R&L Holt is a family business based in Offenham on the outskirts of the historic Vale of Evesham. Originally started in 1979, they focus on growing tomatoes in glasshouses. They are the largest tomato growers in the Midlands and are proud to supply a number of supermarkets, wholesalers, local farm shops and cafes.
The total glasshouse acreage of the three sites is 22 acres and now comprises a state of the art modern block suitable for all year round production. All crops are grown hydroponically using Nutrient Film Technique.
R&L Holt are proud to have used their experience from the last 40 years to keep innovating and improving their operations.
Many of their day to day activities could be rewarded with an R&D tax credit. For example the process of tracking pests and testing different pest control processes, investigating new ways to use waste materials or reduce energy costs, trying different glass and greenhouse lighting conditions and monitoring airflow impacts.
This year Evesham Vale Growers set up a new site at Throckmorton, called ‘La Serra”, using R&L Holt’s expertise of growing under lights. This 8ha site is designed for all year round production with LED lighting and gas CHP. Situated next to a solar farm and an anaerobic digester this flag ship site has a great sustainable energy model suitable for growing in the 21st Century.
R&L Holt have been claiming under the R&D tax credit scheme for many years, but now, working with specialists Source Advisors, they recognise even more of their activity as innovation. Many projects qualify when a good grower simply wants to understand how their crops are growing, or improve their crop yield, or find ways to save money on site.
The breakthrough for R&L Holt was realising the time spent on monitoring specific trial conditions and collecting data, that is time spent on R&D. Similarly they had many members of staff who were indirectly enabling R&D and they could claim for a percentage of their costs too.
“We would recommend that any horticultural business explore the potential of the scheme.
Source Advisors is easy to talk to and you’ll be surprised by how easy, and valuable the exercise will be for your business.”
Roly Holt | Managing Director,
R&L Holt
