Fertiliser firm sows seeds of growth

Speciality fertilisers and plant health promoters are shipped to 60 countries from King's Lynn by a rapidly-expanding family-owned company.

Omex Agriculture, founded in 1976, is the country's largest independent manufacturer of liquid fertiliser in Britain. It started a second plant on the town's Riverside industrial estate in Estuary Road a quarter of a century ago.

As a result of rapid growth of a subsidiary, Omex Agrifluids, the group invested £4m in a new factory and laboratory on a two-acre site at Saddlebow industrial estate.

Peter Prentis, export director, said that the division was started in 1992 but moved to Saddlebow in March after rejecting a move in 2005 to start a new factory in Thailand.

"In 1992 our main markets were Saudi Arabia, Spain and Germany," Mr Prentis said.

"At that time, Saudi Arabia was 90pc of our business, but in 1994, it changed its regulations and our market went.

"We took the decision to spread ourselves around the world."

He added: "What we've done is increase the concentration of nutrients to a level which is double or even treble."

"Our success really is based on awareness of crop health. We're not just selling nutrients any more. We're trying to improve the crop and crop health.

"In the past 15 years, we have grown and have 20 full-time staff at this factory."

The firm is now looking at potential markets including central Asia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It has exported to Romania and is planning to go into Ukraine and maybe further east.

"We're already well established in China. Our key markets include India, Columbia, Vietnam and Kenya," said Mr Prentis.

Omex Group, which employs 104 permanent staff, had a turnover of about £80m, and is headed by Olof Winkler, group chairman and main shareholder.

It started making liquid fertilisers at Bardney, Lincolnshire, in 1976, before setting up the Lynn plant 25 years ago, said marketing manager Ian Elliot.

"We do bespoke analysis. We look at the soil, the crop, the market and we produce what is needed," he added. Each year more than 500 different analyses are made to produce specific liquid fertilisers, which are delivered by the company's fleet of 250 tankers.

Mr Elliot said the company had identified potential for "nutrients that we use in fertilisers".

There is growing importance of foliar feed products as a fertiliser.

"If you apply it directly to the crop, there is less wastage to the farmer and less pollution."

New products using iron (ferric) compounds as a slug and snail killer have been developed. "It is perfectly harmless and it is natural. And iron sulphate in a novel liquid formulation has been used as a successful moss killer - at a third of the normal dose," he added.

Omex Environmental, which was started in 1990, also treats waste water. It supplies nutrients to nearby Palm Paper, which uses micro-organisms to convert harmful waste,

A new formulation of potassium is "a very effective runway de-icer at airports including Norwich, Humberside and Birmingham".

"We've just launched a range of flame retardants using magnesium to coat cables so they don't burn," said Mr Elliot. "We put a lot of science into product development and it is why Omex is regarded as a serious and reliable company."