TWO major daffodil companies from the Fens have come together. The Bulb Company from Long Sutton is to become part of the Maurice Crouch Group, which also owns the Three Holes-based Merrymac Salads. The Crouch group has 900 acres of daffodils in productio

TWO major daffodil companies from the Fens have come together.

The Bulb Company from Long Sutton is to become part of the Maurice Crouch Group, which also owns the Three Holes-based Merrymac Salads.

The Crouch group has 900 acres of daffodils in production while Merrymac covers more than 3,000 acres of salad and brassica crops.

"With Merrymac Salads,

we already have the infrastructure in place to pack and distribute daffodil flowers and bulbs," said Michael Fairey, managing director of the Maurice Crouch Group.

"It makes total sense for us and The Bulb Company to bring production and trading together. It's a consolidation process which will benefit everyone in the supply chain from grower to customer."

Verden Walker, who has been instrumental in the development of the Maurice Crouch business over the last 30 years and is now chairman of the group, believes this coming together of grower and trader is good news for the UK daffodil industry.

Paul Ashton of The Bulb Company shares his views and felt that "by joining forces, we are able to secure and develop the marketing potential for our loyal growers and improve our customer service".

Mr Ashton has 40 years' experience in the daffodil market and since he launched The Bulb Company 10 years ago in Long Sutton it has become a major player in the industry.

Annual trading volumes within the UK and western Europe now stand at 100 million daffodil flowers and more than 1,000 tonnes of bulbs. Maurice Crouch Growers is already one of the UK's leading flower and bulb producers.