A South West contractor that supports vital conservation work for environmental projects across the region has acquired new larger premises after a six-figure funding injection.
Exmoor-based GRT Countryside Care (GRT) has invested in a 10-acre site at Luxborough, near Minehead in Somerset, significantly increasing its capacity, after securing a £400,000 financial package from the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AMC).
The expansion gives the business nearly a ten-fold uplift in space and will enable it to more effectively store, modify and build specialist machinery that is used in sustainability projects, including the protection and restoration of peatlands across Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin.
The company works extensively across the region’s national parks and has been commissioned by South West Water and the South West Peatland Partnership to develop large-scale machinery for use in restoration projects.
GRT has helped to restore damaged peatlands found in blanket bogs and valley mires, with the protection of the wetlands considered to be important in the fight against climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy.
Among the firm’s machinery are four specially adapted excavators with 360-degree rotating heads that enable them to work in any given direction and at extremely low ground pressure sites on the peatlands.
The machines use ditch-blocking techniques by using sustainable materials, including locally sourced timber, on historic peat cuttings, drainage networks and eroding gullies, to enable re-wetting of extensive areas of damaged peatlands.
The work aims to improve the quality and quantity of water leaving the moors and also helps to ease water flow which can help to reduce the risk of flooding downstream.
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DRT director Geoff Tucker said the funding it had received had been “transformative” for the business.
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Mr Tucker said: “It’s enabled us to expand and take on much needed workshop and storage space that will enable us to more effectively work on large-scale machinery, which in turn, plays a crucial role in helping to restore peatlands as part of the 海角视频’s green recovery.
“The funding application process was streamlined, transparent and the AMC team couldn’t have been more helpful throughout.”
Andover-based Lloyds Banking Group subsidiary AMC arranged more than 450 short-term capital repayment holidays during the pandemic.
Commenting on its deal with GRT, AMC’s national sales director Lee Baker said: “We are proud to support the growth ambitions of firms like GRT.
“We are working with agricultural and land-based businesses right across the country, providing long-term lending to help implement more sustainable business models and operations and to pursue clean growth opportunities.”