Nature recovery growth boost as Fife tree nursery pioneer nets £3.3 million

Akre was established by the Drysdale family in 2020 and has since constructed a state-of-the-art nursery - Akre Trees.

The site, which has been farmed by the family for five generations, enables the firm to address both climate change and biodiversity loss through delivering scalable, high-integrity woodland creation projects.

Akre has secured £3.3 million of finance from sustainable lender Triodos Bank UK. The lending package will refinance an existing debt and support ongoing working capital requirements, as well as short-term business expansion plans.

The company has designed and built the world’s first verified carbon-negative tree nursery, which features precise environmental control to reduce energy use and waste compared to conventional nurseries.

It is currently investing in improved irrigation systems and environmental control across its nursery operations in Fife. The firm is also preparing to launch a direct retail offering, enabling individuals and organisations to participate in woodland creation and nature restoration.

Renwick Drysdale, founder and managing director at Akre, said: “Nature restoration and carbon removal are moving rapidly from ambition to implementation, and that requires resilient infrastructure and a reliable supply chain. At Akre, we focus on growing healthy, resilient trees from seed, so that woodland creation projects deliver long-term climate and biodiversity outcomes.

“This partnership with Triodos Bank allows us to continue improving our growing systems, expand production capacity and invest in new technology that integrates data and artificial intelligence across the woodland creation process. Together, these innovations will help accelerate the scale and quality of nature recovery projects across Scotland.”

Simon Crichton, head of the nature, food and resource team at Triodos Bank UK, added: “When we met Renwick and the team, and learned more about their work, we knew it was a project we wanted to get behind.

“Akre is a truly pioneering organisation and embodies a carbon-negative and biodiversity-positive strategy which is supported by data-driven methods, innovative technology and a true commitment to restoring nature across Scotland.”