Sussex Mushrooms is working on an ambitious £10 million project that it claims will make it one of the most technically advanced suppliers in Europe.
Under plans seen by FPJ, the West Sussex-based producer will give up its Abingworth Nursery site in Thakeham for an 85-acre housing and community development, and transfer all production to its Chesswood site.
The production facility will be renovated and upgraded to include an aerated composting facility, new growing blocks, a combined heat and power (CHP) unit, pasteurising tunnels and housing for key workers.
The investment would allow the company to compete successfully in the intensely volatile mushroom market, said Herbie Sullivan, partner of parent company Thakeham LLP. “We couldn’t continue to compete without it,” he conceded.
The new aerator would remove 90 per cent of the odour from the infamous ‘Thakeham pong’ - the smell generated by the compost production - Sullivan added. “We believe we have developed a comprehensive solution combining technology from all over Europe.”
Spent mushroom compost will be used to fuel the £1.8m CHP installation, which has been half-funded by a grant from SEEDA. The machine will reduce the company’s operating costs by £300,000 per year.
An initial planning application was submitted and validated on 23 July, and it is expected to go before the planning committee in early 2011. The project is slated for completion by April 2014, and is expected to give the company a 30 per cent increase on its existing production capacity. Sussex Mushrooms currently produces about 140 tonnes of mushrooms a week, imports a further 60t per week, and plans to use the extra capacity to replace imports.
The Asda, Morrisons and food manufacturing sector supplier has operated on tight margins in recent years, but its latest accounts, for the year to
31 December 2009, show the company turned a £119,518 pre-tax loss in 2008 into a £64,225 profit. In the same period turnover increased from £13.6 million to £18.2m. “In the present economic climate many businesses would be happy to post a profit,” said Sullivan. “The mushroom industry is a low margin business and the company is working through a five-year plan to modernise.”
There had been fears the company would suffer from the failures of two closely-related businesses this summer. Thakeham Produce Ltd, which packed for Sussex Mushrooms, was wound up on 22 September after losing a major Dutch packing contract, while equipment specialist Lanos Ltd went into administration in August.
However, Sullivan explained that Sussex has now purchased the machinery it had rented from Lanos and has brought its packing operation in-house after Thakeham Produce went out of business.
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