Reflecting and Projecting: Neil Crofts’ Mid-Year Review

In the dynamic world of business, few leaders manage to steer their companies with the deftness and vision of Neil Crofts, Over the past year, Neil has navigated B&G through a period of significant growth and transformation. In an exclusive reflection on the last 12 months, he delves into the strategies that have driven B&G’s expansion.

“I wrote a brief summary post on LinkedIn last week regarding the substantive changes we have made to the way we manage projects and have improved client experience and delivery. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do take a minute and go to and find it on my feed. A lot of work has been done to improve in all areas relating to the service element of what we do and I’m really proud of the achievements made thus far – albeit there’s still a long way to go.

At the start of that post, I alluded to an article as we reach that rough midway point of the year, I did one last year and I thought I’d repeat the process.

I said in my article last year that I define the year by two key milestones – the first is the annual trip to York races for the entire company – and this takes place next Friday (26th July) and then again at Christmas. Both important annual milestones for me as we continue to move forward as a growing business.

It’s almost impossible to quantify what’s happened within the business since the turn of the year. As always at B&G I’m reminded that a lot can happen in a day here – nevermind 6 months!

I guess the key challenges relate to growth. We forecasted growth of a further 30-35% this year and on current forecasts I would say that could end up being slightly low for where we end up. Growth is good of course but has its inevitable challenges. The key thing has been working with senior management to ensure a good structure and well thought out delivery.

As part of that we have done work on the company structure as a whole, improved communication, a monumental overhaul of our project management system, refined job descriptions, we have overhauled company meetings, and have introduced additional meeting structures including a monthly board meeting for directors – typically held at the beautiful Callow Hall near Ashbourne.

I have introduced a mid-tier ‘middle management’ meeting each month. This is brand new and is crucial to ensuring we work across all levels of the business to maintain positive decision making and communication.

With growth comes the need for more space. We are excited and lucky to be on the verge of starting to see phase 2 of our offices come to life. We work in a beautiful part of the country, and I think we all need to remind ourselves that this isn’t the norm, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. The 300-year-old dairy farm we call home is soon to expand further with a brand-new reception, space for HR, Health and Safety and marketing and design as well as shifting myself, fellow directors, admin and finance out and making way for more technical staff. We are creating a beautiful new boardroom with views across the Derbyshire countryside, and we even have a snug with comfy chairs and a log burner for those winter meetings or quiet work! Exciting times indeed.

We have invested heavily in kit and structure for contracting. By the end of this year, I predict investment of at least £250,000 on new machinery and vehicles to improve performance and delivery. This a key area of growth for us and with a revitalised and skilled team I’m really excited for what’s in store. With mowers, arb vehicles and kit, new trucks and trailers and powerful compact loaders we are better equipped than ever for the projects ahead.

In the coming weeks, after what feels like plenty of negotiation and decision making, we are welcoming three new ecologists. I’m really, really excited to be working with each of them. They bring a much-needed skills in a very busy division and I can’t wait to get them started and help support their onward progression.

The list of changes and achievements are endless. But they are underpinned by the closest, hardest working and most wonderful group we have ever had. During our B&G day a few weeks ago we had a really positive discussion about their vision for the business.

That vision document which you can find via the vacancies page of our website is our new blueprint for delivery. I said to all the staff that day that we would never move away from working to be the best we possibly can be both as an employer and a business. And it’s that vision that drives us through the second half of this year where I hope we’ll be celebrating more arrivals, more promotions, personal achievements and milestones.

I suspect the next time I write I’ll be sat in our new offices, and I look forward to welcoming many of you to see us very soon.”