18 October 2021
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End of an era
NEXT month will mark the end of an era in the potato industry as the Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research facility closes its doors for the final time.
In September, staff were given notice of the facility’s planned closure on December 17th, and Head of Crop Storage Research, Adrian Cunnington, was tasked with pulling together an inventory in preparation for its sale.
Adrian has worked at Sutton Bridge CSR since the mid-1980s. He has been in charge at the Sutton Bridge site for over 30 years, overseeing the research team and, as a BASIS-qualified trainer, delivering advice to producers and suppliers.
He said he was sad that the service could not be retained.
“There will be a significant loss of capability for supporting the industry when Sutton Bridge closes,” he said. “We were making good progress, so it is certainly frustrating that that is being lost at a point when the industry needed us most. Fortunately, the results of our work to date will still be available on the AHDB’s legacy website. However, nothing new will be added to it from now on.”
Initial reasons given for the closure were lack of funding and a desire to future proof research by getting other organisations involved, said Adrian.
As Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research prepares to close its doors for good, we take a look at its history and achievements over almost six decades. See the full article in the November issue of Potato Review. You can click here to subscribe.
