And while Christmas trees have come in for a lot of bad press following the collapse of European Forestry Growers, The Emerald Group has asked us to point out that its scheme has proved highly popular with investors.

Since 1990, the company has raised £7.5 million for investment in its Christmas trees projects through a scheme operated in conjunction with Davy Stockbrokers. Last year, it sold 100,000 trees in Britain and four other European markets. Unlike European Forestry Growers project, this scheme requires a substantial minimum investment, of around £10,000.