About us
Learn about our company and our background.
Who we are and what we do
Quantil Ltd is a family run horticultural business, supplying young plants to the commercial and retail markets.
With sixty years of experience in arable farming and more than two decades of experience cultivating plants in glasshouses, Quantil has earned its reputation as expert in the growing industry. We continue to evolve our production methods, keeping up with the latest technologies, as well as adapting to the needs of our clients. We are committed to ensuring our products are of the highest quality, whilst building strong, lasting partnerships with our customers.
Decades of experience
Quantil has been in business for over 60 years
Arable farm
As arable farmers ourselves, we understand the needs of the commercial grower
14 hectares of production
Including over 100,000 sq. m of horticultural glass growing commercial and retail products for farmers and gardeners alike
Extensive Production Volumes
Quantil produces in excess of 200 million plants a year
Testimonials
Here's what our customers have to say about Quantil
Meet the Team
We're proud to have a team of passionate, hard-working people at Quantil.
Chairman
David Symondson
Chairman
David joined his father, Warwick Symondson, in the mid-80's at a time when Warwick was innovating production techniques for the supply of young vegetable plants to the farming community. This became the genesis of Quantil as it is today, which David and Barry have expanded via glasshouse production and movement into new products. Throughout this time, David has been chairman of the company whilst developing his other interests in the private equity world.
Outside business activities, David enjoys country pursuits, skiing, culture and relaxing with his family.
Directors
Barry Pape
Managing Director
Barry joined the Quantil family in 1988 as Manager of (what was then) Quantil Seeds Limited. Now Managing Director of Quantil Limited and our sister business, Quantil Agriculture, Barry heads up the team of Directors, providing essential support, managing projects and acquisitions, and reporting to David Symondson, the owner. He spearheads long-term strategy for both Quantil Limited and Quantil Agriculture, and was a driving force in one of the most significant developments in Quantil's history: taking the business into the glasshouse sector and producing plants for the retail market.
Outside of work, Barry likes to garden, watch sports, and spend time with his family.
Stuart Blackhurst
Production Director
Stuart joined Quantil as Production Supervisor in 1995. He was appointed Production Manager in 2000. In 2015, he became the Director of Production, overseeing the development and innovation of production techniques and product lines. Stuart ensures that resources are utilised and revenue is generated all year round, helping to maintain a balance between peak and low season. He oversees Health and Safety, HR, sales and accounts, quality control, and staff structure.
Outside of work, Stuart loves weekends away to the coast with his family, and is fond of dining out.
Alistair Hill
Director
Following a career in accountancy, Alistair joined his brother-in-law, David Symondson, as a director in 2000. Taking the lead on Sales Development and Production Planning, he has helped drive a significant change in strategic direction, steering the business into the vegetable retail market, which is now the largest contributor to company turnover.
Outside of work, Alistair enjoys long walks with the dogs and gardening, as well as unwinding with a good book and classical music.
Mark Clementson
Retail Sales Director
Mark has nearly 40 years of experience working across various aspects of horticulture, including nursery production, retail and sales. He joined Quantil in 2011, managing our key accounts, retail sales strategy and business development. Mark also takes the lead on the development of our retail products and ranges, as well as stock buying and programming.
Outside of work, Mark loves gardening and DIY, and adventuring on his paddle board.
Fiona Houghton
Nursery Sales Director
Fiona started working for Warwick Symondson, Quantil's founder, aged 16. She began as an office junior in the farm office and has worked many different roles, helping to shape how the business has grown over the years. She became director of Quantil Limited in 1996. In her role as director of Nursery Sales in the horticultural business, she takes the lead in sales and logistics for module production, as well as having a supporting role in other areas of the company.
When not working, Fiona enjoys spending time with her family and friends. A keen equestrian and dog lover, she loves being outdoors with her animals.
Jeanette Tillery
Financial Director
Jeanette joined the company in 2021 as our Financial Director. She takes the lead on our accounting strategy and financial planning, safeguarding the company’s finances, understanding our competitors, and analysing the profit drivers for the business. As well as the day to day running of all the finances, Jeanette also takes an overview of the business, streamlining processes and ensuring that we respond to the new challenges of the industry in a positive, efficient way.
Jeanette loves being in the great outdoors and is a keen horse rider, hiker and dog lover. She has a flat-coated retriever and a Dutch Warmblood called Mr Bo.
Production
Simon Brown
Assistant Nursery Manager
Simon joined Quantil in 2000 as a Nursery worker. He is now in charge of all aspects of the running and regulation of the glasshouses, including irrigation, climate control and maintenance. He is responsible for the planning of growing activities, and organises space allocation.
When he's not on-site looking after his 16,000 poultry unit for free range egg production, Simon likes to caravan and go for long walks.
John Blackhurst
Site Nursery Manager
John joined Quantil in the late 1990s as a Nursery worker. As Site Manager, he works to ensure that the product we grow is high quality. He manages the day-to-day duties of Nursery staff and oversees the running of operations in the glasshouses.
