£4m of new agritech business with tie-up

PP Control & Automation is collaborating with Jaltek to target up to £4 million of new orders with UK organisations involved in indoor/vertical farming, automation, precision farming and remote sensing.

This relationship will help potential clients speed up time to market, maximise output and unlock value-add design and engineering by providing access to a comprehensive suite of production capabilities.

If the predicted growth materialises then the additional revenue will help both firms create new jobs at their factories in Cheslyn Hay and Luton.

“Agritech has grown 20 per cent over the last five years and is seeing lots of investment, with £919.1m of Innovate UK grant funding directed its way in recent years,” explained Garry Myatt, sales director at PP Control & Automation.

“There is a surging demand for new technology and the PP x Jaltek partnership is set-up to streamline the path from blueprint to the field, working with innovators and companies to navigate the complexities around design, manufacture and funding.”

He continued: “This collaboration is not just about assembling mechanical parts or circuit boards. It’s about providing the sector with the arsenal to scale up swiftly and sustainably, turning good ideas into the very fabric of agricultural innovation.”

PP Control & Automation, which employs over 230 people at its 5,500 sq metres facility, has evolved into an award-winning provider of strategic outsourcing solutions to over 30 of the world’s most successful machine builders.

The company is a firm advocate of collaborations and quickly saw the synergy and additional capabilities Jaltek could bring in contract electronic manufacturing, especially around its track record of helping start-ups and fledgling businesses deliver ideas from design concept to final product.

Garry went on to add: “We both share a passion for facilitating innovation and making sure the UK benefits commercially from new technology and ‘disrupting’ the status quo.

“In particular, Jaltek’s expertise in PCBA layout, fast turnaround new product introduction, test and final product assembly complements what PP C&A offer and, together, is a very attractive proposition.”

Claire Mackay, business development manager at Jaltek, added her support: “This is a fantastic example of two UK manufacturers joining forces to deliver a solution that a fast-growing market is looking for.

“There is so much innovation in this country, but a lot of the time it is commercialised elsewhere. We want to reverse that trend and feel agritech is the perfect sector for us to pioneer this new approach.”

PP x Jaltek is looking to bring new partners into the collaboration with a company specialising in pneumatic and electrical automation equipment set to join shortly. This will evolve over time to become a holistic supply chain, speeding up time to market and making product launches for OEMs even easier.

This will boost an existing working relationship with WMG and international discussions with Wageningen University & Research in Holland and the Simon Frazer University Centre for AgriTech Innovation in British Columbia.