Award-winning UK firm sponsors planting of 10,000 trees

Thousands of trees are set to be planted across the South West of England to mark the launch of a green catalogue from an award-winning office supplies firm.

Customers of Samson Office Supplies who request the green catalogue will each be given a young ash tree ready for planting free of charge.

The Somerset-based company launched the its green catalogue at the Somerset County Cricket Club and anticipates demand will quickly reach five figures from customers in an area stretching from Bristol to Cornwall

Managing director Jonathan Rice said ash trees had been chosen after taking advice from tree charities and conservation officers about the types of tree which were needed locally to provide a balanced woodland environment.

Mr Rice said the ash was a traditional English tree which could be grown in most soils but which, for a variety of reasons, was in decline in parts of the region.

The wood from ash trees has traditionally been used for the making of a range of sports items which have been important to Somerset over generations.

They include cricket stumps as used by Somerset County Cricket Club, oars and paddles for rowing and canoe clubs, hockey and polo sticks, billiard cues, and rudders for boats.

Ash was even used for police truncheons - although modern police officers now carry an extendable metal baton called an ASP.

Mr Rice said: ”Samson Office Supplies has grown so much that we now have more than 16,000 products on offer, most of which we can despatch immediately, and there are new products coming on line all the time.

“At the same time, we find customers are increasingly environmentally-conscious and keen to play their part in tackling global warming by ensuring they work in a sustainable and carbon-efficient way.

“We are therefore launching our green catalogue in which every item can either be recycled or reused or is biodegradable, which minimises their impact on the environment.

“And as a further measure, we are helping to off-set the carbon emissions arising from delivery of the stock by supplying up to 10,000 young ash trees ready for planting out.

“We can even plant the trees free of charge for our customers if they do not have anywhere to plant them.

“It is all part of our mission at Samson Office Supplies to consistently beat our customers’ expectations of product quality, price, and service.”

Anybody who would like to take up the ash tree offer should call Samson Office Supplies on 01460 55000 or email value@samson247.co.uk to request a green catalogue.

Samson Office Supplies is the current Somerset Business of the Year award winner in the annual event organised by the Federation of Small Businesses, has won the British Office Supplies and Services Federation commercial stationer of the year for the past two years, and has been awarded Beacon Status by the South West Regional Development Agency.