Press Release – UK NATIONAL PARKS ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH HOWDENS

• UK National Parks partners with trade kitchen supplier Howdens to support nature recovery
• GrubsUp! will be the first initiative of this two-year collaboration, aiming to restore and connect vital wildlife sites around North York Moors National Parks
• Howdens will also support the Bee Lines project, helping to restore crucial wildflower corridors across the South Downs National Park

London, UK – February 12, 2025 – UK National Parks has today announced a new two-year partnership with Howdens to support nature recovery across some of the country’s most important natural landscapes. The collaboration will focus on enhancing biodiversity, restoring local ecosystems, and contributing to urgent climate action across the UK’s National Parks.

Howdens, the UK’s leading trade kitchen supplier, has joined forces with National Parks Partnerships to support two vital nature restoration projects; GrubsUp! in the North York Moors National Park and Bee Lines in the South Downs National Park. The partnership will also engage Howdens staff with the importance of nature, promoting both environmental stewardship and personal wellbeing in line with the business’s commitment to sustainability.

Spanning 10% of Great Britain’s land area, the 15 National Parks are crucial to sustaining biodiversity, protecting wildlife, and combating climate change. By teaming up with like-minded businesses such as Howdens, the National Parks can take immediate action to protect and restore these vital landscapes.

Claire Toomey, ESG Programme Lead for Howdens said: “At Howdens, we rely heavily on the natural environment for raw materials in the production of kitchens, bedrooms and joinery, and we believe strongly in protecting the environment and local communities where these materials come from.  We are committed to achieving net zero and want to continue to support the management of natural resources as part of our road to zero initiative.  We have chosen to support National Parks due to its national reach but with targeted projects at a local level.”

The first project, GrubsUp!, will focus on restoring and connecting vital wildlife sites surrounding one of North Yorkshire’s most scenic roads. Linking Thirsk to Scarborough, the busy A170 winds through market towns, quaint villages, and passes stunning woodlands, pastures, and farmland. This new project aims to create ‘insect super-highways,’ improving habitats for pollinators and other wildlife. Howdens’ support will allow the creation of valuable habitat within the project area, boosting the resilience of existing invertebrate populations and allowing species migration and will also provide opportunities for local communities to connect with nature.

Holly Ramsden, GrubsUp Project Officer at the North York Moors National Park Authority, said: “We’re delighted that Howdens are supporting our GrubsUp! Project. In partnership we will be focusing on connecting wooded habitat and hedgerows through landscape tree planting. We will be creating biodiversity hotspots through the creation and restoration of traditional orchards, incorporating wildflowers underneath local provenance fruit trees. This project aims to forge stronger connections between our communities and nature and create a lasting legacy that will benefit wildlife for generations to come.”

As well as boosting numbers of invertebrates, which supports species further up the food chain, GrubsUp! will support owls, other birds and bats by collaborating with a local Men’s Sheds charity group to make flat pack homes out of untreated timber offcuts donated by Howdens. These can then be made up by local community groups including scouts and school groups as an engagement activity. 

GrubsUp! collaborates with farmers, landowners, and local communities to protect and restore habitats for invertebrates. The project will establish long-term agreements to manage the newly created habitats, ensuring the benefits continue far beyond the initial restoration work.

The partnership will also support to the Bee Lines project, which restores vital wildflower corridors across the South Downs National Park. Through community-led planting of native wildflowers, this project enhances ecosystem resilience, promotes biodiversity, and provides sustainable food sources for pollinators like bees and butterflies—critical for the health of local ecosystems. The Bee Lines initiative has so far created over 100 hectares – or 160 football pitches – of brand-new wildflower meadows to help pollinators thrive.

Jan Knowlson, Biodiversity Officer for the South Downs National Park, said: “Bees are essential to healthy ecosystems and by pollinating flowers they create food for other wildlife and, of course, humans. In fact, one out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollinators such as bees. Bees have been on the decline across the UK for many years, so it’s wonderful to receive this support from Howdens which will mean we can help nature bounce back by creating even more wildflower habitats.”

To find out more about becoming a partner of the National Parks click here.

To find out more about GrubsUp! click here.

To find out more about the Bee Lines project click here.

