ForFarmers officially opened their new UK Central Office in Bury St Edmunds in May. The office was opened by the company’s Group CEO, Yoram Knoop during a visit by the Executive Board this month.
The investment in the new Central Office, named Horizon House after the company’s Horizon 2020 strategy, reflects the company’s own vision to be the leading livestock nutrition company in Europe. Most importantly, however, the new offices bring together staff from three former sites across East Anglia and facilitate an improved working environment to better support the company’s customers and UK agriculture in general. In bringing together the financial, technical, formulations IT and Customer Support functions of the business under one roof, customers can be optimally served through improved communication, collaboration, efficiency and teamwork across the business. This is all part of the company wide position that ForFarmers are working For the Future of Farming.
The new central office is located next to the new Bury St Edmunds Eastern Relief Road and Suffolk Business Park, just off the A14. In addition, the central office is situated next to one of the company’s already existing manufacturing sites to optimize operational excellence. By moving the three East Anglian sites to the new central office on the A14 corridor, ForFarmers underpins its close links and history with Suffolk and reaffirms the company’s position as an important employer and growing business in the Eastern Region. With easy access to the region’s major road network and regional airports, the central office is also suitably located to allow for improved transport to and from the other countries in the ForFarmers group. Furthermore, Horizon House provides an exceptional modern working environment for existing and future employees of ForFarmers.
Iain Gardner, COO ForFarmers UK stated that “the new Horizon House is a reflection of our ambition in the United Kingdom. By bringing together our support departments we can serve our customers even better. In addition to the advice and support that we offer our customers at the farm itself, we now have all the facilities to further give substance to our aim to working side by side with our farmer customers to help them generate better and sustainable returns on their farmers for generations to come. This is what we stand for”.
Horizon House is both thermally efficient and sustainable; it has been fitted with PV solar panels providing 25% of the building’s energy, electric car charging points and air source heat pumps. Recycling is actively encouraged with clearly defined recycling points throughout the office, as is a culture of paperless and digital working. All this and more ensure sustainability is an important feature of the building.
