Our guest on this week's HortWeek Podcast is CEO of one of the biggest players across both ornamentals and fruit production in the UK.
Matt Jarrett, the group CEO at Greosn unpacks the group's rapid expansion, from his roots in the ornamental sector (Newey) and ethical labour (Proforce) to running a £400m powerhouse in the UK fruit and ornamental markets.
Jarrett details Greosn’s recent acquisitions, including the Mansfield's group and Emery Fruit Farms which expanded its fruit portfolio to £95m and yielding around 10,000 tonnes of berries and 27,000 tonnes of apples annually.
Diversification has given the firm year-round revenue streams, from hand-picking 800 million daffodil stems in Cornwall in the spring, to top fruit harvesting in autumn.
Jarrett discusses the state of the UK's Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) where Government reductions in visa quotas threaten to hamper growth:
\"I worry slightly around the growth of the category... we're only as good as the labor that we can put on these businesses at this time.\"
Of course, automation and other technologies offer opportunities for efficiencies. Jarrett discusses Greosn's £15 million CAPEX spend this year featuring AI flower forecasting, precision agronomy, UV robotics to combat mildew, and a new 15-line packhouse facility in Kent.
Growth will also come from acquisitions, and Jarrett hints at upcoming acquisitions to take the business to a new financial landmark: \"We've got a very clear strategy to really push the business and get to a sort of a billion by 2029.\"
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