Progress on Fengrain’s new Vendor Assurance Centre
The project has been supported by a £900k grant from EEDA (RDA) and Fengrain store owners and members have backed the development of the complex by funding the remainder.
Fengrain are to name their new £3.2m vendor assurance centre, The Jubilee Store to mark the Queens 60th birthday.
The project is based on improving efficiencies for growers delivering at harvest, and to help the store add value by processing and segregating grain for consumers.
“This is a massive project; we are not only building new facilities but also upgrading and integrating the existing ones. We are working with excellent contractors and whilst it will be touch and go we hope to have the entire new infrastructure up and running efficiently by harvest” said Paul Randle, Fengrain’s Development Director. “Our storage owners have really supported us and we believe they will be proud of what we will have achieved on their behalf”.
Fengrain have a reputation for focusing on providing its members a cost efficient, yet personal, service for central storage. An understanding of growers needs at harvest and a flexible approach have yielded Fengrain farmers an excellent return; for example, owners can market their own grain through a variety of marketing options – including Fengrain pools – which have outperformed most of the competition recently, and the storage owners only pay for what they store each harvest.
Fengrain are also working with partners to provide satellite storage ready for harvest 2012 and have recently announced a new venture with GWT Farms which is closer to their Northamptonshire growers and customers.
They will be offering a limited amount of storage space at the special rate of £80 per tonne for ownership in their Wimblington store, but with the added advantage of storing grain in satellite stores.