After securing the Judges’ Special Award at the 2016 Swale Business Awards, and being selected for the 'Future list of companies changing the way live and work in Kent', Kent Science Park-based business PlantWorks are returning stronger than ever for the 2017 awards.
Since winning the award last October the business has gone from strength-to-strength. PlantWorks remain the UK’s only commercial producer of mycorrhizal fungi and over the course of the seventeen years that they have been operating have developed a core client base in a number of sectors, including retail, farming and academia.
Technical Manager Natallia Gulbis discussed the changes the business had seen over the last twelve months: “Since we won the Judges’ Special Award last year we have had some exciting developments take place within our business, which includes welcoming Homebase to our retail outlets. Possibly more significantly, we have secured distribution agreements with all the major agronomy companies supporting UK farming. Particular interest has been shown by South East top fruit and vine growers – use of RG Horti mycorrhizal fungi is becoming common practice for many of them. As an example, over a half a million vines were planted, including in Rathfinny and Chapel Down vineyards.
PlantWorks remains one of the few companies in the UK that is dedicated to the production of biological fertilisers, and are one of Europe’s largest producers of mycorrhizal fungi. They see themselves as “innovators rather than competitors” and are currently the only brand in the country to be endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Natallia spoke about what was next for the flourishing business: “Our mission is to change farming culture in the same way we changed hobby gardening culture. We wish to keep every element of our service based in house and we have just launched a new website dedicated to the agricultural and horticultural sectors. We will also be increasing our production capacity -building new greenhouses and expanding our warehouse facilities.”
Finally Natallia reflected on why she felt PlantWorks deserved to win a 2017 Swale Business Award: “PlantWorks is an innovative company, which is vertically integrated and has a positive culture in all aspects of our business. We truly believe that the legacy of PlantWorks will change the way that we feed the world. To quote John Marsden, ‘live as though you'll die tomorrow, but farm as though you'll live forever.’”
PlantWorks
Unit 930
Cornforth Drive
Kent Science Park
ME9 8PX
01795 411 527
www.rootgrow.co.uk