Greenhouse expansion in Surrey sparks growth

Woodlark Nurseries, run by Graeme Edwards and his father Colin, supplies national and local garden centres including Squires, Garsons Farm and Chessington.

The five-figure investment via the council’s Surrey Economic Growth Fund is allowing it to double the size of its production area, increasing output by an extra 270,000 pots per year.

It means the team can produce more plants, allowing them to better serve their customers, support the community and create more local jobs.

The investment has come at just at the right time for the nursery, allowing it to produce a plethora of poinsettia plants just in time for the festive season.

Graeme said: “We grow seasonal plants and bulbs, mainly bedding plants but also Poinsettia plants at Christmas, along with planted containers and hanging baskets. Mainly to local garden centres and also national garden centre groups as well as local landscapers and gardeners.

“The funding will allow us to expand and upgrade one of our greenhouse facilities, so we can grow more and grow it better and earlier to match demand from our customers, and to make sure they can get more plants that are grown locally, meaning better quality plants for their customers. The funding will also pave the way for increased efficiencies in production in the future.”

The Surrey Economic Growth Fund was launched by the council last year. It brings together a range of public and private funds together, including government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, into a single pot.

Woodlark Nurseries was one of the first to receive investment following a highly competitive process, using the grant to expand its production area from 1400m2 to 2800m2.

As well as boosting the business, it will allow the team at Woodlark to support the wider community too.

Graeme said: “We are proud to sponsor both Hersham in Bloom and work closely with Weybridge in Bloom and Claygate Gardening Society which are all fantastic things run by great people, improving the community for everyone, so we're looking forward to continuing that. If there's any other local initiatives which are similar and we could work with, we would love to hear from them.

“We also look to employ from the local community so this project will mean we'll need to expand this.

“And we deal with lots of local garden centres so this project will hopefully enable us to help them even more by supplying them with locally grown plants, which have a lower carbon footprint and better quality than European imports.

“We're really looking forward to starting the project and improving our business as well as supporting the local businesses that we deal with even more.”

Close to £2 million has been awarded to dozens of recipients via the Surrey Economic Growth Fund, unlocking significant match funding and private investment.

The successful bids are collectively estimated to grow Surrey’s economy by £9 million, create or safeguard 300 jobs and bring 1,350 residents into employment.

Further applications were welcomed in the autumn and an announcement of recipients from round two will be made in the new year.

Any business looking for funding or support to grow can receive fully-funded support via the council’s Business Surrey service.