Environment
As a family-owned and essentially local business, Hills cares passionately about the environment it shares with local communities.
Hills’ commitment to the environment is formally set out in an environmental policy, which includes regular audits of all the business operations. The Hills environmental management system (EMS) allows all operations to be managed in line with stringent environmental policies, legislation and procedures.
Whilst Hills’ commitment to the environment is enshrined in policy, it is perhaps most evident in our longstanding partnerships with environmental bodies like the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Cotswold Lakes Trust and as shown by the numerous awards Hills has received for the quality of its restoration work – transforming former quarry sites to create rich and diverse habitats.
35 years of support for the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Hills has worked in partnership with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust since 1990 – providing more than £10 million of financial support for the Trust’s invaluable work to create special places for wildlife and people in Wiltshire and Swindon.
Bay Meadows
Bay Meadows, is a new water meadow and chalk stream nature reserve which is open to the public. A large part of the project was made possible by a £60,000 donation from Hills.
The nature reserve sits within the North Wessex Downs AONB, located on the outskirts of Marlborough in Wiltshire. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust purchased the site in 2022 to protect it from the threat of development, preserve it for the local community to enjoy, and increase its biodiversity.
Bay Meadows is now both a nature park for everyone to visit and a nature reserve for wildlife, comprising 30 acres of restored water meadows. The River Og, a typical Wiltshire chalk stream, runs through the reserve and joins the River Kennet in the town, making Bay Meadows an important wildlife corridor between Ogbourne Maisey and Marlborough. Surveys undertaken as part of the project have revealed more than 300 species call Bay Meadows home, including otter and wild brown trout; it is also one of the last refuges of water voles, which have decreased by over 94% nationally and are now absent from most nearby counties.
Wildlife at Blackmoor Copse
Out of a total of 59 species of butterfly found in the UK, around 25 species can be found at Blackmoor Copse, which was the Trust’s first ever nature reserve. Work to widen the rides funded by Hills resulted in Purple Emperor butterflies returning in greater numbers.In addition to the butterflies and woodland birds, Blackmoor Copse’s King Charles’ Pond is home to numerous hawker and darter dragonflies and damsel-flies every year.
Habitat Heroes for the Cotswold Lakes Trust
Hills has worked in collaboration with the Cotswold Lakes Trust since 1997, providing over £1.3 million to the charity through the Landfill Communities Fund. This partnership has led to the creation and preservation of one of the most stunning and biodiverse wetland landscapes in the UK, which is home to an amazing variety of wildlife, as well as an array of exceptional leisure amenities.
In 2024 Hills received the accolade of ‘Cotswold Lakes Trust – Premium Habitat Hero’ as recognition for the pivotal role the business has played supporting the conservation and protection of wildlife in the Cotswold Water Park.
As Ben Welbourn, Conservation and Estates Director at the Cotswold Lakes Trust explains: “For more than 25 years, The Hills Group has consistently demonstrated significant support for the wildlife and people of the Cotswold Water Park through high quality quarry restoration. With their continued support of the Cotswold Lakes Trust’s biodiversity, education, access projects and now their addition to our new Habitat Heroes scheme, Hills continues to cement its commitment to creating a lasting local legacy.”
