A JERSEY horticultural business has signed a five-year contract with a UK seed and young plant retailer.

J R Jersey Horticulture, a contract grower for young plants to export, has secured a deal with Suffolk-based company Mr Fothergill’s Seeds to be their plant supplier and packer.

The company also owns internet site Blooming Direct, which has been running for three months, selling flowers and plants online, which are grown at a nursery at Sion Hall Farm.

Owner Joel Richardson said: ‘Mr Fothergill’s were on the look-out for a new grower and picker.

I went to see them and they liked the idea.

‘I had met them earlier in the year and we were both wanting to go in the same direction.

Mr Fothergill’s are a household name in terms of gardening and seeds.

‘We will grow the product in Jersey and pick it fresh straight from the nursery.

‘As they grow we naturally will extend with them.

‘The aim over the next couple of years is to be Mr Fothergill’s exclusive supplier.