Poole-based Saline is growing the future

Poole-based business development team Saline has helped food tech company Farm Urban reach new markets.

Farm Urban is an independent company that connects agricultural research and technology with local food production to create innovative and sustainable ways to grow food in the heart of the city, and to make it easy for people to make healthier, more sustainable food choices. Widely known for their vertical farm in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, it works with communities, schools and corporates, partnering with public and private sector organisations through its ESG programmes to bring about systemic change.

Earlier this year, Farm Urban teamed up with Poole-based business development experts Saline to help grow its business. Managing director Paul Myers talks about the company’s origins, and how it has started to evolve since working with Saline.

“When we were starting out eight years ago, we did a lot of R&D and testing to see what worked and what didn’t. We installed small-scale systems for our vertical farms, and developed education programmes, which have grown slowly and organically. However, last year we realised that we now needed to make some changes and develop our own revenue streams: we couldn’t scale up or have the impact we wanted while we were still heavily dependent on grant funding.

“We decided to set up a commercial arm of the business, and we were introduced to Saline through a mutual business connection. We initially engaged them to help us grow corporate sales and awareness of our vertical growing walls, but it soon became clear that there was a lot more they could help us with.

“Many are looking for fresh ways to demonstrate their commitment to ESG principles”

“With help and guidance from Saline, we’ve been developing three new ESG packages for corporate clients such as large property owners, tier one contractors, and those involved in major infrastructure or building projects. Many of them are looking for fresh ways to demonstrate their commitment to ESG principles, connect to local communities, and broaden their CSR activities. The Farm Urban packages – entitled Nourish, Nurture and Flourish – give them the means to do this.

“Saline has been a foundational part of helping us to develop these packages, and the strategies for getting them to market. They’ve helped us to get clear on what will resonate best in which sectors, and used their networks to reach out to corporate contacts to test their reception, feeding back valuable insights so we can refine our offering. Most importantly, they’ve helped us to see a market that we couldn’t see before. And with their input and market knowledge, we’ve found the right price point for the packages we’re producing.”

Tim Smith, Saline’s managing director, said: “Building a business partnership with Farm Urban has been a real highlight of 2022. Strategy programmes are a key part of our offering: helping innovative businesses to understand where their future growth opportunities are, and supporting their growth brings together all of our experience, knowledge and skillsets – and is normally a lot of fun in the process.”

Many are looking for fresh ways to demonstrate their commitment to ESG principles.