History of Kingfisher Nursery
The site of Kingfisher Nursery has been in the same family for several generations
and from 1908 onwards was planted with orchards, soft fruit and market garden
crops.
In 1973 Peter and Maggie Bingham began growing heathers on a small scale.
By 1976 this had developed into a full time operation, growing conifers, shrubs
and heathers.
Over the next few years more land was bought and the range of plants was extended
to include roses and alpines.
Sales at this time were to both wholesale and retail customers, but this was becoming
difficult to manage, so in 1983 a retail plant centre was established in Peterborough
enabling Kingfisher Nursery to become strictly wholesale only.
Continuous development followed aimed at increasing efficiency whilst maintaining
quality standards.
Heathers gradually took priority over other crops in order to keep up with demand.
Although the Peterborough plant centre provided valuable contact with the public and generated useful feedback, in 1989 an offer was received which was too good to refuse. The funds generated were used to develop Kingfisher Nursery further and over the next ten years a programme of expansion and improvement was implemented.
Starting from a few square metres in 1973 production now covers almost four hectares, producing over 900,000 plants.
Since 1998 a range of exclusive promotion materials has been introduced and demand
has continued to grow, so with a well trained team of people and spare land available
the success
looks set to continue.
The photographs on this page show part of the extensive
outdoor heather growing areas and the propagation
glasshouse with its computer controlled environment