Tom Thumb Lawn Care is using tech to treat the UK’s turf

Lawn care might not seem like the most cutting-edge sector but Howard Abramson, managing director of Tom Thumb Lawn Care, is unequivocal about the opportunities presented by the burgeoning industry. “The market is at an embryonic stage,” says Abramson. “This means there is a massive potential for growth.” By embracing tech and an innovative model, Tom Thumb Lawn Care hopes to be at the head of the flourishing UK lawn care market and be the leader in creating luxurious lawns.

Abramson has a long history of tending to lawns, having worked in the industry for well over a decade. “After attending university in Manchester, I fell in to the lawn care market after researching various different franchised businesses,” he says. Abramson ran a small lawn care business for several years in Liverpool, until he was tracked down by one of the market leaders to help one of its territories that had gotten caught in the long grass. “My role was to re-establish one of their ‘abandoned’ franchises in Essex,” he explains. “I increased its customer base by over 2,500% in that time.”

Before long, Abramson came across Tom Thumb, a small-scale business that handled tree-care and gardening, in addition to lawn care. “The business was run as a very small operation but it had the building blocks of a great lawn-care service,” he says. However, Abramson quickly began to recognise that the existing owners didn’t appreciate the huge opportunity for growth that lay in front of them. “As soon as I started speaking to them, I realised they simply didn’t see the potential in the lawn-care market,” he recalls.

After a round of negotiations with its previous owners, Abramson took over Tom Thumb and began to grow the lawn care side of the business. “I did a complete overhaul by introducing an approved lawn care method, standard operating procedures and new branding,” he explains. The business also started asking new customers why they wanted to leave their old provider; this meant it could focus on delivering exactly the sort of service customers needed. “Things took off pretty quickly and our customer base grew rapidly,” he says. “We had a fantastic reputation within the local area and this grew beyond the borders of our territory.”

But what does Tom Thumb’s lawn care entail? “A lot of people ask me what I do and then say ‘so you cut lawns?'” he says. “It couldn’t be further from the truth; we do completely the opposite.” Typically Tom Thumb will visit clients between four and six times a year; its core service entails treating lawns with fertiliser, weed control and moss control. “Following each treatment, we identify any additional problems and advise our customers how we can address them,” explains Abramson. These additional services can include anything from fungicide or insecticide treatments to scarification and aeration of the lawn.