Pat FitzGerald announces joint venture
Fitzgerald Nurseries and Lowes TC Pty has taken over MyPlant Laboratory in a move which will see both companies expand
6 October 2015
Lowes TC a joint venture company between MyPlant Tissue Culture Laboratory wholly owned by Fitzgerald Nurseries, Kilkenny Ireland, and Lowes TC Pty, the leading Australian plant tissue culture service provider, has taken over the business of MyPlant Laboratory at Enniscorthy, Co Wexford Ireland.
Pat FitzGerald, Fitzgerald Nurseries Owner, comments on the venture saying “as managing director of Gadera Ltd, our wholly owned laboratory company, I saw many opportunities evolving for the company on international markets and the home market that we were not taking advantage of due to limited time, technical focus and funding. With Lowes TC now coming in as the managing partner of this new JV company I expect the business will fulfill the potential of this technology and increase our exports.”
Lowes TC Pty is recognised as the biggest and best TC lab in Australia producing millions of plants each year from over 1,000 cultivars in their Australian and Indian labs. Fitzgerald Nurseries has developed sales and plant IP in 26 countries and will continue to play a major role in hardening the laboratory output, product development, assessment and strategic planning for this new venture.
Regarding changes ahead Pat says “our existing customers and suppliers will see little change in how we operate sales and distribution”. He added “The availability of more stock, safer supply chain, more value through consistent quality, larger numbers and a wider range of plants will follow over the coming two years. All this will be achieved through careful, focused and strategic supply chain development and management.”
Commenting on the new joint venture Lowes TC Director, Simon Pettinger says “the formation of LowesTCe allows the proven service solutions developed by Lowes TC in Australia over the last 20 years to now be available in Europe. The specialized Tissue Culture software we have developed along with our leading edge TC tech allows us to do 5,000 per year plant lines just as efficiently as those 200,000+ per year plant lines. Customers get exclusive and confidential propagation of their IP plant lines and we don’t charge for the R&D costs of developing new commercial plants into TC. We plan to grow LowesTCe rapidly over the next few years, bringing a new type of commercial plant TC lab and great customer service to Ireland for all of Europe.”
Currently Fitzgerald Nurseries employs 25 people at its Kilkenny facilities and one in Germany. The overall number of employees is expected to grow to 30 people over the coming months. Lowes TC group currently employs over 140 staff outside of Ireland. The Enniscorthy tissue culture facility previously employed 13 people, this has grown to 17 since July. To meet current demand it is envisaged Lowes TCe will grow to 25 staff over the coming months and to 50 within 2-3 years.
Fans 0
Followers