William Sinclair Horticulture's new £25m growing media super-site has opened in Ellesmere Port, signalling a new high-tech era in one of Britain's most traditional industries.
Fully operational following a three-year design and development programme, the 50-acre site on the banks of the Mersey is now Sinclair's commercial, technical, operational and logistical centre of excellence, showcasing world-leading technologies which the company says look set to revolutionise the growing media sector.

In the 400,000sq ft production halls, over 7,200cu m of growing media can be processed per day via grading machines, roof screens and 45 computer-controlled hoppers, which can mix and switch between any of 4,000 different recipes instantaneously.

Using technology developed for the food industry, washers, tumblers, filters and industrial magnets clean the raw materials as they travel along 250m of conveyor belt.

The plant is producing peat, peat-reduced, peat-free and loam products under the J Arthur Bower's, Growing Success, New Horizon and Sinclair Professional brands. And with on-site storage facilities for 165,000 pallets and a new semi-automated warehouse, Sinclair aims to be able to fulfil all orders within seven days, even in peak season.

The company says the facility's major long-term impact on the industry will come from the production of its patented new peat substitute, SuperFyba 2.0. Sinclair has invested seven years and over £5m into the development of the product, which is made from composted wood. SuperFyba looks, feels and smells like peat and in trials has been found to outperform 100% peat recipes.

Eventually the Ellesmere Port SuperFyba facility will be capable of replacing Sinclair's entire annual peat harvest.

Announcing the Ellesmere Port factory opening, William Sinclair Horticulture ceo Peter Rush said: "This is a highly significant milestone, not only for Sinclair but also for the industry which can now meet consumer, grower and
regulatory growing media demands in the years and decades ahead.

"Our investment in this world-leading compost production facility has been considerable in financial terms without the ingenuity and commitment of a large Sinclair team, of whom I am immensely proud."