MP James Wild backs horticultural business in Terrington St Clement

MP James Wild has visited two West Norfolk horticultural businesses.

Mr Wild visited Belmont Nurseries and Hillgate Nurseries, two local family businesses producing millions of plants and flowers each year.

During his visit, Mr Wild met Janet Ward, who started the business with her husband Peter in the late 1960s, alongside Susanne and Mark Eves who have run the business in Terrington St Clement since 1965 and provide 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% of all Tulips in the UK.

Mr Wild 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.

Mr Wild 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.

Mr Wild 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 using high-tech automated machinery to reduce labour-intensive tasks.

Mr Wild 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.

While 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.

Mr Wild 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.”

Reporting by Matthew Hill