Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire blossoms with the opening of a plant nursery

Croots Farm Shop near Duffield, Derbyshire, has branched out to open a new plant nursery as the business continues to expand.

A range of bedding plants, herbs and perennials as well as compost, are now on display in a newly converted area at the farm shop, which is based at Farnah House Farm in Wirksworth Road.

The plant nursery has been designed to allow customers to browse before choosing their plants.

“We’re delighted that we’ve been able to convert the area where we previously grew plants into somewhere that customers can now look around. It has been levelled, fenced off and a ramp has been installed to make it easily accessible,” said shop owner Steve Croot.

“We’ve been growing plants here for many years, but now there is the space for customers to browse before buying, which we are sure will go down well.”

Steve started growing herbs at the farm 12 years ago as part of his business selling flavoured cooking oils and fresh herbs. This developed into the farm shop business, Croots Farm Shop, which he opened in 2008.

As well as selling fruit, vegetables and artisan products, the shop has an award-winning butchery, a cheese and deli counter and a café.

The latest expansion follows the opening of a children’s play area at Croots, which has proved popular since it was launched last year.
For more information visit www.croots.co.uk

Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen is open Sundays from 10am to 4pm (café until 3.45pm), and from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (café until 4.30pm). It is closed on Mondays.

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Innovation support available to East Midlands food and drink firms from the Food and Drink iNet

East Midlands food and drink firms are being urged to come forward if they need support for innovation projects.

The Food and Drink iNet, which operates across the region, has an £85,500 pot of finance available this summer to provide match-funded support for eligible projects, which could be focusing on new products, accessing new markets or looking at new ways of working.

The Food and Drink iNet provides advice, guidance and financial support for innovation projects to eligible small and medium-sized food and drink businesses through its advisors across Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

Now the organisation, which is funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is looking to work with additional food and drink firms which have innovative ideas in the pipeline.

Food and Drink iNet Director Richard Worrall said: “We are looking forward to supporting food and drink firms across the region with their innovative projects that will help to increase productivity, achieve growth, and improve competitiveness and sustainability.

“The Food and Drink iNet has a successful history of supporting innovation schemes within firms, and our advisors are on hand to ensure that, with Food and Drink iNet support, the food and drink sector in the region continues to grow and thrive.”

The iNet helps East Midlands food and drink firms engage expertise from academia, research institutions and specialist business advice for innovation projects to develop new ideas, new products, new processes and to help companies grow. 50% of the equivalent cash value of the support must be contributed by the company.

A new phase of support has just got underway across the region, and now the iNet is looking for additional firms to work with.

The Food and Drink iNet is one of four regional iNets developed to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes. It is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. For more information visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/food

For further information, please contact the Food and Drink iNet on info@foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Wildlife charity celebrates after teaming up with ethical website developer Make Hay

Visitor numbers to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s website have nearly tripled since a new online presence was unveiled.

The number of people signing up online for membership has also increased as a result of the new-look website, the charity reports.

Nottingham-based ethical website developer Make Hay, who created the website in conjunction with the environmental charity, said it was delighted by the news, which comes as the website celebrates its second anniversary.

“The web is an incredible medium, which can be used to spread a message far and wide, and it’s crucial that an organisation has a website that reflects its values and its aims, and one which is also easy and convenient to manage and keep up to date,” said Make Hay director Victoria Stevens.

“We’re extremely pleased to hear that Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has been using the online tools created by Make Hay to market and promote the charity so successfully, and that this has been reflected in increased online membership applications and thousands of extra visitors to their website.”

Make Hay, which specialises in green and ethical website design, as well as web hosting which is wind powered, had previously created a website for Attenborough Nature Reserve, which is run by the Wildlife Trust.

The charity, which is the county's leading conservation charity and is part of a national network of 47 local trusts working to protect wildlife, said its new website changed the way the organisation looked at its internet presence.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust communications and marketing manager Erin McDaid said: “We've seen a tripling of visits to our site, and a rise in the number of online memberships. The new platform makes it far easier for us to promote our work and events.

“We find working with Make Hay a real pleasure. Understanding the technological aspects of creating an attractive and functional website can be quite daunting, but their friendly, straightforward approach makes it a lot easier. Working with Make Hay means that we can concentrate on deciding what we want our website to achieve without having to worry about how to make it work.”

Make Hay, run by Victoria Stevens and Jez Swinscoe, was founded in 2004. Its green web hosting arm was launched in 2006.

Clients include the Uganda Carbon Bureau, Climate East Midlands, Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve and London Insight Meditation.

Visit www.makehay.co.uk for information.

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Luke Evans Bakery sells 1,200 doughnuts for National Doughnut Week

Luke Evans Bakery customers have raised £100 for a children's charity – by tucking into an incredible 1,200 doughnuts.

The Derbyshire craft baker normally sells about 50 doughnuts a week from its shop in Green Hill Lane, Riddings, near Alfreton.

But trade customers throughout Derbyshire and West Notts joined the push during National Doughnut Week (May 7th to May 14th) and sales shot up to 1,222.

A donation was made for every doughnut sold and the money will go to the Children's Trust, a national charity which particularly helps children who are born with brain injuries or suffer brain damage as a result of accidents or illness.

Proprietor David Yates said: "It was a great opportunity for us to support such a worthwhile cause and we would like to thank everyone who bought doughnuts throughout the special week.

"We normally only sell them through our on-site shop, but our trade customers joined in the effort and sales rocketed.

"And now the week is over they keep coming back – so it looks like people have developed a taste for our doughnuts."

Over the past 19 years the week has raised more than £700,000 nationwide and this year organisers hope the final total will exceed £50,000.

