Edinburgh vertical farmer gets green light for English site

Shockingly Fresh, the hydroponic farming specialist, is planning to fast-track the rollout of up to 40 “vertical farms” after receiving planning permission for a site in England.

Saturn Bioponics CEO Alex Fisher with a vertically farmed basil crop. Picture: Adam Gasson

The Edinburgh-headquartered business has won approval to build a naturally-lit vertical farm on a 1.2 hectare estate in Worcestershire.

It will use the company’s hydroponic towers to grow multiple crop cycles of green vegetables such as salads and herbs, with capacity for up to five times as many greens as traditional farming methods.

The start-up will develop the site in partnership with indoor farming specialist Saturn Bioponics and nationwide salad grower Valefresco.

Lettuce will be among the crops grown in indoor 'towers'. Picture: Contributed

This comes as the Scottish firm announced it was accelerating plans to develop more than 40 projects throughout the UK over the next five years.

The Worcestershire farm is due for completion this summer and will start producing crops shortly afterwards.

Chief operating officer Garth Bryans said the site is “ideal” for vertical farming, adding: “The climate is good, there is a well-established horticulture sector and it is close to major markets and road networks.

“We have identified a significant market – particularly around the early and late season ‘shoulder months’ – which is currently filled by imported crops from Europe. We believe a raft of sites across the country will enable British growers to compete on a level field.”

Shockingly Fresh claimed the increased output from its projects will “easily offset” set-up costs, while the enclosed environment will mean fewer pesticides and cleaner crops.