Our Ethos
Our ethos is the ‘characteristic spirit of our company as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations,’ well according to a dictionary definition anyway. I like to think it’s a bit more than that.
The other day I was asked about marketing, as in... what is marketing? In a business I explained everything is marketing and marketing is explained by what drives us, what we believe in, how we go about the day-to-day and why. With me so far?
These days explaining what you do and why you do it can get very complicated as it can all get wound up in mission and vision statements, value propositions and USPs. Years ago, when I was working for a major London agency it was explained to me very simply. When you first encounter a company, you will have a first impression, and this will be modified by the experiences you have subsequently. For example, if the reception is chaotic, staff less than welcoming, service poor and products lack lustre you will probably never want to deal with that company again. As a result, the vision, mission, and ethos have come to the forefront as companies try to present their best face to their customers.
I think it goes a bit deeper because even the largest companies are ultimately about the people that work for them and what they do and say. Size quite often means that companies can lose control, so the PR people are then exorcised to work even harder to maintain the corporate front, lest the share price dives ...again. Witness Facebook in recent weeks.
Here at Pines and Needles it is all very simple and hasn’t really changed over the years. Firstly, we are dedicated to bringing our customers the ultimate Christmas experience. Our trees are a thing of natural beauty, and we believe they should be made part of festive celebrations nationwide. We do this by striving to build local community ties that are year-round and not just for the festive season.
In terms of our ethos, we believe that communication and teamwork are key. Our teams are driven to provide the best experience from start to finish. Christmas is a hectic time of year, and we understand that our level of service needs to be the best. Being able to achieve that comes down to our expansive knowledge of Christmas Trees which is shared throughout the company. We grow our own trees and the high level of training provided to our teams comes as a result of our leadership in the industry.
A lot of this is explained by our story. Pines and Needles was founded by brothers Josh and Sam Lyle back in 1995. It all started when the youngsters (then aged 15 and 13) came up with the brainwave of loading an old horsebox with Christmas trees from their family farm in Scotland and taking the long journey down to London. After a few years the kilted crew grew in size, the Internet beckoned, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2016, the company hit the headlines for supplying a tree to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the first time the couple had been seen in public. It also bought a second plantation in Scotland, doubling its capacity to grow trees.
In 2017, Pines and Needles acquired The Christmas Forest in a bid to expand its portfolio of stores in London and heighten its presence in the capital and beyond.
We are a family-owned business now run by one brother Josh Lyle.
One thing is clear Pines and Needles isn’t just a brand it’s an experience. Our pop-up stores in multiple locations open on the 17th of November. Bring the family and experience it for yourselves.
The other day I was asked about marketing, as in... what is marketing? In a business I explained everything is marketing and marketing is explained by what drives us, what we believe in, how we go about the day-to-day and why. With me so far?
These days explaining what you do and why you do it can get very complicated as it can all get wound up in mission and vision statements, value propositions and USPs. Years ago, when I was working for a major London agency it was explained to me very simply. When you first encounter a company, you will have a first impression, and this will be modified by the experiences you have subsequently. For example, if the reception is chaotic, staff less than welcoming, service poor and products lack lustre you will probably never want to deal with that company again. As a result, the vision, mission, and ethos have come to the forefront as companies try to present their best face to their customers.
I think it goes a bit deeper because even the largest companies are ultimately about the people that work for them and what they do and say. Size quite often means that companies can lose control, so the PR people are then exorcised to work even harder to maintain the corporate front, lest the share price dives ...again. Witness Facebook in recent weeks.
Here at Pines and Needles it is all very simple and hasn’t really changed over the years. Firstly, we are dedicated to bringing our customers the ultimate Christmas experience. Our trees are a thing of natural beauty, and we believe they should be made part of festive celebrations nationwide. We do this by striving to build local community ties that are year-round and not just for the festive season.
In 2016, the company hit the headlines for supplying a tree to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the first time the couple had been seen in public. It also bought a second plantation in Scotland, doubling its capacity to grow trees.
In 2017, Pines and Needles acquired The Christmas Forest in a bid to expand its portfolio of stores in London and heighten its presence in the capital and beyond.
We are a family-owned business now run by one brother Josh Lyle.
One thing is clear Pines and Needles isn’t just a brand it’s an experience. Our pop-up stores in multiple locations open on the 17th of November. Bring the family and experience it for yourselves.
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