Toby Carvery cut down an ancient oak tree – did the public roast them for it?

Pub chain Toby Carvery felled an ancient tree in the London Borough of Enfield on 3 April 2025 – one deemed a “fine specimen” with an expected 50 years to live – causing uproar among local residents. The chief executive of M&B, the brand’s parent company, has promised to “tighten its protocols” in future. 

So did the brand fell its public image along with the old oak tree? YouGov BrandIndex asks the public questions about their perceptions of brands every day. Our data shows that Buzz scores, which track whether the public have heard a positive or negative story about a brand in the past two weeks, declined from 7.6 to 1.4 (-6.2) between the 3rd and 17th of April. Over the same timeframe, Impression, which tracks general sentiment, fell from 20.8 to 12.0: a decline of 8.8 points. 

Other measures saw smaller deterioration. Recommend scores, which track consumer advocacy, slumped from 17.3 to 14.4 (-2.9) across the period in question, while Consideration scores – which ask the public which brands in a given industry they would consider from a list – saw a similar decline, from 22.1 to 19.7 (-2.4). Notably, given the story’s distance from Toby Carvery’s actual customer service, it’s the same situation with customer Satisfaction scores, which fell from 23.8 to 21.0 (-2.8). 

Will the controversy linger, and will opinion of Toby Carvery suffer in the long run? A BBC report suggests that Enfield locals remain angry with the brand – and highlighted the emotional impact of similar events such as the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. Whether this local controversy retains its national profile remains to be seen. For now, it seems that a tree fell in the woods and made a rather loud sound.  

This article previously appeared in City A.M.