Tyne Moulds and Machinery 50 years and still going strong

Tyne Moulds and Machinery has been in the horticultural business for 50 years. Half a century is something to be proud of, and they are celebrating by launching a living wall system that they will present at the Cultivate'17 in Columbus Ohio, USA. We spoke to James Sword, UK Sales and Marketing Manager, about the establishment, the developments in horticulture and their latest introduction; the living wall. 

The business was established by the current owner Ramy Zack's father in 1967, initially producing plastic children toys. In 1983, Ramy Zack took over the business and started to shift their focus towards designing and manufacturing horticultural accessories. "Ramy noticed a gap in the market for horticultural labels and sundries in the UK. He saw that growers needed special products that helped them grow their plants more efficiently. So listening to the growers needs he translated their requirements into plastic products that helped them.

"It is important that we offer something unique. A lot of growers, for example, tend to categorize their plants. Our heavy pot labels, for example, can support them with doing this as we offer them in 11 different colors instead of only white", says James. 

His idea seemed to work out very well, and over the years, Tyne Moulds has become one of the UK's largest distributors of labels and sundries in the UK. They supply to wholesalers in the UK, but also became an important supplier to wholesalers in many European countries, but also Australia and the USA.

According to Sword, the industry is definitely growing. "We see that our customers are increasingly ordering large quantities, different colors and lines. So, you can see that they are expanding." However, if an industry grows, it doesn't necessarily mean that the companies in that industry grow too. Sword mentions the importance of personal contact and service, which will eventually enable your business to grow. "Over the years, we've put a lot of effort into gaining trust in our company and the brand among customers. We only sell through wholesalers, but we attend many trade shows to show our products and meet the actual customers of our wholesalers. The horticultural industry, although it is growing, is still quite a small industry, and I always say, a reputation takes years to build but minutes to ruin. I think if you support your customers, even if they are the customers of your customers, it will help to grow your business."

Over the years, they, like every other business, have experienced both good and challenging times, with the UK leaving Europe being one of the major challenges at the moment. The fluctuating exchange rate is one of the obvious consequences they are experiencing from the Brexit. It is, however, not their biggest challenge at the moment. "The exchange rate may have created some uncertainty among our foreign customers, but as we built quite strong relations over the years, we are not afraid of losing them." The major challenge seems to be the carrier costs. "If we are transporting our products overseas, we need to make sure that we supply quality to our customers, but we also try to get the best price in terms of carriage.

 

One of Tyne Moulds' brand new products, that they will launch this year to celebrate their 50th birthday, is a living wall system. The system is currently being designed and produced, but Ramy Zack already gives a bit of information about this product. "In a nutshell, this vertical planter green wall system is a unique, new, inexpensive, and easy to install", says Zack. "The planter is 19" (460mm) long and made of recycled tough plastic. Plants can be placed in their pots (up to 5”/120mm) or planted directly into compost using the planting tray provided. Needing only one irrigation pipe along the top row with drip to feed each planter. This makes installation simple. Besides that, it can never be over-watered. The water flows into the reservoir of each planter. Once this is full, the water then overflows via a wear system to the reservoir in the planter below. The roots are kept constantly damp by the reservoir of water in the base by capillary action. And no matter how high the wall only one irrigation pipe is required. For ease of installation Planters can be clipped securely onto 2”(50mm) welded mesh or screwed onto vertical or horizontal wooden planks.