Relaxing on a beach in Jamaica in January gives Karen Kenny the chance to switch off.

Come February, Christmas is a distant memory for most of us. By that time we’ve probably already kicked our New Year’s resolutions into touch but, back behind her desk in Denholme, near Bradford, Karen’s thoughts are firmly set on the next festive season.

“I was in Jamaica in January, but back in February when I started on the seedling side of the business,” says Karen.

Christmas tree seedlings are the latest development stage of the flourishing business her brother Tony Andrews, a property developer and entrepreneur and his partner Hilary Mayes, set up in the early 1990s.

New Coley Nurseries began with a greenhouse bought by Hilary’s green-fingered father, Ken. Gradually the business expanded to eight tables of bedding plants and trade began to grow.

Being a seasonal business running from March to October, they started selling Christmas trees to extend the selling period. Yorkshire Christmas Trees is now a business in its own right operating within the site.

Between the specimen field in Denholme and Scotland they cultivate thousands of Christmas trees, from traditional Norway Spruce to the popular non-needle-drop Nordmann Fir – the ‘Rolls Royce of Christmas trees.’ They also grow Frazer Fir and Pot Grown Trees within their quality-accredited plantations.

Karen is busy nurturing the seedling side of the business – encouraging people to grow their own fits perfectly with the business’ environmentally friendly ethos. Seedlings are sourced from Georgia, Russia. Karen explains one acre will grow up to 4,000 non-needle-drop trees which can take up to seven years to harvest.

“They are very easy to grow. They don’t like to have wet feet, they wouldn’t grow in boggy ground but they are an easy tree to develop once you have developed the seedling,” says Karen.

She believes more people are wanting to grow their own through concern for the environment. Through their own environmental consciousness, for every cut tree the company plants ten more.

Demand for real Christmas trees has grown over the years as more and more people move away from artificial tinsel and plastic trees from the past.

Aside from the environmental benefits, which Karen believes is prompting many to return to the tradition of having a real tree in the home, she says the smell of a real tree can also evoke pleasant memories of Christmas past.

“It’s good for the environment and a cut tree is biodegradable,” she explains.

They also have facilities to chip and mulch the tree once the festivities are over. Bark mulch can be used on gardens. “It is goodness going back into the soil but it’s also a weed suppressant and its been used on playgrounds,” says Karen.

“Plastic trees are made with oil and it is sat there forever. It’s a natural cycle with living trees.”

Karen believes seedlings have become popular due to the demand for British-grown trees. Around seven million trees are purchased every year in the UK but demand has led to a shortage and according to Karen the weather over the last few years is hampering growth. “We need to have heat in August and September to get a foot of growth on each tree. These last two years they’ve only grown six inches so they are a foot shorter than they should be,” she explains.

As well as developing the seedling side of the business, being the company’s sales and marketing director Karen is busy promoting trees to potential clients. The company currently sells trees through Morrisons supermarkets and recently secured a contract to supply to a garden centre in Dubai. They also supply trees to a Marina in Abu Dhabi.

In keeping with the family tradition of Christmas, Karen and Tony’s sisters, Tish Lowe and Sally Shemwell, also work in the business and it seems they never tire of the season despite spending the whole year planning what is for most of us a once-a-year celebration.

Karen said: “Christmas is a tradition and I think for most people it takes them back to when they were young and it’s that special time.”