Early-career professionals learn about future of British fruit farming
30th June 2025
Robotics, automation, adoption of the latest agri-tech and sustainable fruit farming were amongst the topics covered at an event hosted by one of the UK’s largest producers of berries.
At the beginning of June, Place UK, based near Norwich in Norfolk, welcomed a 20-strong delegation of people who are just starting out in their professional careers in research, agronomy, and agricultural consultancy.
The event was organised by Agri-TechE, a not-for-profit independent organisation facilitating collaboration between organisations from agriculture, science and technology. Place UK took attendees on a behind-the-scenes farm tour to reveal how new technologies and approaches are embedded into all farming practices, as well as food production and processing.
Alongside the farming side of the business, Place UK has established itself as a supplier of food processing and packaging services, including Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) food. The recent event demonstrated that while Place UK has deep roots and a proud heritage, it is ambitious for the future and forward-thinking in approach.
Delegates heard how new technologies and operating systems are being trialled and introduced as part of a continuous programme of innovation and improvement. One of Place UK’s ongoing aims is to extend the growing season for its berries, including strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries; produce enjoyed by customers of UK supermarkets and retailers including M&S, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.
With climate change being one of the biggest challenges facing the sector, attendees learnt how an irrigation system and ground-source heat provide optimal growing conditions for the fruit. They also heard how a recently completed £1.1 million collaborative reservoir project, led by Place UK’s parent company Frontbench, is giving the farm its own sustainable water supply.
The reservoirs, shared by six Norfolk farms, have 270,000 cubic metres of water storage, the equivalent of 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The investment was made to protect Place UK and its partners against water scarcity, something more important than ever, with Norfolk reporting its driest March since 1929 and Place UK recording only 3mm of rainfall during the same month, compared to an average of 47mm.
Exploring cutting-edge approaches to fruit production
Place UK’s farm production manager, Dan Yordanov, and farm operations and arable manager, Stefan Arsene, led the tour, sharing their insight and expertise on the future direction of British fruit farming. They explained how robotics has already been trialled to aid automation and showed a robot in action which is used to apply UV light to plants as an alternative and more sustainable method of pest control.
The tour was the latest in a series of free events organised by the Early-Career Innovators’ Forum (ECIF), run by Agri-TechE and sponsored by The Morley Agricultural Foundation. ECIF is a platform designed to connect and empower those at the start of their careers across farming, research, engineering, and tech development through a welcoming and informal network.
ECIF organises farm and laboratory visits, conferences and skills webinars, supporting people who just are starting out, studying or switching careers to explore agricultural innovation, gain knowledge, and build their first professional networks.
Dr Laura Bouvet, knowledge exchange manager at Agri-TechE, said: “This visit gave our ECIF community the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge approaches to fruit production, including robotics, precision irrigation, sustainable energy use, and integrated pest management.
“We saw agri-tech in action and heard first-hand about the real-world challenges and opportunities driving the future of fruit farming. Seeing the intersection of science, innovation and farming is always exciting. But what makes it especially powerful is seeing the next generation of key players come together – sharing experiences, learning from one another, and gaining an understanding of each other’s perspectives and needs. That’s where the real magic happens.”
Dan Yordanov of Place UK added: “We do all we can to encourage and support new talent entering agri-tech professions to understand our world as fruit growers, as well as sharing more about the varied career opportunities in our sector. It’s not just poly tunnels and hand-picking; fruit farming is always evolving, with new technologies under rapid development.
“Within our business Place UK known for being early-triallers and adopters of new growing methods and fruit varieties as well as trialling robotics and investigating more sustainable ways of working. There’s always something new to get curious about. We hope the delegates enjoyed their time at Place UK and left feeling inspired, armed with lots of fresh knowledge to support their future work.”
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