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You and Yours: Gap Finders - Nic Seal

Gap Finders - Nic Seal

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Gap Finders - Nic Seal

The entrepreneur helping people to remove Japanese knotweed from their land and property.

Today’s Gap Finder is Nic Seal, the founder of Environet, a business helping people to beat the scourge of damaging and invasive plants growing on their land and property.

On Gap Finders this week, Felicity Hannah speaks to Nic Seal, the Founder and Managing Director of Environet. It’s a UK-wide company that helps people get rid of damaging invasive plants, such as Japanese knotweed, from growing on their land and property. 
Nic was born in Sussex and moved to Somerset when he was 13 years old. He comes from a family of high fliers. His father was a Commander in the Royal Navy. One of his grandfathers was Winston Churchill’s principal private secretary at the beginning of World War Two. His other grandfather was a barrister. 
We hear how Nic had always longed to set up his own business. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Science from the University of London, and working for two different companies over a six year period, he finally realised his dream, setting up Environet. 
He explains how, at first, he was a one-man band working out of the attic in his house and how some people were sceptical about whether he'd be able to make a living out of “killing weeds”. Nic reveals how, he not only surpassed his own expectations, but also how ,the market for invasive plant removal has grown enormously over the last 25 years. 
Today Environet specialises in the removal of knotweed, bamboo, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam. The business turns over £3 million a year and employs a team of 30 people. 




Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Tara Holmes

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