DLF announces new ‘Showcase’ facility
Work is underway on a brand new ‘Showcase’ facility at DLF’s UK headquarters in Inkberrow, Worcestershire. Scheduled to be fully operational by Spring 2025, the Showcase sees six hectares dedicated to amenity seed trials, product development, training and education for staff, distributors and customers - making it one of the largest of its kind in the UK.
Alongside plots sown with current cultivars and mixtures, the Showcase will have an area dedicated to new and upcoming developments giving visitors the chance to exclusively see and compare future trial and demo formulations. It will also be the base for a sizeable programme of UK testing which feeds into the global picture of climate and disease tolerance trials, ensuring that the mixtures of tomorrow are the most resistant, fit for purpose and sustainable to tackle the environmental challenges faced in the amenity market.
Centre to the Showcase will be a sports zone, featuring a hybrid winter sports pitch, cricket wicket, tennis court and small-scale golf tee, fairway and green, sown with mixtures from across the DLF portfolio by specialist contactors Fineturf who were commissioned with the construction. Having worked with many of the UK’s leading sporting venues including Lords Cricket Ground, AELTC and Tottenham Hotspur FC, Fineturf were the ideal fit for the project, utilising the very latest in their hybrid turf technology.
Commenting on the work, Amenity Sales & Marketing Manager Derek Smith said, “It’s incredibly exciting to see the start of what promises to be an industry-leading facility and asset to the Johnsons Sports Seed, Masterline and MM Seed brands. A big thank you to the Fineturf team for their work to date, and over the next six months we look forward to the construction of new conference facilities and the continued extension of the sample plots to give us a fully-functioning training centre come the Spring.”
The exciting news is the latest in a programme of ongoing investment by the world’s leading grass seed breeders. The end of 2023 saw the installation of Inkberrow’s new £3.5m ‘Titan’ mixing plant technology, together with recent expansion of DLF’s UK native wild flower production which now spans an area of over 80 acres.
Further updates on the project are expected in the new year.