Matthews Flower Group has begun groundwork on the first of two new greenhouses for cut rose production in the UK.
The first two hectare site at Holsworthy in Devon will comprise a Venlo structure supplied by Dutch company JARO Glasshouse Projects and supplied with heat from an existing anaerobic digestion plant operated by Andigestion Ltd near the site. Additional heat recovery equipment will be installed and the biogas plant will also dry woodchip which will then be burnt in a biomass boiler to heat the greenhouse.
Ian Matthews of Matthews Flower Group Ltd said, “Retailers are asking for [cut roses] because UK consumers are willing to pay good money for them. Because of the demand, we already decided to build the second greenhouse before we started the construction of the first one. We know that there is a market for English flowers, we already have people chasing us for orders.”
The second two hectare glasshouse will be built near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk where it will use renewable energy from the Symonds Farm biogas plant.
