Crocus welcomed Dr Al Pinkerton, MP for Surrey Heath, to its nursery and head office to discuss three main sections of the horticultural industry – retail and online retail, wholesale nurseries and the landscaping industry.
Guests representing local businesses were Simon Edwards, Managing Director of North Hill Nurseries; Bill Godfrey, Director of W Godfrey & Sons; Lynda Simmons, Head of ESG & Green Solutions at Nurture Group.
Discussions covered the impacts of the BTOM, what is needed to come out of the upcoming SPS negotiations to help businesses, the Inheritance Tax burden along with other cost burdens such as the National Insurance and Minimum Wage threshold changes, the Packaging Levy, the additional costs of peat free production and skills shortages and recruitment difficulties in the sector.
In a joints statement, Sarah Mackenzie, Plant Procurement, Controller Crocus.co.uk, and John Hiorns, Associate Director Crocus.co.uk, said:
“The opportunity to share our experiences of importing plants from the EU was valuable, including how the additional stress of prolonged travel times, extra handling and mixing of plants puts on them can actually make them more vulnerable to pests and diseases, thereby having the opposite effect of one of the very aims of the BTOM. The industry of paperwork and actions required by the BTOM has led to some eye-watering costs being incurred by everyone involved in the import process. For example, in the first year of BCP operation our Agents report Port Exam fees of over £186,000.00 for just 1 of the ports they process applications for; and we understand 1 haulier over a 3 week period this May experienced an average of 9.5 hours of waiting time per truck at Sevington, adding an extra €800.00 per truck. At Crocus we are achieving around 85% UK supply, around half of which is coming from our own production, however over the last year we have averaged almost 1 import consignment per working day costing us over £1000,000.00 in the various fees excluding haulage.
“Our discussions also included what would be the definition of a high risk plant as currently all plants for planting are classified as high risk plants, for which we are seeing around a 30% inspection rate being achieved. However, some are higher risk than others, such as olive trees which are key hosts of Xylella. We understand the Import Threats Hierarchy is being kept under review. Biosecurity is of course an integral part of all our businesses which is where accreditation schemes such as Plant Healthy could help support this work.
“The current permission for UK plant passport labels to be applied at source in the EU before the plants travel allows smooth transfer and retention of full traceability and identity information through the supply chain in just 1 process. With the expectation of plant passports still being required after the SPS negotiations are agreed we would like to see this permission included as a standard practice. All plants received by businesses are checked thoroughly on arrival and only once these checks are complete they can move on to the next stage in their journey and it is at this point the passport labels become valid. The cost to businesses of adding an extra process in to remove a label only to replace it with another similar label would be significant - both financial in terms of labour and materials but also environmental as yet more plastic has to be used and disposed of and could be one of the biggest single import cost increases yet for affected businesses. Work is ongoing for alternatives to plastic labels but more needs to be done to reduce their cost and increase availability.
“Even with all the efforts and work ongoing by legitimate UK businesses plants and plant material is still finding its way into the UK by the back door. Non-UK-based companies are able to sell and send plants mail order through the post either through their own websites or marketplaces which arrive without all the checks and assurances that UK businesses undergo and pay for. This includes items such as seeds included in parcels as gifts directly from other countries outside the EU even though they were bought from a business purporting to be in the UK. As part of the SPS negotiations in return for relaxing and simplifying the imports/exports process with the EU for legitimate businesses we would like to see rules tightened up on this front, particularly for marketplaces to make them more accountable for this kind of behaviour as it undermines all the hard work undertaken by the rest of the industry.
“Additional cost burdens to our businesses which are hampering growth and investment in this sector include the new National Insurance and Minimum Wage thresholds from 6th April 2025. These changes were brought in at such speed that businesses did not have adequate time to prepare and disproportionately affect SME’s in lower paid industries, such as Horticulture and other land-based sectors. The minimum wage in particular has a cascade effect as differentiation needs to be maintained through the rest of the pay structure so any rise in the minimum wage does not just affect those at that level.
“The accelerated move to peat-free production has also increased costs, not only of raw materials but also of ongoing inputs as these mediums typically require more frequent watering and feeding during the life of the crop to maintain plant performance and can still give more variable results than peat-based mediums leading to reduced saleability and higher finished plant prices.
“The Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) levy, for which the costs are now finally becoming known as we are due to pay our first fees this autumn, adds another significant cost of doing business. We all have a responsibility to look after our environment and this has always been important for those who work closely with it. However, the new rules are felt to be particularly confusing and difficult to follow, even for those who have been working in waste management and sustainability for many years.
“Surrey Heath is historically a strong area for Nurseries and Horticulture due to the favourable soils and climate and supported many small nurseries. Production is now containerised rather than in the ground, but a dwindling number of these nurseries remain today. The skills and knowledge that have been handed down over the generations and are an invaluable resource. The new Inheritance Tax rules are now placing an unsustainable burden on land-based businesses with the risks that businesses are already choosing not to invest due to this impending burden. The method of calculation of how many businesses would be affected was called into question, as for example if the effects were based on the number of Land Holding Units in the country, this could be misleading as many businesses may hold more than 1 perhaps resulting from when neighbouring businesses have previously merged. Again, this disproportionately affects SME’s as if these smaller nurseries are unable to continue, we not only lose valuable production capacity at a time when demand for UK-grown plants is increasing, but we also crucially lose that accumulated knowledge to the detriment of us all. Surrey Heath has a high cost of living and so sadly the land is more valuable for housing than security of production.
“The high cost of living in this area also makes it difficult to recruit trained horticulturalists and to develop the next generation. Despite a growing awareness of the environment and biodiversity and its benefits to our health and wellbeing as well as mitigating climate change amongst the younger generations, Horticulture is not seen as a desirable career choice given the relatively low pay and physical nature of the job outside in all weathers. Apprenticeships are available, though it can be difficult to secure college places within a sensible distance. The benefits of environmental horticulture are wide ranging and we would like to see more of this filtering into the curriculum in schools and colleges along with more funding made available for further education to help support and train future horticulturalists.
“We would particularly like to thank Dr Al Pinkerton and our guests for their time and positive contributions to these discussions.”
