Provender Nurseries were delighted to host members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gardening and Horticulture (APPGHG).
The APPGHG is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers in the UK Parliament that promote and facilitate communications between the parliamentary and horticultural worlds, working to support the horticultural sector and its contributions to the UK and to advocate for policy change.
Following a tour of Provender Nurseries Control Point and parts of the nursery, the APPGHG members, Richard McKenna, Stuart Tickner, Liz Hughes and Jennifer Pheasey discussed various issues affecting commercial nurseries in the UK. Including the possibility of future funding for water storage to trade nurseries in the UK and to encourage more water reservoirs to be built, to bring to Parliament the discussion for businesses to apply for a return on capital expenditure for the building of control points and to bring the horticulture industry into the Government industry strategy.
As part of the discussion, an invitation was extended to Provender Nurseries to attend a DEFRA Ministers question time session in the near future.
Richard McKenna says ‘To have such an interested and engaged group of MPs and Peers visit Provender Nurseries with the opportunity to openly discuss the industry and challenges faced was an absolute pleasure. We look forward to the possibility of working closely with members of the APPGHG in the future.’
The visit was arranged by Jennifer Pheasey, Director of Public Affairs for the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Attending the visit from the APPGHG were Baroness Fookes, Valerie Vaz MP, Baroness Blower and Lord Taylor of Holbeach.
