Preparing for Brexit

On Wednesday 2 December and Friday 4 December 2020, the World Horti Center, AIPH and FloraCulture International magazine hosted two webinars to discuss the impending changes presented by Brexit. The expert speakers presented the possible scenarios resulting from Brexit for the international trade of ornamental plants, looking at the challenges and opportunities for enterprises.

The first webinar, held in association with HTA, is titled ‘Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing plants, trees, and bulbs‘.

The second webinar is titled ‘Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing cut flowers‘.

Ms Sally Cullimore, Policy Manager, HTA

Sally Cullimore has been in the ornamental horticulture industry for many years, mainly operating in the field of young plant production and promotion. She trained at Pershore Horticultural College and started out producing plants of new varieties for displaying at trade shows and events, working through trials, new products, and key account management to join the HTA three years ago as Policy Manager. Sally’s work involves raising the profile of the horticultural industry to Government and parliamentarians, and EU Exit policy and preparation is currently the focus of most of her engagement.

Ms Eline van den Berg, Supply Chain Public Affairs, Royal FloraHolland

Eline van den Berg is program manager Holland Flower Alliance; this is a strategic alliance between Schiphol Cargo, KLM Cargo and Royal FloraHolland. United by a common mission: ‘Prolonging the lasting beauty of flowers’, the Holland Flower Alliance dedicates itself to innovation and sustainability in the floral supply chain. Passionate about flowers, our professionals have over 100 years of leadership experience in floricultural logistics. Seconded from Royal FloraHolland, Eline van den Berg is responsible in this position for the realization of the strategic objectives of the strategic alliance between KLM Cargo, Schiphol Cargo and Royal FloraHolland.

Mr Stefan Koopman, Market Economist UK Rabobank

Stefan Koopman is responsible for analysing developments in the interest and currency markets and communicating the Rabobank expectations to the Dutch target groups. His particular focus is on Brexit and the Bank of England, but he writes articles and provides commentary and presentations on everything that moves the financial markets.

Stefan studied business economics and majoring in financing at the University of Amsterdam.

Mr Bruce Harnett, MD, Kernock Park Plants

Bruce Harnett is Managing Director of Kernock Park Plants, Cornwall – a grower and distributor of young ornamental plants. Kernock offers a wide range comprising over 1,200 different varieties of seasonal and perennial plants. Kernock is the UK headquarters of Proven Winners and at the beginning of 2020 won a silver award in the young plants’ category at the AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards.

Mr Henk Westerhof, President of Royal Anthos

Henk Westerhof is president of Royal Anthos since 1985 and chairman of iBulb since 2011.

Promoting interests at home and abroad, solving problems, answering queries, arranging debt collections, providing terms and conditions of sale and offering a wide range of services. That is the core business of Anthos, the Royal Trade Association for Nursery Stock and Flower Bulbs.

Mr Ian Michell, Group Technical & Procurement Director, Flamingo Group

Ian Michell is the Group Technical and Procurement Director for Flamingo Group International Ltd.

“We have a current turnover of £550m in cut flowers, produce and plants.

“I have been with Flamingo Group for 23 years and started my career with Flamingo’s growing arm “Homegrown” in Kenya growing produce and cut flowers for export to the UK markets. Whilst in Kenya, I was instrumental in starting our integrated pest management company Dudutech which now produces up to 100million insects per week and is proving to be successful in our environmentally intelligent farming approach.

“From 2002 – 2010 as Technical Director for Flamingo Produce Ltd, I launched our “Preferred Partners” program for our key suppliers globally to support our own vertically integrated supply with key Produce suppliers. I was Managing Director of the Flamingo Produce Ltd for eight years 2011 – 2019 with a turnover of £150m and supplying significant retailers in the UK.”

Mr Augusto Solano, President of Asocolflores

Augusto Solano has been the Executive President of the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters (Asocolflores) in Bogotá, Colombia, since 2000. In this role, he is responsible for leading the process of making Colombia’s flower industry more competitive, with a focus on sustainable development and social responsibility. Asocolflores was established in 1973 to promote the flower sector internationally and seek the comprehensive development of Colombian floriculture. Augusto Solano has supported many initiatives to increase flower consumption worldwide.

Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing plants, trees, and bulbs

2nd December 2020

15:00 Chair welcome

15:10 Brexit challenges for plant/tree/bulb importers/exporters and how the UK production/retail industry is preparing for Brexit – Sally Cullimore, Policy Manager, HTA

15:25 Impact of Brexit on the market position of the Netherlands in the UK – Eline van den Berg, Supply Chain Public Affairs, Royal FloraHolland, the Netherlands

15:35 The economics of trading with the UK post-Brexit – Stefan Koopman, Market Economist UK Rabobank, the Netherlands

15:45 What Brexit means for UK growers – Bruce Harnett, MD, Kernock Park Plants, UK

15:55 How EU growers are reacting to Brexit – Henk Westerhof, President of Royal Anthos (Royal Trade Association for Nursery Stock and Flower Bulbs), the Netherlands

16:15 Facilitated panel discussion with speakers

17:00 End

Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing cut flowers

4th December 2020

15:00 Chair welcome

15:00 How Brexit could change the supply of flowers to UK – Ian Michell, Group Technical & Procurement Director, Flamingo Group, UK

15:15 Impact of Brexit on the market position of the Netherlands in the UK – Eline van den Berg, Supply Chain Public Affairs, Royal FloraHolland, the Netherlands

15:25 The economics of trading with the UK post-Brexit – Stefan Koopman, Market Economist UK Rabobank, the Netherlands

15:35 Brexit implications for third countries – Augusto Solano, President of Asocolflores, Colombia

16:15 Brexit challenges for importers/exporters and how the UK production/retail industry is preparing for Brexit – Nigel Jenney, CEO Fresh Produce Consortium, UK

16:25 Facilitated panel discussion with speakers

17:00 End

Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing plants, trees, and bulbs

Preparing for Brexit – exporting and importing cut flowers