Nearly £3-million has been invested into making northern Lincolnshire a central hub for the needs of some of the UK’s biggest potato sellers.
Elsham Wold has just become the new headquarters for Arundel Kerr Produce Ltd (AKP Group), supplier to supermarket giant Morrisons and major chip manufacturer McCain.
A state-of-the-art office block, temperature controlled potato storage facility and grading line, together with extensions to existing handling areas have just been completed, with the 13-year-old firm headed by Richard Arundel moving the whole administration back into the area from York. The son of Grimsby town centre and Freeman Street markets grocer David Arundel, who also used to act as a potato merchant to the area’s fish and chip shops, joined forces with Suffolk businessman Bruce Kerr in 1999.
The former KP potato storage facility which has now been substantially developed, was acquired in 2007, when a project began to grow skin finished potatoes on the Isle of Axholme.
“We wanted to show we could produce the required quality locally that supermarkets were buying in from Herefordshire, Scotland or even importing,” he said. “Morrisons backed us with it and we went to Yorkshire Forward (the scrapped regional development agency) putting together a plan. We then tied the supply chain up and got the funding.”
AKP Group Group Potato Grading Operations (Elsham)
“We have taken two years to get to this,” said Mr Arundel. “We got the grant funding for storage and grading operations in 2009, and built the storage throughout 2010, to be open for that harvest. We have had potatoes in from 2010 and 2011, and the whole project has been finished with the offices just now.
“Our desire is to have more quality potato producers local to this site. It would cut down on transport costs. There is still a lot of potential, it will help the environmental footprint and this part of the world has the ability to grow some of the best potatoes in the country, that is what we are majoring on.” A total of 44 people are now employed, handling 120,000 tonnes of potatoes a year. Of that, 35,000 tonnes are self-grown, with a growing group in this region and around another site in Suffolk, contributing the balance.
Recently 15 employees were added, with three graduate trainees also part of the company, specialising in growing, logistics and technical elements, including agronomy. The remaining investment has seen a fleet of six Mercedes rigs brought in to deliver the potatoes to customers, with the primary route Morrisons’ packing operations near Harrogate.
Keen to cultivate a prosperous future for Lincolnshire potato farmers, the 32,000sq ft storage facility and 4,000 sq ft two storey office development – which drew inspiration from Genesis Office Park on Grimsby’s flagship Europarc development, will be officially opened this week by Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board chairman John Godfrey CBE, himself a North Lincolnshire farmer. Mr Arundel added: “We’re looking forward to opening the new cold store and grading facility – the uncharacteristic weather conditions have brought us a challenging year, but the opening event is just rewards for everyone’s hard work.
“The new facility will not only enable us to meet the demand of our biggest customers, but we’ve also successfully improved the quality and freshness of our potatoes by reducing transportation, handling and using the latest cold store technologies.”
