Plant growers CAN open for business
SCOTTISH plant and flower growers have been told they can continue to operate during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many have already racked up huge losses.
Scottish Tory rural affairs spokesman Rachael Hamilton had raised the issue with ministers after police officers visited a Perthshire horticulture business and ordered it to shut down.
In a written response to the Tory MSP, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing confirmed growers can continue to operate.
However, one business has estimated it has lost more than £1million after shutting down while awaiting updated guidelines.
Mr Ewing’s letter states that operations can continue provided businesses protect the safety and welfare of staff, keep up to date with the latest guidance on Covid-19 and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
The letter adds: ‘It is vitally important, however, that we also follow the most up-to-date advice from the Chief Medical Officer. I have written to the CMO seeking clarification... I have yet to receive a reply but in the interim my officials have formulated the advice, which I believe will allow operations to continue.’
But it came too late for some businesses which have already wound down plant picking operations.
Mark Clark, managing director of Angus-based co-operative Grampian Growers, said: ‘We decided last Friday night we were going to stop.
‘We weren’t prepared to put our reputation at risk and in particular we weren’t prepared to put our staff at risk.
‘We have been in discussion with the Scottish Government since Sunday, trying to get some sort of clarity and consistency.
‘On Thursday afternoon the new set of guidelines came out and we were quite happy that we could go back out and adhere to every one of these points in order to be legal and effective in what were doing.
‘Unfortunately in those six days, between the Friday and Thursday, we lost 90 per cent of our pickers and we lost about 75 per cent of our crop.
‘We could have gone back yesterday and complied with everything but rather than having 200 pickers we had 12.’
He said that directors of the co-operative had decided ‘whether we had 12 or 200 pickers, on principle we were going to stop’ operations.
Mr Clark added: ‘The impact it has had on Grampian Growers is that we have lost around £1.2million worth of flowers. ’
Recently, Pentland Nurseries in Midlothian chose to close its garden centre to the public after it became apparent that it was not allowed to open. The business has now switched to doing home deliveries.
Mrs Hamilton said: ‘Horticultural businesses are often associated with farming businesses and without them, we will undermine our ability to provide food for Scottish people in the coming months.
‘Hopefully this letter will give businesses and the police clear guidance so that horticulture businesses can stay open while operating safely.’
Growers and producers supply plants and bulbs to shops, supermarkets and garden centres across the country. Some growers allow members of the public to buy direct from them.
‘They must put safety first’