We’re all aware that Greater Crested Newts are protected, precious creatures... but did anyone think it possible that they could cost a developer tens of thousands of pounds? I didn’t either, until I met the team at Three Shires...

Recent EU legislation means that every time a construction is planned, ecologists have to certify that the building will not be damaging to the environment in any way. This starts with an inspection of the land - and if there are any signs of newts, snakes, otters or badgers, a perimeter is secured and a designated trapping period begins.

James tells me, “We start with a low impact clearing system, then onto our containment, capture and relocation system. The trapped animals aren’t just dumped over a fence, but moved to a specially enhanced habitat to suit their needs.” Indeed, with a number of animals and reptiles recognised as protected species, Three Shires’ have certainlygot their work cut out for them.

Despite his passion for the environment, James hasn’t alwaysbeen about catching newts: “I started out in 1995 with my tranny-van and a couple of casuals, taking on forestry work through the National Forest Management Companies. A year or so later, I began working for clients directly, and with that came broader requirements, including fencing and vegetation management.” James soon realised that there was a demand for an expanding service base, which he was determined to meet – and the ball rolled from there. ISO and sector 2A highways certification was achieved in 2004, allowing James’ growing team to work on fencing a number of bypasses and relief roads in the area.

“That opened a lot of doors for us”, James tells me, as it was around this time that he became aware of newt protection fencing. At the time, rather ramshackle trapping devices were used for trapping such amphibians, such as timber and plastic fencing, which was flimsy and entirely un-recyclable, and a steel method, which worked out at an expensive £60 per metre. Vandalism was often a problem with the former, and if the barrier was found to be broken on day 29 of a 30 day period - you guessed it - hold the fork-lift - it has to begin all over again, and at immense cost.

So all it took was one fed-up contractor to declare: “There’s got to be an alternative” for James to click into inventor mode - and so Herpetosure was born, from theGreek ‘Herpeto’ meaning ‘to wander’ - and ‘sure’, because it works! - as proven by the company’s £2m turnover and the 208,000 metres of fencing installed last year alone. Clearly, there is a great demand for James’ invention, as sales manager, James Tyer, tells me:

“75% of sites would have a number of ecological non-compliance issues if an inspection was carried out, and now, it’s not all in the hands of the ecologist – the responsibility for the land and protection of the environment also falls to the client.”

It all sounds very technical and stressful, but amazingly, the Herpetosure fencing product is incredibly simple and effective. Consisting of panels of polypropylene folded at the top, once erected, the barrier forms a kind of 2-feet-tall prison (minus the barbed wire!) Three Shires and the Herpetosure network have developed a seamless installation system which enablesthem to fence roughly 10 metres per minute, with the record being 9330 metres (plus 850 bucket traps) in just four and a half days. Of course, there are a number of speciesspecific fences, but all are slotted into the ground, riveted together, and the aforementioned bucket traps are then planted on the outside of the fence, into which each animal that passes over the panel slides gracefully, to be collected on the ecologist’s rounds each morning.

The fencing is incredibly durable, countless trials mean you can even drive over the stuff – it just pops straight back into place (though James doesn’t recommend this!) Not only is Herpetosure strong, it’s also made from 100% recycled materials and is 100% recyclable in itself, with each fence being used on a number of different projects. George Westropp, co-managing director of Herpetosure, explains: “It isn’t cheap the first time we use it, but we take the fence back at the end of the trapping period and the value comes in its second or third use – and there is absolutely no waste.”

Though Three Shires is based in Leicestershire, no matter where you are in the UK, if you need ecological mitigation services James has got it covered with his network which covers the whole of Great Britain. He tells me, “We have a number of companies like ourselves working together, with all staff affiliated and trained in the installation, as well as having a firm understanding of each species’ individual requirements.”

Indeed, with James’ brother in charge of the North-West-based Three Shires, and the other five companies all owned by trusted friends, the team all work together - not, as James affirms, in competition: “It works out brilliantly – we aren’t on each other’s doorsteps so we can be more like a team, with varying requirements in our different parts of the country. For example, we live in a hotbed for newts, whereas down in Dorset, they have a great deal of snakes.”

That being said, James and his team aren’t all about defending innocent creatures - they also have their business head firmly screwed on. Marketing themselves as ‘a complete service for the construction industry’, Three Shires not only deals with ecological mitigation, but also site preparation and clearance, landscaping and fencing. James tells me, “We manage the whole job, so there’s just one person to deal with from start to finish. We have taken our place as the mediators between the client and the ecologist – which means our service has a great deal of added value.”

The sky’s the limit for Three Shires, as James’ inventing goggles aren’t hung up yet. With his new heated bat box already proving a huge success for relocation purposes, he is determined that there are hundreds more problems in the industry that Three Shires can solve: “As long as it is vaguely within our remit, we can always find an alternative, balancing.

For more information visit www.threeshires.com