Linton Growing, the containerised plant propagation business established by Clock House Farm in 2020 is celebrating joining the rank of elite growers (currently only five in the UK including Linton Growing) within the Driscoll’s Nursery network.
After two years of growing best-in-class soft fruit plants and trees, (primarily to support Clock House Farm’s commitment to delivering premium fruit grown in-house from quality stock and meeting sustainability and biodiversity targets), Linton Growing is forging an official partnership with Driscoll’s following the satisfactory completion of a stringent audit process.
Feedback from the Driscoll’s team was very positive, with Linton Growing scoring above the 75% required as a minimum to join the nursery network, and auditors commenting on the professional environment and the level of openness during the assessment.
As a partner nursery, Linton Growing will provide Driscoll’s with quality plants for its broad network of growers (including Clock House Farm) in line with the stringent quality control and sustainable farming protocols, shared by both businesses.
By securing plant stock grown by Linton Growing, Driscoll’s will be accessing a dedicated production centre for the UK meaning that sustainability and plant health targets can be met as plants will be grown locally rather than transported from the continent. Through its alignment with Clock House Farm, the staff at Linton Growing have a strong understanding of the pressures and requirements of UK growers and look forward to forging new commercial relationships under the business’ ethos of working closely with grower partners to produce the most suitable plants.
Linton Growing is currently running a test trial for Driscoll’s relating to the growing of raspberry plants and strawberry, with a view to going into commercial production in the near future.
Oli Pascall, managing director of Clock House Farm and Linton Growing comments, “Being acknowledged as a partner nursery by Driscoll’s represents an excellent start to 2023 for Linton Growing. We have a number of exciting plans in place to further drive the growth of the business and will be working hard to raise awareness of the significant benefits associated with sourcing quality plant stock from an established and successful UK grower.”