Luke Evans Bakery is a family business established in 1804 and can call on eight generations of baking experience. It supplies around 200 trade customers in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, including shops, schools, delis and Pride Park – the home of Derby County Football Club. It also sells direct to the public from its shop in Green Hill Lane, Riddings.

For more information contact the bakery on 01773 602764 or visit www.lukeevans.co.uk.

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Sherwood Truck and Van supplies trucks to tool giant Snap-on

Sherwood Truck and Van, the East Midlands-based commercial vehicle group, has won a contract to supply ten trucks to worldwide tool giant Snap-on.

Referring to their vans as mobile tool stores, Snap-on franchisees market and sell a range of 19,000 interchangeable sockets, spanners and other components to engineering professionals.

As well as being a tool store, each van has a personal computer system so franchisees can run their business from the vehicle, which means vehicles must be able to cope with a heavy payload.

Now the group has ordered ten new EcoDaily 70C17 trucks from Sherwood Truck and Van, based in South Normanton, Derbyshire, and with sites in Nottingham, Stoke and Sheffield.

“Our franchisees spend almost all their working days in their vehicles,” said Robert Stevens, Snap-on’s UK franchise manager.

“They appreciate something that drives like a car, is easy to handle, sits comfortably on the road and looks after them in comfort and safety. Unlike truck-style products, the Daily does all this - and gives us a seven-tonne gross weight that more than accommodates a Snap-on tool store body.

“Our business is nationwide so we needed a dealer who could work with us and our existing suppliers.

“Sherwood pitched to us on the practicality of the EcoDaily, but then supported this with the strongest promise of customer service and ongoing support. And with all ten vehicles now in service, we’re more than happy with the reality of that promise.”

Snap-on’s history dates from the 1920s in the USA and began trading in the UK in 1965. It now has a network of 430 franchisees in this country – part of a total of 4,700 operating in more than 150 countries.

Sherwood Truck and Van regional director Helen Waterfall said: “Snap-on franchisees ask a lot of their vehicles but we were more than happy to supply the EcoDaily with our promise of customer care and after-sales service.

“Snap-on has built partnerships with suppliers all over the world and Sherwood Truck and Van is pleased to have become a part of that.”

Sherwood is a leading supplier of new and used commercial vehicles, established in 1978. The company also maintains, services and repairs commercial vehicles across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire and most of Cheshire. It is part of the Guest Motors Group of Companies.

www.sherwoodtruckandvan.com

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Croots Farm Shop sausages and pies win Robin Hood’s seal of approval

Sausages and pies from Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire were on target at the 17th Robin Hood Championship – taking three golds and a silver award during the event run by the Nottinghamshire Council of Retail Meat Traders.

The awards are the latest won by the butchery department at the farm shop in Wirksworth Road, Duffield.

Croots’ Tomato and Basil sausages, the shop’s new Derbyshire Sausages – made from mutton, lemon and herbs – and its Huntsman Pie were top class, according to judges while the Traditional Pork Pie came away with a silver award from the event at the Newark and Nottinghamshire County Show.

Shop owner Steve Croot said: “This is fantastic news for our team. It’s great to get confirmation from industry experts that our products are among the best.

“It confirms what our customers already know, that great ingredients and know-how combine to make all these products stand out, and follows the huge success we had earlier this year at a BPEX regional roadshow when Croots scooped a 16-strong haul of awards for our sausages and pies.”

The Nottinghamshire Council of Retail Meat Traders has been holding the Robin Hood Championship for independent butchers since 1985. It now attracts entries from around the country.

Croots Farm Shop has become renowned for its sausages and other meat products.

In 2009 the shop received a one star gold award in the Great Taste Awards run by the Guild of Fine Food for its black pudding sausage. In November last year the shop won a silver award for its breakfast sausage in a competition held to mark British Sausage Week.

In February, Croots picked up 16 awards at a roadshow run by BPEX, a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board which works to promote English pork. Its regional roadshow in February attracted entries from all over the East Midlands.

For more information about Croots visit www.croots.co.uk

Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen is open Sundays from 10am to 4pm (café until 3.45pm), and from Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (café until 4.30pm). It is closed on Mondays.

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

East Midlands business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum announces its AGM

More than 100 individuals and companies involved in the East Midlands food and drink sector are expected to attend the annual general meeting of The Food and Drink Forum.

The Forum is one of the largest business support organisations in the region dedicated to the food and drink sector, with members across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

The annual general meeting and members’ networking supper is the flagship event of the organisation’s calendar and attracts many of the region’s key industry players. It takes place on June 16th at Kelham Hall near Newark, starting from 4pm.

Forum managing director Fiona Anderson said: “The AGM is always a very popular and well-attended event. It gives members the chance to chat about issues in the industry and to make valuable contacts.”

Each year the AGM is followed by the Members’ Supper which this year is being sponsored by recruitment consultants Ambitions Personnel.

Established in 1990, with 17 locations in the East Midlands, and currently supplying over 1500 temporary workers to the food industry on a daily basis, Ambitions Personnel believes that an organisation’s best ingredients should be its people.

Speakers at the event include Sam Sangha, managing director of Nottingham-based importer and wholesaler of oriental foods Asiana Ltd, and his daughter Sandy Lathia, who is the firm’s business development director. They will be speaking about bringing a product to market.

Head of marketing at Pork Farms Ltd, Andy Napthine, will be talking about Pork Farms’ brand relaunch, which comes as the brand marks its 80th anniversary. The firm supplies chilled savoury pastry products for retail.

The Food and Drink Forum is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, and is a membership organisation that supports the sustainable growth of the food and drink sector across the East Midlands.

Its AGM is open to members only, with the networking supper open to members and invited guests. Anyone interested in finding out more about the benefits of joining The Food and Drink Forum should call 0115 9758810 or visit www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk