“To any farmer considering working with ENGIE/ENGIE UK – don’t hesitate, go for it! We haven’t looked back!”
-James and John Govier, Great Hele Barton Farm
How long have you been working with ENGIE UK?
“ENGIE UK took over from a previous company around five years ago and we have to say, from the outset, they were a breath of fresh air – very professional and great communicators. During the entirety of our working relationship, the whole thing has been extremely well run and from our point of view, seamless.
We really enjoy that the people that we started working with five years ago are still very much part of the business, meaning we have enjoyed consistency and continuity throughout.
The plant is always very clean and tidy, and there’s a huge focus on health and safety which we appreciate. We also really value how the team talks and communicates with us – it feels much more like a collaboration rather than a typical supplier relationship.”
How important is this working relationship to you and your business?
“The AD plant is located on our farm and they treat us brilliantly.
The contract with ENGIE UK/ENGIE gives us a reliable, fixed income which is super important as there can be so much volatility in the agricultural sector. With this contract, we know there are no hidden surprises or variables, just a reliable, consistent income which goes a long way to give some security when sometimes, there isn’t much!
There can be spikes where prices soar creating so much uncertainty – working with ENGIE UK/ENGIE means we have a steady, reliable income and additionally we have assurances of a long-term contract too, meaning we can plan for the future knowing we have this in place.
From a relationship perspective, there’s a lot of mutual respect and we feel as if we are colleagues, rather than suppliers. We know we can always chat things through and we have clear communication and it’s always very amicable.”
What are the benefits of working with ENGIE?
“As mentioned, consistency and reliability is a huge benefit.
We appreciate being able to play our part in supporting the green energy agenda too. When we first started working together this was more of a taboo subject, now there’s more support for this locally which feels good – helping create locally produced renewable gas and electricity for homes and businesses in the local area.
We are exceptionally pleased to be partnering with ENGIE UK/ENGIE and we are so glad we took the opportunity when it was presented to us, we haven’t looked back!
Another benefit of the relationship means we avoid any crop storage issues and we also negate crop wastage too, another big advantage.”
How important is the digestate?
“Being able to use the by-product – digestate – helps us improve the fertility of the farms, so much so that the crop yield has improved since using this instead of imported fertilisers.
Using digestate derived from the AD process means we are also helping with the circular economy – we are not just taking off the land, we are putting it back. It also means as it is produced on our farm, there is far less of a carbon footprint too as we are not importing it and having it delivered to site. You can’t get more local!”
What would you say to any farmers considering working with ENGIE?
“Go for it! For any outside crop supplier this is a great proposition! You’d be hard pushed to find an easier or more convenient way of farming.”