James Wild MP backs local horticultural business and buying British flowers and plants
With Parliament in recess, James Wild MP for North West Norfolk took the opportunity to visit Belmont Nurseries and Hillgate Nurseries two local family businesses in the horticulture and plant sector producing millions of plants and flowers each year.
During James’ visit, he met Janet Ward, who started the business with her husband Peter Ward in the late 1960s, alongside Susanne and Mark Eves who run the business which has been operating from Terrington St Clement since 1965 and provides tulips and other flowers to some of the UK’s leading supermarkets and other suppliers. Employing more than 40 staff, Belmont is one of a small number of suppliers producing 70 per cent of all Tulips in the UK.
James toured the nurseries including visiting greenhouses, seeing high tech sorting machinery, and packing rooms where Valentine’s Day bunches were being prepared. James discussed some of the challenges facing the horticulture industry including energy prices, farming reforms, and promoting British products. James recently joined dozens of MPs encouraging supermarkets to make it easier for customers to “Buy British”. They also spoke about Belmont’s key role in “Tulips for Tapping” which has raised significant amounts for Tapping House.
James later visited Hillgate Nurseries, a specialist plant propagation business also based in Terrington St. Clement. Each year 160 million plants are sown and delivered across the UK including most of the lettuces grown here and this is achieved using high-tech automated machinery to reduce labour intensive tasks. James spoke with Troy Barton, who helps manage the family run business, about the challenges compared to when his grandfather, David Barton started the business in the 1970s. James learnt of the focus on achieving ideal growing conditions, such as for their celery plants which only select nurseries grow.
Whilst at Hillgate Nurseries, Troy also spoke of challenges growers face as peat is phased out of commercial use and the major investment in equipment and the experimenting that Hillgate is focusing on and its partnerships with seed manufacturers as they work with new regulations.
Speaking after the visits, James Wild MP said:
“West Norfolk is home to horticulture businesses such as Belmont and Hillgate which offer industry leading expertise in producing high quality flowers and plants. It was encouraging to see how embedded technology is in making these businesses operate efficiently. Like all sectors, there are challenges which I will take up with ministers and as consumers we can play our part by Buying British and buying local.”
