Press Release

2 December 2019

Red and gold secure Number One spot this Christmas

  • Mitie is installing more than 500 Christmas trees across the UK this festive season, with traditional red & gold colour schemes top choice in 2019
  • 30 km of lights and 87,000 baubles used to decorate trees from Aberdeen to Plymouth
  • New trends include sustainable Christmas tree planting and Mitie’s first Pride-themed Christmas tree

The Mitie Landscapes team has already kicked-off the festive season with its annual Christmas tree and office decoration service. Mitie will install and decorate more than 500 trees for businesses all over the UK this year, with many already completed.

This year, it’s clear that the traditional theme is still top of the leader board, with red and gold by far the most popular colours. Gold stars are favourites for the top of the tree and red decorations had already sold out in November, meaning Mitie had to make a last-minute order for over 2,000 extra baubles. As well as thousands of glittery garlands, droplets and snowflakes, the Mitie team will hang 87,000 baubles and 30 km of fairy lights – enough to light-up the Shard 100 times over.

However, some businesses are bucking the trend and opting to have their own bespoke Christmas decoration themes. This year Mitie created its first-ever Pride-themed tree, featuring decorations every colour of the rainbow, for a hospital in the Midlands.

When it comes to the trees themselves, artificial installations continue to lead the way. 75% of trees sold this year were artificial, as businesses continue to value the reliability of knowing it will last all the way through to the end of December. However, for clients looking for an even more sustainable option, there is a growing trend to plant Firs and Spruces outside, which can be decorated every year as the trees gets larger.

Just as businesses get their trees up before the rest of us, many are asking for them to be taken down earlier and earlier each year. In fact, the vast majority of these 500 trees will be coming down over a five-day period, from the 27th-31th December, as hundreds of hardworking team members ensure decorations are taken down before colleagues come back to their offices in the New Year. That’s nearly 2,175 baubles every hour.

With the first orders for 2020 expected in January, and a review of decorations and trends for the upcoming festivities, for Mitie, the Christmas season kicks straight off in the early New Year.

Tim Howell, Managing Director, Landscapes, Mitie, said:

“While many of us are only just starting to think about Christmas, the Mitie Landscapes team has spent 12 months hard at work ensuring that businesses up and down the country are ready for the festive season. Though traditional red and gold are timeless favourites, it’s been a pleasure to get creative this year and we’re proud to have decorated our first Pride Christmas tree.”


Notes to editors

About Mitie

Founded in 1987, Mitie is the UK’s leading facilities management and professional services company. It offers a range of services including Technical Services (Engineering Services, Energy, Water and Real Estate Services), Business Services (Security, Cleaning and Office Services) and Specialist Services (Care & Custody, Landscapes and Waste Management).

Mitie employs 48,900 people across the country, looking after a large, diverse, blue-chip customer base, from banks and retailers, to hospitals, schools and critical government strategic assets. It takes care of its customers’ people and buildings, by delivering the basics brilliantly and by deploying advanced technology. It is pioneering the Connected Workspace, using smart analytics to provide valuable insight and deliver efficiencies to create outstanding work environments for customers.