Talasey Group is celebrating its 15-year anniversary this June and is reflecting on its history and recent boom in business.

Back in 2004, Founder and CEO, Mark Wall established Natural Paving Products (UK) Ltd. In a short space of time, Natural Paving Products had developed five additional product brands (Pavetuf, Vitripiazza, Baksteen, Luxigraze and Resiscape) and with such a diverse product portfolio the company rebranded to Talasey Group in 2018, with Natural Paving continuing as the sub-brand for the company’s stone offer.

The company has grown at a rapid rate and in the past six years alone has more than tripled its turnover. To support the growth of the business, the company has doubled the size of its Doncaster Distribution Centre, alongside its 3 other large stocking locations at Tilbury, Grangemouth and Southampton. To help drive the business forward, the workforce has doubled with new additions to all departments.

Wall also expanded the business into international waters, launching a sister company in North America - Natural Paving USA. With a high demand for natural stone hardscaping solutions, the company has experienced an impressive growth across the country, with plans to become a well-established brand in the American hardscaping industry.

Committed to offering a holistic landscaping solution, Talasey Group looked for ways it could diversify further, to set itself aside from competitors. The latter, combined with a desire to help address the existing skills gap and recognition of the need for accredited landscaping training, Talasey Group decided to take matters into their own hands and in 2018, Talasey Training Academy opened its doors. Offering a range of City & Guilds accredited training courses the TTA offers helps everyone in the landscaping industry, enabling delegates to get hands-on practical experience with a wide range of landscaping products, increasing skills, confidence and product knowledge.

Since its launch, the TTA has received positive feedback from delegates, who’ve thoroughly enjoyed the City & Guilds accredited courses. Jamie Furlong of Norfolk Garden Design and Landscaping Ltd has so far participated in three courses; Resin Bound Aggregates, Porcelain Paving and Artificial Grass. He said: “The guys at the TTA can’t do enough to help you. The trainers adapt their approach to suit the ability, experience and needs of each delegate, whether you’re a beginner or more seasoned professional. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well and these courses can provide you with the necessary know-how and practical skills to be able to achieve incredibly high-quality installations.”

Furthermore, Talasey Group is the Official Training Provider for the WorldSkills UK Landscape Gardening Team. With TTA’s facilities and support, being used they hope this will give them the best chance of being victorious at the 2019 WorldSkills competition, held this August in Kazan. Through its sponsorship, the company hopes to inspire more young people to consider pursuing a career in landscaping.

Wall said: “There are probably three main areas that have been key to our growth, a hard-working team of employees; knowing what our customers and their customers’ needs are and delivering on that need; robust supply chain partners.”