David Austin Roses has taken an initial 28 acres on part of the Shropshire-Staffordshire estates with the potential to expand further in the future, while using former agricultural buildings for storage for its operations, one of the largest rose breeding programmes in the world. With its rose gardens, plant centre and growing facility at Bowling Green Lane, in Albrighton, David Austin Roses has operated since 1961, supplying roses grown utilising traditional methods.
“We are pleased to launch a partnership with Bradford Estates by making use of their land holding for growing our popular roses. Both parties have proud histories in Shropshire, so we are delighted to work together to complement our existing rose breeding and growing operations, including securing storage facilities in former agricultural buildings on the estates. This collaboration supports our continued growth as an award-winning rose breeder and grower whilst also reducing transport costs through using local storage, aligning with our commitment to socially responsible practices that benefit our people, planet and the gardening community,” said Tim Smith, Chief Operating Officer, David Austin Roses.
Dating back to 1066 and led by Managing Director Alexander Newport, Bradford Estates encompasses regenerative farming, offering local business space from converted ex-agricultural buildings alongside sustainable forestry, leisure and local housing provision. In 2024, Lancashire-based family business Huntapac, extended its relationship with Bradford Estates to let farmland to grow parsnips as well as carrots. Huntapac originally took a commercial lease of buildings at Woodside Farm near Shifnal, before licensing 50 acres of irrigated farmland. Trading since 1942, Huntapac grows root crops vegetables from Scotland to Suffolk.
“We are pleased to add to our growing number of leading agricultural business by welcoming David Austin Roses to the Bradford Estates. The David Austin Roses team are proactive in growing their business so it is great that we can support their growth with both a cropping licence and commercial space. As a landed estates business with a regenerative farming operation, it is pleasing to see other successful agriculture businesses recognise the opportunity of taking licences alongside Bradford Farming and we look forward to seeing them generate further success,” explained Chris Hodson, Property Director, Bradford Estates.
Bradford Estates offers a portfolio of commercial properties located adjacent or close to the key thoroughfares of M54, A5, A41 and A518 in Shropshire and Staffordshire, between Telford and Wolverhampton. Diverse businesses including a timber kilning business, a fencing manufacturer, an auto car parts wholesaler, grounds maintenance contractor and a tech company are among the enterprises to take up recent leases with Bradford Estates.
