Young entrepreneur's Leighton Buzzard drone business shows the sky's the limit

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A Leighton Buzzard drone business is flying high as a young entrepreneur hopes to inspire others with his success.

Harvey Greenwood, 21, founded Greenwood Drones in 2023 as he realised his hobby and passion could become a career.

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Hardworking Harvey has travelled up and down the United Kingdom to film everything from big city skyscrapers and football stadiums to animals in the beautiful Scottish countryside - and even other drones!

Harvey said: "I'm really keen to expand. I've just been going one year and it's a full time business; the growth that has happened is more than I'd imagined and I'm pleased and proud about how far I have come.

Harvey Greenwood (top left) is the man behind Greenwood Drones. Images supplied by Greenwood Drones.Harvey Greenwood (top left) is the man behind Greenwood Drones. Images supplied by Greenwood Drones.
Harvey Greenwood (top left) is the man behind Greenwood Drones. Images supplied by Greenwood Drones.

"I'm really excited about what next year will hold."

Greenwood Drones offers drone photography, drone video, 3D drone mapping and drone roof inspections - filming everything from country fetes and sports matches to shop layouts and parties.

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Recalling his most interesting requests, Harvey said: "I've had the pleasure of working on some projects which have been very niche and very obscure.

"I was working on a collaborative project with Nature Scotland who had released beavers into rivers, and I located the beavers to make sure they knew where they were burrowing and living. It was fascinating.

"Meanwhile, there was a project recently under a team of scientists where I used my drone to chase their drone and film it at work, which was excellent fun. It was studying the fields and crops, and the emissions coming out of the crops."

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Closer to home, and Harvey was delighted to capture some aerial footage of Parkfields School, Toddington, as 500 children gathered in a playing field to form a giant '60' and celebrate its diamond anniversary.

Harvey himself attended Parkfields during his own school days, before moving on to Harlington Upper School.

He said: "I'm not particularly academic and I knew university wasn't the path for me.

"But I thought, that's OK, that's alright.

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"I went on to find something creative that makes me tick, and I love working with people."

After a "difficult year" of A Levels during the pandemic, Harvey trained with the civil aviation authority, and completed a four-day intensive course to achieve his drone licence.

Whilst flying drones as a hobby, he then secured a job working for the Central Bedfordshire Council planning department - and the experience in this field would later come in very handy for his business.

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Harvey explained: "I had a client who was looking to build properties on a patch of land in Watford, but he had been refused planning because it was not in keeping with the surrounding area.

"But I put my drone up to prove that there was no symmetry and no standard look in the area - that helped to achieve permission."

Greenwood Drones also offers surveying services, which is also thanks, in part, to Harvey's experience in his father's construction firm.

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"I'm used to seeing the different elements of property maintenance," he explained.

Moving forwards, and Harvey is looking to use FPV (First Person View) headsets for filming, which would give him a bird's eye view of the drone's camera feed.

The young boy who used to watch YouTube footage from drones has turned his passion into a viable business - and the sky's the limit!

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