Tony Richards, Managing Director

Tony originates from Southport in Lancashire and gained a degree in horticulture at Bath University. He has worked in the West Indies, growing and importing tropical house plants, and in America, on Long Island helping to turn around a very large but ailing mixed fruit farm owned by one of the oldest families in the country. Tony moved to Hampshire in 1987 and then worked as general manager of a national landscaping company for two years. Everyone has a dream of working for themselves, and in 1990 Tony took the plunge, starting off with little more than a spade. He has built Graduate Landscapes organically over the last 25 years into one of the largest in the south.

Married with four children, Tony enjoys being able to work close to home in Liphook, Hampshire. He is proud of the fact that the company now employs up to 50 staff, and is a sizeable employer in the area, capable of tackling a broad spectrum of garden design, construction and maintenance project work. Many of the staff have been either to Merrist Wood College (Guildford, Surrey) or Sparsholt Horticultural College (Winchester, Hampshire) and Tony has always been keen to encourage a team spirit and a "can do" attitude. The company can now offer a full package from quality design by two experienced garden designers, through construction and planting with subsequent landscape maintenance if required. This quality service is used by private individuals, designers, architects and developers.