UK: Neame Lea shows new nursery to 60 growers
Last week, they were putting the final touches to the £6M development that will combine the growing, packing and cold storage facility. Much of the design concept for the new glass is focussed upon the need to control costs by improving efficiency and reduce overhead. Novel mechanisation projects have been used to achieve these goals and some of these were on show for the visiting growers. One simple unit was using a belt movement within the packing area that contained a weighing scale and a water nozzle to correct any moisture deficiency. This is in response to customers’ comments that in-store losses often arise due to delivery of dry plants in the consignment.
David took the group in a round-trip that started in the packing hall and showed how the flow of produce from ‘goods- inward’ to packing and final despatch was now able to be carefully linked to the new glasshouse production and the cold store with bulb flowers, pot and cut flower production. After lunch, that was provided with sponsorship from Beekenkamp and Modiform, the group was taken to the original company nursery at Bridge Farm to see the crop of large cyclamen which is being marketed at present and discuss the way that the nursery is being modified to fit in with the overall production plan.
Floris Berghout.
The designers and constructors of the new nursery and facilities at Neame Lea, Kees Greeve bv, were represented by Floris Berghout, gave a talk on the ‘tailor made solution’ and how they work on turnkey projects to ensure that the client has the production facility to do their specific job in the shortest possible time. In close consultation with the client, they undertake the detailed design of the systems and the specification of the buildings and equipment installed. They are responsible for the construction and managing the sub-contractors who may install the boilers, for instance, but much of the connecting heating systems are manufactured by KG Systems themselves.
For more information
Neame Lea Nurseries
David Ball
Email: david@neamelea.co.uk
KG Systems
Floris Berghout
Email: floris@keesgreeve.nl
www.kgsystems.nl