe was away, demonstrating the passion for sustainability that runs through the entire company.

Based in Oxfordshire, Barnsley, and London, Webmart describes itself as a sustainable marketing agency. The company achieved B Corp status in 2021 and has raised over £700,000 for charitable causes.

The marketing company also won the Sustainable Campaign Award at the Strategic Mailing Partnership’s Strategic Mail Performance Awards last week and is nominated for the upcoming Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year Award.

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