BORD na Mona is carrying out a major restructuring in its horticultural division with the transfer of most of its British sales and marketing operations to Levington Horticulture. Bord na Mona aims to generate an extra £10 million sales a year over the 10 year life of the contract with Levington.
The agreement will almost treble the number of salespeople selling Bord na Mona's Shamrock horticultural products to 35 and the Shamrock brand will be promoted alongside Levington's existing brands. The agreement takes effect from the beginning of April.
The ownership of the Shamrock brand will remain with Bord Na Mona, but responsibility for sales and marketing will pass to Levington with the exception of most of Bord na Mona's own label customers.
Bord na Mona's horticulture division chief executive, Mr Michael Laffan, said: "This agreement offers major advantages to Bord na Mona. It will secure the future growth of Shamrock sales, increasing efficiency and improving profitability in the increasingly competitive UK market."
With Shamrock, Bord na Mona is already the biggest supplier of compost to the amateur/retail market in the UK and is also very strong in the retail own label market. Levington is one of the top three British companies in the sector with annual sales of £43 million.
