UK: CambridgeHOK secures sales to surpass record turnover just two months into its 70th year

The owners of specialist high-tech horticulture and climate control business CambridgeHOK say they have secured sales which make 2026 – its 70th in business – a 'record-breaking year' already.

It comes as joint managing directors Louis Bradley and Patrick Harte are celebrating five years at the helm themselves, having turned from management team members to part owners in March 2021 when they bought the business alongside Atrium Agri, a global consortium of companies who lead their specialist field of experience.

Having taken on a business which they say had 'always punched above its weight' in the horticultural sector, they have since helped drive it on to significant growth, focusing on and winning bigger and more challenging projects which have established its position as the UK leader.

© Cambridge Glasshouse Co Ltd t/a CambridgeHOKA glasshouse built for Dyson Farming by CambridgeHOK

Contracts already announced this year include being selected for a multi-million-pound project to relocate Ball Colegrave, a leading wholesale distributor of seed and young plants, to a new purpose-built production and distribution facility in Stratford-Upon Avon.

It has also confirmed a collaborative project with the University of Lincoln, APS Group, the UK's largest tomato grower, and Phytoform Labs, having together secured almost £3m in Government funding to develop miniature tomato varieties which could dramatically improve the long-term prospects of the UK's tomato-growing industry.

Now, they say another record-breaking commercial glasshouse build contract has been agreed and will be announced in the coming weeks, ensuring its best ever year in business.

"At the cutting edge of horticulture"
"We are only two months into our 70th year, and it is already a record-breaking year for the business in terms of turnover and in terms of the size of projects we are undertaking and we're really excited by it and what it sets us up to do in the future," said Mr Harte.

© Cambridge Glasshouse Co Ltd t/a CambridgeHOKLouis Bradley and Patrick Harte

"In the UK, we like to think we are seen as the market leader, taking on really challenging projects and working with our customers to develop new ways of growing plants and being really at the cutting edge of horticulture, and the work we are doing this year will only enhance our reputation and standing."

© Cambridge Glasshouse Co Ltd t/a CambridgeHOKA vertical farm built by CambridgeHOK

Mr Bradley says they have built on solid foundations from the company's first 65 years, and the success enjoyed by previous owners, and feels the business has a long and prosperous future ahead.

"I think one of the strengths the company has always had is that we've not pursued an individual technology or approach for servicing our customers. We listen to our customers' needs and we adapt our solutions to be suitable for that customer and that opportunity, and I think that has been our greatest strength over the years," he said.

"We have followed innovation, we've adapted our solutions and we've moved into different sectors as they have unfolded.

"An example of this is how we added our specialist refrigeration business in recent years, enabling us to widen our net, and increasingly work in the chilled food industry; this is something we are keen to expand over the next few years.

"Horticulture is a hive of innovation and change and that has had to filter into our business. The way of doing it five years ago is not the way we do it today, and in a sense that approach has led to the longevity of the company. We are just the current custodians. We need to follow that pathway, keep adapting and innovating the business and following the latest advances."

© Cambridge Glasshouse Co Ltd t/a CambridgeHOKBell Plantation Garden Centre, built by CambridgeHOK

"What our customers depend upon us for is not to blindly follow innovation but to challenge it, to understand if it's a fit for their needs, and only introduce those things that are the right fit for them.

"The next five years will be more of the same in terms of that approach and continuing to grow the size, scale and capabilities of the group to service our customers' needs."