Sweet William grower Nigel Grummitt, and his wife Janet, who run a nursery at Gedney Hill, in Lincolnshire, applied for a grant to build a glasshouse on a quarter-of-an-acre site, through Leading the Ornamental Challenge (LOC), their co-ordinating body for the East Midlands.

Having grown Sweet Williams as an outdoor crop for three years, the Grummitts recognised the potential of producing indoor annual varieties as a niche crop. 'We needed to expand the range of varieties we could offer our customers,' said Nigel Grummitt. 'Moving into a range of varieties grown under glass which didn't require over-wintering meant we could achieve our aim.' The glasshouse is now finished and an irrigation system and concrete paths will be completed by August 19.

Another young husband and wife team, hardy nursery stock specialists Chris and Liz Woods, based at nearby Swineshead, are delighted with their grant aid for a packing facility.

They have produced a range of hardy nursery stock in small pots under protection for supermarkets for the past four years, specialising in clematis, hydrangeas and magnolias.

'We purchased an existing nursery last year and badly needed to replace the packing area with a modern facility which would enable us to service our supermarket customers more effectively,' said Chris Woods. 'It will be 30x15 metres, and includes a plant preparation area, a pre-packing and sleeving operation as well as offices and staff facilities. We have already had a commitment of more business from two major customers as a direct result of our expansion.' Work will begin in September to clear the site and it is anticipated that the building will be completed by Christmas for opening in January, 2003. LOC, once again, was the architect of the application.

LOC spokesman Lyndon Mason commented: 'Since starting our new role as a co-ordinating body in July 2001, we have been successful in obtaining funding for a wide range of projects totalling £390,000. In addition to the approved projects, we also have a further £970,000 of applications, either going through the Defra approval system or in preparation.

'If growers have a project which could possibly be funded under the EDRP scheme, they should be contacting LOC to see if we can help extract that vital element of grant funding. There are strict criteria to be met and not all projects will be eligible. However, LOC is able to determine eligibility at an early stage, and so far we have been 100 per cent successful with the applications we have submitted to Defra.'

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