In his spare time, John loves to go on long walks with his dog, and adventuring abroad on holiday.
Chris Lyon
Assistant Nursery Manager
Chris joined Quantil as a Nursery worker in 2010. Now Assistant Manager, he works alongside John supervising day-to-day activities at our Martin Lane site, with a particular focus on the herb crop. He also oversees the distribution of stock and activities in the pack house.
Outside of work, Chris loves to watch his son play football and rugby league, and his daughter play netball. He enjoys walking the dog, going for a pint, and socialising with friends.
Sales & Admin
Peter Davies
Sales Executive
Before his role at Quantil, Peter accrued 28 years of experience as a Plant Area Manager in garden centres. He joined the team in 2018 as Sales Executive for the south of the UK. He regularly visits existing and new customers, cultivating relationships, taking reserve orders, and ensuring their requirements for the season are met.
Outside of work, Peter enjoys gardening and getting stuck into a DIY project.
Eve Heaton
Sales Office Manager
Joining in February 2023, Eve joins us from a large online retailer, bringing many years of customer service knowledge and third party logistics experience. Eves responsibilities include; Implementing, Improving & maintaining procedures/office administrative systems. Organising training, ensuring that the team have what is needed to work in the most efficient way possible. Overseeing administrative activities that facilitate the smooth running of an office. Ensuring that office equipment is maintained, relevant records are up to date and that all administration processes work effectively. Supporting the team with order processing and dispatch during our peak season.
Outside of work, Eve enjoys going to Food & music festivals, concerts, eating out, and camping during the spring & summer with her children.
Anita Lea
Sales Administrator
Anita joined the team in 2008 as a Sales Administrator. She provides administrative support for our sales team, including processing orders, issuing invoices, and as a point of contact with clients. As an account manager, Anita processes orders from our web shop, sets up new accounts, and deals with credits and aged debt.
Outside of work, Anita loves long walks, cooking and spending time with friends.
Anne Leyland
Sales Administrator
Anne joined the team in 2011 as Sales Administrator. She liaises with customers, processes orders and issues invoices, as well as coordinating our hauliers. Anne also manages some of the sales accounts of our key clients, and provides essential support for the team in building sales.
Anne is a rugby season ticket holder, and loves to unwind with a good book or long walk with the dogs.
Jan Morley
Module Administrator
Jan joined the team in 2019 as Module Administrator. She ensures the smooth running of all the module sales orders, processing and invoicing them, ensuring goods are correctly delivered and that there are sufficient stocks, and helping with the recruitment of seasonal staff.
Outside of work Jan loves to spend time with friends and family, and helping take care of her young grandchildren.
Amanda Berkley
Accounts Assistant
Amanda provides accounting and clerical support to our accounts department. Working with Sage, both sales and purchase ledgers, bank reconciliations, producing statements, processing invoices, & handling invoice queries. Supporting our Financial Director with the preparation of annual statutory accounts. Ensuring payments, amounts and records are correct. Recording and filing cash transactions.
Amanda enjoys lunches out with friends, reading, and is an avid cat lover. Amanda currently has her own handsome cat called Go-Go!
Kieron Barnes
Production and Operations Support
Kieron joined Quantil in November 2022 as Trainee Production Planner and Grower, a diverse role that allowed him to become familiar with many areas of the business. A year later, he progressed to his current role, in which he uses his mathematical and spreadsheet skills to assist with production planning and sales-related tasks. He has also been given the responsibility of monitoring production waste and presenting regular waste reports to the management team. Finally, he has been studying the programming language Python, with the focus of integrating it into Microsoft Excel to broaden the capabilities of the software; for example, he has been experimenting with a prototype automatic order generator, which is able to take account of factors such as stock availability and garden-centre size to produce instant provisional orders for the large garden-centre groups that Quantil serves.
Outside of work, Kieron is often meeting friends in Manchester, and loves poetry and art.
Non-Executive Directors
Kate Symondson
Non-Executive Director
She joined the Quantil family in 2016, working on estate development at our affiliate business, Quantil Agriculture Limited. Kate brings her background as a Communications Consultant to the website, and takes an active interest in long and short-term strategy. She is David’s eldest daughter.
Kate loves reading, wandering round galleries, evenings at the theatre, and swimming.
Lucy D'cruz
Non-Executive Director
Lucy joined the team in 2014 as a consultant and board member. With her background in finance, she advises on business strategy and development. She is David’s middle daughter.
In her spare time, Lucy loves to run and walk outdoors, and to try new recipes for her young family.
Hannah Symondson
Non-Executive Director
Hannah joined as Non-Executive Director in 2022. She brings her experience as a senior brand partnerships manager to bear on strategy at board meetings. Hannah is David’s youngest daughter.
Hannah is a keen runner, and loves to seek out new experiences and cultures in her travels round the world.
Environmental Responsibility
At Quantil, we are committed to taking responsibility for our environmental impact.
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