The London wholesale trade has stepped up pressure on the government to roll out a pioneering scheme nationwide.
New Spitalfields Market played host to farming minister Jim Paice on Wednesday as DEFRA revealed it is to fund a £20,000 feasibility study run by EMS Consulting on the business development manager (BDM) programme.
An existing scheme, funded by the Greater London Authority’s London Food Board and extended to 31 March 2012, has led to the appointment of BDMs at major London wholesale markets. They worked with 184 companies in 2010, creating 51 new jobs and bringing in £20 million of new business.
Representatives of the tenants’ association, the City of London Corporation, DEFRA and the mayor’s food adviser Rosie Boycott joined Paice on a tour of the market as pressure grows on DEFRA to roll the programme out beyond London.
The initiative, which links growers with markets to promote the use of local produce in season, has been bolstered by a new link with the NFU, giving “kudos and contacts” to the scheme.
The possible roll-out would require a network of around eight BDMs covering the South East, West Midlands, East Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, North East and the South West.
New Spitalfields BDM Tim Williams said: “I think the minister was impressed and realises there is a demand for British produce. As [the scheme] is unproven outside of London, it will need to be publicly-funded, at least initially.”
Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association chairman Chris Hutchinson added: “Growers plant produce knowing what their market is and have been doing so for a long time. On the positive side, anything that improves prospects for independent growers is good. In other European countries, growers get tax breaks and that is a good way to give incentives for UK growers.”
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