A two-week assignment turned into a 30-year career in South America

David Henderson’s journey from the forests of Scotland to becoming a trusted UPM contractor in Uruguay

The phone call came completely out of the blue. A Shell representative from Chile called and said they needed a good man to get some forestry machines up and running. Adventurous by nature, David Henderson decided to take up the challenge – after all, it would make a change from slogging through the forests of Scotland. The assignment was supposed to last a couple of weeks. It ended up lasting rather longer. In practice, that phone call changed David’s entire life.

A tough life in Scotland

David Henderson was almost born to be a contractor, as his father worked as one in the Perth area of Scotland. David worked alongside his father on logging sites for the Forestry Commission. Felling was done with chainsaws, while his father built all kinds of ingenious forestry machines from whatever scrap and components he could find.