Crop Solutions Limited
Crop Solutions Ltd is a dynamic and energetic
company with a vision for sustainable growth. Established in
2007 this small but determined local company has already
demonstrated the drive and energy required to grow and establish a
successful business even during a difficult recession.
Crop Solutions Ltd import and market a wide range of crop
covers including non- woven spun bonded fleece. This lightweight
crop cover helps protect delicate crops from frost damage. It
can also be used to warm early crops in the spring including early
potatoes and early strawberry crops. Covering crops with
fleece allows growers to extend their growing season and this can
reduce food miles by enabling more food to be produced
locally. Crop Solutions Managing Director Ian Campbell
commented "If UK growers can extend their local harvesting season
by using crop covers on their fruit and vegetables it can reduce
the amount of food we need to import."
Crop Solutions are also one of the UK’s
leading suppliers of insect netting. Their high quality
insect nets are supplied in a range of different sizes and grades
depending on which crops they are used on. Nets are secured
over the vegetable crops so that insects are unable to attack
them. The nets act like a physical barrier keeping the
insects out but allowing through the three essential ingredients
for healthy plant production - sunlight, rain and air. This
environmentally friendly technique has allowed farmers and growers
all over the UK to reduce their dependence on insecticides and
chemicals. It has also helped improve the quality of
organically grown vegetables by reducing damage caused by
pests.
Crop Solutions Insect Nets are used
on a wide variety of crops including swedes, broccoli,
cauliflowers, salads and organics.
Crop Solutions believe in re-using rather than
recycling. Their nets are designed to last up to 10 years and
can be re-used many times on different crops. Ian Campbell
who established
Crop Solutions Ltd has nearly 20
years of experience as a farmer and vegetable grower so is well
aware of the many problems facing today’s leading UK
growers. Consequently they have also developed a new Crop
Cover Rolling Machine to make handling crop covers easier.
This provides customers with a mechanical system to roll up and
unroll their crop covers the following season. These machines
are now being exported to countries all over Europe to roll up and
unroll fleece, polythene, insect net and even poly tunnels.
When the company was set up four years ago they had one member of
staff but now employ five people with plans to recruit more next
year. As the company has expanded it has to make significant
changes to how it manages both its customer base and supply chain
through improved IT systems.
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"As with any growing business capital
investment always plays a very important role" said Campbell
"especially in this climate where many banks are unwilling to lend
and this has been a major challenge for us." He added "Two of the
best financial decisions that the company had made in the past 12
months were moving their business banking to the Clydesdale Bank
and to speak to Perth & Kinross Council (PKC) and Scottish
Enterprise (SE) to see if any financial assistance was
available." |
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He continued "We have been really impressed by the support and
business advice that is freely available to any small business that
can provide a creditable track record along with realistic plans
for future growth. Initially we spoke to the team at Small
Business Gateway and they introduced us to both Scottish Enterprise
and PKC. Before we made contact we were very sceptical about
the level of support we might receive and how long it would take
etc but our experience was the very opposite. The advisors we
met at both SE and PKC gave us some excellent advice as to how we
could go about achieving our goals set out in our business
plan. They also suggested that there could be some financial
assistance available if we applied for it. Again like many
small businesses we thought that this would take up too much time
but with their help and advice we had an application in place and
approved within four weeks of our initial meeting."
Crop Solutions admit that although the application
process did involve a considerable amount of work they were very
impressed by how quickly both SE and PKC dealt with it and got it
approved. The outcome was they managed to obtain financial
support to partially fund a new IT system which will allow them to
better manage the company’s stock control, order processing
and accounts systems. Crop Solutions were also made aware of
other marketing assistance that may be available including website
development, promotional literature, trade shows and support with
export sales.
Ian Campbell said "I would strongly recommend any small business
trying to expand in the current economic climate to speak to the
PKC Business Growth Team. If you have a well-documented
business plan with potential for growth they may just be able to
help you achieve your goals."
Ian Campbell
Managing Director
Crop Solutions Ltd, Perth
