Butters have put in a planning application to South Holland District Council to extend their glasshouse space by 14.5% to a total of 6.8 acres.
Assuming this is successful then, over 18 months, the company expects to generate more than 50 new jobs. Having started the business in1973 selling plants and bulbs to the retail market, today they number Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and B&Q among their customers. Last year they employed a total of 867 staff at peak times, had 3,714 product lines with an annual turnover of £52 million. Warren Hatchett, operations director at the Butters Group, said: “I’ve been with the business for six years and the strategy has been ‘expand and grow the business’ all the while I’ve been here.”