Clock House Farm has established a new containerized plant propagation business – Linton Growing – designed to provide the Kent-based fruit grower with seamless access to plant stock.
The 30-hectare site represents a bespoke outdoor propagation area, focusing on strawberry, raspberry and blackberry production, positioning Linton Growing as one of the UK’s top 10 growing sites.
The decision to create a vertically integrated operation which offers a direct route to procuring plants that have been grown in accordance with Clock House Farm’s stringent quality control and sustainable farming protocols is indicative of the farm’s commitment to expanding its customer base. Previously the farm bought in mainly finished plants with the majority coming from overseas.
Nick Deppe, production director; Andrew Barclay, senior propagation manager; James Dearing, farms director; Oli Pascall, managing director, Clock House Farm.
Linton Growing is headed up by Senior Propagation Manager Andrew Barclay who is supported by two supervisors, two irrigation staff, 30 seasonal laborers and the expertise and support of the Clock House Farm management team.
Commenting on the decision to set up Linton Growing, Clock House Farm managing director Oli Pascall says, “In the last few years we have focused our efforts on creating a strong foundation to enable the further growth and development of our business. Accessing the best quality plant stock is obviously integral to the farm’s continued success and we are keen to safeguard this aspect of our operations and to not be reliant on any third parties. We also recognize the growing importance of being able to reassure our customers of the provenance story behind the fruit that we supply. Having full control of every aspect of the seedling to supermarket journey is a key strand of Clock House Farm’s business strategy; providing us with the opportunity to apply our technical growing expertise and innovative, sustainable farming practices to ensure that Clock House Farm’s hallmark commitment to quality permeates every aspect of the production process, affording added reassurance to our customers.”
In addition to growing soft fruit plants, Linton Growing plans to diversify its containerized production to include shrubs and native trees, some of which will be planted across the business’ eight farm sites in line with Clock House’s firm pledge to encourage biodiversity to help effectively manage and maintain the natural ecosystem.
For more information:
Clock House Farm
www.clockhousefarm.co.uk