Green shoots of growth for landscaping firm
The UK’s largest landscaping and gardening wholesale supplier is significantly scaling-up its business following £2.3m funding from HSBC UK.
Green-tech has expanded its storage capacity for stock after completing the final stage of its site development, adding two 10,000 sq ft storage units to its warehouse facility in Arkendale, North Yorkshire.
The programme includes the creation of a 15,000 sq ft soil production unit, as well as an additional 15,000 sq ft of external storage space.
This takes Green-tech’s total unit space at its site at Rabbit Hill Business Park to over 175,000 sq ft of office space, warehousing and retail units.
Green-tech also expects to add four new members of staff every 12 months over the next three years, to manage areas of the warehouse and to grow its sales and digital marketing teams.
The additional storage will allow Green-tech to deliver on its strategic five-year plan to significantly scale-up the business and increase customer numbers.
The new warehouses contain a number of technical upgrades designed to increase production capacity and improve operational efficiency. These include a purpose-built soil blending and storage facility and the purchase of a £70,000 forklift to improve warehouse operations.
Richard Kay, chairman, Green-tech, said: “This investment is about future proofing the business and meeting the ambitious growth plans we have laid out for the next five years.
“Crucial to this is making sure we have the capacity to grow. We believe we now have the infrastructure in place to hit our targets with our new storage and despatch capabilities.
“HSBC UK has bought into our vision and shares our enthusiasm for driving Green-tech forwards.”
Jonathan Rutter, relationship director, North & West Yorkshire, HSBC UK, said: “The team at Green-tech have grown the business significantly in the past few years and HSBC UK is delighted to support its future growth.
“They have shown incredible ambition and a real determination to take Green-tech to the next level, and we look forward to seeing how they benefit from our support going forward.”
Green-tech, which employs 84 people, bought the farmland at Rabbit Hill five years ago and converted it into a country store and offices, backed by HSBC UK.
It first moved to the site four years ago, with new businesses including Livius, Yorkshire Oil, CCP also joining as tenants. Since moving to Rabbit Hill, Green-tech has increased turnover from £10.6m to £16.5m in 2019, while growing its staff number by 60% in the same period.
The finance was allocated from HSBC UK’s national SME Fund, which aims to actively help UK businesses realise their ambitions for growth and navigate Brexit.
The new £14bn SME Fund has recently been announced by HSBC UK, with more than £1bn committed to supporting SMEs in Yorkshire.
