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Amazing Glasshouse Donation

A custom designed and built 12ft x 20ft glasshouse has been donated by Isle of Wight businesses APS Produce Group and P3P Partners, and constructed on the site at Medina College by Cambridge HOK, ahead of the launch of the IGCSE in Agriculture this September. 

The specialist and impressive structure allows students at the school to grow plants in a protected area where specific conditions can be maintained to ensure the highest efficiency. Students will be able to grow plants in the glasshouse all year round, which will hugely support them throughout the GCSE course and potentially future further education studies. 

The structure has been constructed on a piece of land on the school site which has been specifically developed as a farming plot. Students are already working on this land and have been so excited to start using the glasshouse. They are currently growing a variety of tomatoes, peppers, squashes and herbs in it. 

The glasshouse was donated to the school collaboratively by national companies with a large Isle of Wight presence,  P3P Partners, specialists in sustainable energy and vertical farming and APS Produce Group, the UK’s leading tomato and salad crop horticulture specialist, and was built by Cambridge HOK, a leading glasshouse construction specialist. Using their expertise and the latest technology, the glasshouse has been purpose-built to the needs of the students and the new course that they will be following from September.

Medina College is one of just three providers in the country to be offering the Cambridge IGCSE in Agriculture. 

“The course presents a really exciting opportunity for our students to get a head start on a future career in agriculture; an area with a vast range of exciting opportunities for young people across the UK and, particularly, here on the Isle of Wight.”

Victoria Lloyd, Agriculture Course Leader

“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of APS Produce Group and P3P Partners. Without their financial support and technical skills and experience, we would not have been able to provide this resource for the students. It will make such a difference to their studies and will provide them with experiences that will enhance their learning massively. 

It has been fantastic to see how excited the students are to get involved with using the glasshouse already. We can’t wait to literally taste the fruits of their labour this summer!”

Matthew Parr-Burman, Executive Headteacher and Head of Medina College

APS Produce Group are the UK’s  largest supplier of British tomatoes to the high street, responsible for approximately 40% of total UK production. Specialising in the production and supply of top quality tomatoes grown in the most sustainable way possible, APS is a genuinely innovative and forward thinking business. They have 26.3 hectares of glasshouses on the Isle of Wight and 70 hectares in total across the UK. 

P3P Partners are one of the UK’s leading distributed heat and power specialists, with extensive operations in combined heat-and-power installations for horticulture, industry and hospitality applications, as well as development portfolios spanning anaerobic digestion, solar power and battery energy storage systems. P3P also invests in the specialist waste and vertical farming sectors.  P3P operates several sites locally in the Arreton Valley.

Cambridge HOK are vertical farming, glasshouses and energy specialists. Their glasshouses are designed and built to meet a growers exact needs. From large commercial glasshouses, research or leisure glasshouses, they create the optimum environment with the latest technology.