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Celebrating our 70th year in business after further strengthening our reputation for high-tech horticulture innovation and indoor growing expertise

CambridgeHOK will this year mark 70 years in business having further enhanced its reputation as hi-tech horticultural innovators and leading indoor growing specialists in 2025 – whilst also laying the foundations for more success in the years to come.

That is the view of joint Managing Director Patrick Harte, who says the firm has been ‘privileged to be involved in many flagship projects’ over the past 12 months, in its long-established areas of expertise of commercial glasshouses and vertical farms.

The past year has also seen growth across its specialist refrigeration, service and maintenance divisions, whilst ‘an exciting programme’ of works, for a wide variety of customers, is emerging for the next two years.

Standout projects completed in 2025 included the design and build of the UK’s first solely renewable glasshouse at the University of Lincoln, powered entirely by geothermal energy through ground source and air heat pumps.

The £2.2m Venlo facility has been divided into independently controlled compartments to allow multiple projects to run at the same time.

It will provide stable heat all-year round to allow crops such as strawberries and tomatoes, which are typically imported from abroad during the UK’s colder months, to be grown locally.

Supporting sustainable food growth in work and leisure spaces

In the vertical farming sector, the business has led the technical side of projects which have seen sustainable food growth brought into the heart of work and leisure spaces in the capital.

Working with Harvest London, the team built a 400 square metre facility which has become a focal point of the new Corner Corner development in Canada Water, in the Docklands of London, bringing food, culture, live music and sustainable farming together.

Also in the capital, a 135 square metre facility was completed for Square Mile Farms in the centre of a large business commercial complex, where fresh, leafy greens and herbs are sustainably grown for the building occupiers, visitors to the onsite restaurant and local community groups.

Elsewhere in the glasshouse sector, a project for a private estate in France has potentially opened the door to further business, as the opportunity was taken to establish a new French legal entity.

The team also demonstrated its ability to overcome the logistical challenges of building a four-storey glasshouse at the top of new ‘first-of-its-kind’ urban living development in Swansea.

The 300sq metre glasshouse was installed on floors 8 to 11 of the new 12-storey ‘Biophilic Living’ complex for Hacer Developments.

Growth in specialist refrigeration, maintenance and servicing work

CambridgeHOK Refrigeration, a specialist business launched in 2024 to design, install and maintain industrial refrigeration systems, continues to prove a valuable addition, working on standalone new projects as well as those led secured by the parent company.

It was buoyed by securing a seven-figure contract on a flagship project this year, whilst a 10% growth was also achieved in maintenance and servicing work.

Joint managing director Mr Harte will celebrate five years leading the business alongside Louis Bradley and global horticultural consortium Atrium Agri in March, and says he says he is proud of the company’s performance over that time.

“We’ve worked together to build on the success of the previous 65 years to further enhance the company’s reputation, helping to attract some first-class clients who are bringing repeat business, and Atrium Agri’s involvement has turbo-charged our capabilities, leading to larger and more exciting projects,” he said.

“We’ve had another very solid year in which we’ve been privileged to be involved in many flagship projects for customers once again. The work has been really diverse, helping to showcase our full technical ability across all areas of specialism.

“The continued development and growth of our refrigeration, maintenance and servicing side of the business has been pleasing, helping us establish a record number of customers.

“Looking ahead, we are pulling together an exciting programme of works for a wide variety of customers over the next two years, with some exceptional clients who are leaders in their own fields.

“We expect to make some very significant announcements on projects over the next 12 months, so these are exciting times.”

ENDS

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