To find out more about Howdens visit Howdens.com

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For further information, interview and image requests please contact Bec Butler, Senior Partnership Communications Manager E: bec.butler@nationalparks.co.uk | T: +44 (0)7843 393962

About National Parks Partnerships (NPP)
National Parks Partnerships (NPP) unites companies, investors, and environmental funders with all 15 UK National Parks to drive positive change for people, nature, and climate. Spanning the iconic landscapes of the Peak District, Lake District, Eryri, Dartmoor, Pembrokeshire Coast, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor, Northumberland, Bannau Brycheiniog, The Broads, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, Cairngorms, New Forest, and South Downs, NPP operates at a national level to foster partnerships that enhance and protect these vital natural areas.

Since its inception in 2016, NPP has formed impactful partnerships with leading global brands, including BMW UK, Santander UK, and Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland. NPP’s comprehensive approach identifies and develops key projects in need of support, offering diverse opportunities such as deploying green finance through the Revere: Investing in Nature initiative with Palladium, to supporting innovative nature-based solutions that preserve and restore biodiversity, to staff engagement, joint marketing campaigns, in-kind contributions, and thought leadership. By aligning with both global and UK-based brands, NPP creates bespoke partnerships that deliver meaningful, lasting impact in National Parks and surrounding communities.

About Howdens
Founded in 1995 with just 14 depots, Howdens has grown to be the UK’s number one trade kitchen supplier* having delivered over six million fitted kitchens to the UK market. Now with over 850 depots nationwide, Howdens offers a vast product range from local stock, with experts found at every depot. Howdens design kitchens to suit every home, but above all else Howdens believes in expert craftmanship. Selling only direct to the trade ensures that Howdens products are installed to the highest standard. This is backed by a 25-year guarantee on kitchen cabinets as standard. Howdens rigid kitchen cabinets have received a Which? Best Buy every year since April 2021 and its handleless kitchen cabinets received a Which? Best Buy Award in 2023 and again in 2024. Howdens’ Bridgemere Kitchen was awarded Best Classic Kitchen Range in the Ideal Home Awards 2024. Howdens was also highly commended for Best Use of Colour for their Paint to Order timber kitchen collections, Chilcomb and Elmbridge. In 2023, Howdens expanded into the fitted bedroom category with a range of stylish and practical storage solutions that can be easily configured to suit individual lifestyles and spaces. Cabinets come with a 25-year guarantee for confidence that they are built to last.  Howdens is the exclusive supplier of the UK’s much-loved appliance brand, Lamona. Offering a wide range of cooking, cooling, laundry and dishwashing appliances.

To find out more about Howdens, visit:
www.howdens.com
www.facebook.com/howdensofficial
www.instagram.com/howdensjoinery

*Source: Mintel, September 2023, UK Kitchens and Kitchen Furniture: Inc Impact of Covid-19. 

The North York Moors National Park
The North York Moors is a beautiful landscape of stunning moorland, ancient woodland and historic sites. Created on 28 November 1952, it became Britain’s sixth national park. Covering an area of 554 square miles (1,436 square kilometres) the National Park has 26 miles of coastline, two national nature reserves, 840 Scheduled Monuments and over 3,000 listed buildings, attracting an estimated 8.4 million visitors a year. The National Park has two visitor centres, Danby Lodge National Park Centre and Sutton Bank National Park Centre, providing opportunities for cycling, walking, eating, picnicking, shopping, crafts and wildlife-watching. The centre in Danby also houses the Inspired by… gallery, which features regularly changing exhibitions by artists who draw their inspiration from the North York Moors. The North York Moors National Park Authority works with a wide variety of people to care for this beautiful corner of Yorkshire, providing apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with nearly 14% of staff being apprentices from local families.

South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is the third largest National Park in England and has the largest National Park population, with 113,000 residents. From rolling hills to bustling market towns, the South Downs National Park’s landscapes cover 1,600km2 of breathtaking views, including 18 distinctive landscapes, 13 European wildlife sites and more woodland than any other National Park in England or Wales. The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) is responsible for keeping the South Downs a special place, including conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area and its corporate priorities are: Nature, Climate and a National Park for All. It is also the planning authority for the National Park. The Authority is a public body, funded by the government, and run by a Board of 27 Members.