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New investment into 'products and people' for specialist horticultural equipment business HotBox International

New investment is being made into product development at HotBox International following a surge in winter sales and the business having experienced  no negative impact as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU.

The business is part of the CambridgeHOK Group, and already supplies products to commercial growers and amateur gardeners in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Having established a reputation for product innovation and customer service, directors are now keen to build on a strong period of sales – and a history stretching back more than 40 years – to expand into new markets.

“HotBox International has long been a leader in the horticultural equipment sector and we are now investing significantly, in terms of time and money and products and people to further develop this specialist business because it has huge potential,” said Patrick Harte, Joint Managing Director at CambridgeHOK.

“As many of our sales come from Europe we took the decision to invest into the development of a completely new website, in eight different languages, to ensure that we can continue to offer the best service to our customers, whether they access it on desktop, tablet or mobile. That site has now gone live and we feel it really reflects our position in the market.

“As we have long-established relationships with distributors for our products across Europe we have been well prepared for Brexit and able to support our customers through any change in process. That has resulted in a really strong order book throughout the winter, and over the period where many people were predicting difficulty for companies dealing in Europe.

“We know our customers value dealing with us because of our experience and technical excellence, and as a sister business of CambridgeHok, which had probably its best year in business last year, not only are we able to supply established equipment of the highest quality worldwide, we are also able to commit to further product development, which is a focus for us now.”

As part of the investment into the business, industry-leading expertise is being added to team as horticulture tech consultant Steve Edwards will lead new product development.

Mr Edwards has more than 10 years’ experience of working in the horticulture sector and has designed and developed systems and solutions for universities, research organisations and commercial horticulture clients. He has also established his own successful businesses supplying the sector previously.

He said: “I am really excited be given the opportunity to have an input into the direction of HotBox International.

“The business already offers an innovative and niche range of products and equipment, but the aim is to develop that in future years, expand our network of suppliers and customers and continue to lead the way in terms of innovation in this sector.  I think that is something we can achieve.”

Mr Harte added: “Steve’s input into HotBox International will be very important as his knowledge of products in the market, and how they are designed and manufactured, can bring real value to our customers going forward.

“As a highly-experienced horticulture specialist engineer he can help ensure we continue to offer the best products on the market, at the best price.”

The new HotBox International website (https://www.hotboxworld.com/) is available in English and seven other languages - French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Greek and Polish and offers products including air circulators, co2 generators and controllers, propagators and Sulphur vapourisers.

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