Peterborough’s Sacrewell Farm seeks green light for growth plan

The organic vegetable growers are seeking the green light for a two storey office extension to their existing warehouse.

The proposed 252sqm offices would include meeting rooms, hot desks, pods and break out spaces.

The expansion will help the farm, which has 100 staff, cope with a current surge in demand for its produce and as well as future growth.

Luke King, Riverford commercial and operations director, said: “We were experiencing strong growth early in 2020, pre-Covid.

“This was driven by a desire for more plant-based eating and a continuing desire from our customers to eat organically.

“The surge in demand we experienced in the face of the pandemic was driven by a rise in home delivery, and we saw our own sales increase as customers decided to shop more frequently with us.

He added: “In the face of this growth, we have already doubled the number of people employed at Sacrewell Farm in the last year, which has gone from 50 to 100 and all recruited from the local area.

“The planning application for an office building reflects this retrospective increase in new co-owners, as Riverford is owned by its staff, at the site, and is one of the options we are considering to update our facilities in line with our growth.”

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