Nursery invests to limit Brexit damage
Johnsons of Whixley has invested tens of thousands of pounds to cushion it from the potential effects of Brexit.
The commercial nursery business at Cattal has ploughed £70,000 into a new mechanical line to reduce staffing levels and plans to invest a further £100,000 in covered growing and storage space at its Roecliffe site, to prepare for possible disruptions to imports of plants from Europe.
“We don’t know what’s on the horizon and as we are reliant on the economic and supply chain, Brexit has the potential to be catastrophic,” said managing director Graham Richardson.
“At the moment, European workers make up around one third of our nursery workforce. And while we do not envisage an exodus as a result of Brexit, we have to be prepared.”
The firm also revealed that its sales grew by 20 per cent to £8m between October 2018 and March 2019 – its most successful half year of trading since the company was established almost 100 years ago.