UK - Tangmere Airfield Nurseries
Tangmere Airfield Nurseries is a highly sophisticated European glasshouse growing operation that covers in excess of 100 acres in the UK and Spain. Through a long term partnership with Priva that has lasted over two decades, Tangmere is now on the forefront of horticultural technology and business innovation and, for the first time in its history, has true operational synergy between its two European operations.
Based on the site of the infamous Battle of Britain and originally the home of RAF Tangmere, the eponymous nursery was established in 1989 when founder Dirk Houweling purchased the land which had fallen into severe disrepair. Today, the former airfield is home to one of Europe’s largest pepper nurseries. Having worked with Priva to create some of the most modern glasshouse facilities in Great Britain, Tangmere is now a highly profitable and sustainable horticultural environment, with biological practices that enable the growers to protect and enhance local ecosystems.
Natural growing environment
“With Priva, we have been able to create a natural growing environment, but with all the benefits of working in a horticultural environment,” explains Gerard Vonk, General Manager of Tangmere Airfield Nurseries. “The entire crop is grown under biological control – so bees carry out natural pollination, beneficial predators are used to control pests, and so on – but we have the pinpoint accuracy and control of working with state of the art Priva control systems.”
The UK nursery at Tangmere covers 21 hectares, divided into three separate growing areas, each of which are controlled by their own Priva Intégro process computer that links to Priva Fusion management information system. Irrigation of the pepper plants is controlled by five Priva NutriFlex systems, which control water flow and injection of fertilisers, as well as three Priva Vialux HD/UV systems specially designed ‘high density/ultra violet’ units that can treat large volumes of water, allowing drain and surface water to be re-used, saving fertiliser costs.
Priva as a long-term partner
“We realised long ago that by aligning ourselves with Priva products, we were investing in a long-term partner that would not only keep us on the cutting edge of horticultural technology, but would also drastically cut expenditure in the long run. We are in regular contact with Priva consultants who make sure we have the best possible solutions and keep all of our software up-to-date with the latest upgrades”, said Mr Vonk.
Tangmere’s sister facility in Extremadura, Spain, uses an identical set-up of Priva systems on the smaller 12 hectare facility. The Extremadura glasshouses allow Tangmere to supply peppers to the UK market 52 weeks a year, with the Spanish facility taking over the majority of production when the cold, English winter hampers the growing potential of the site in Cornwall.
Better insight
In order to co-ordinate production on such a grand scale between two facilities separated by considerable distance, and with different parameters for growth, Tangmere has recently installed Priva Fusion – an integrated solution that allows the company to harness the shared power of its two facilities.
In order for management to get a better insight and grip on its company processes, Tangmere decided to work with Priva Fusion. Priva Fusion collates climate and energy data from Priva Intégro and data from PrivAssist – Priva’s labour and production registration system – instantly across both sites, allowing Tangmere to instantly highlight areas of reduced efficiency and optimise output across both the UK and Spanish facilities. This gives Tangmere the possibility of obtaining only relevant information that can be easily analysed and acted upon, making sure that Tangmere can also make more accurate predictions.
Realising potential
“For the first time, we have a complete system join-up between UK and Spain,” said Gerard Vonk. “It has been an absolute revolution in productivity for us, and could be so for a lot of growers – every company in this business has so much information at their hands without realising the full potential of that information. Priva Fusion simply realises that potential.”
