Branston makes its largest ever charitable donation

24 November 2007

Branston Ltd has made its largest ever charitable donation, presenting the Epic Project with a cheque for £50,000 to help fund the development of Lincolnshire’s £7-million, low carbon conference and exhibition centre.

Lincolnshire Agricultural Society chief executive, Helen Houghton, received the massive donation from Branston’s managing director Graeme Beattie outside the Epic Centre on the Lincolnshire Showground.

Branston, which is the UK’s leading supplier of potatoes made the donation as it believes the Epic Project’s work will have a wide reaching benefits.

“When completed, the Epic Centre will be at the cutting edge of research into combating climate change and will promote the use of low carbon technologies to both the general public and businesses not just in Lincolnshire, but across the UK and beyond,” said Mr Beattie. “As one of the country’s leading food suppliers we rely on the natural environment for our livelihood and recognise that everyone in agriculture needs to be working in harmony with nature not against it.

“As our new 9,000 tonne, £2.1m environmentally friendly cold store demonstrates, Branston is already working towards minimising its impact on the environment. We have already established our own carbon footprint, employed an Environmental Manager and have several large scale projects on the go which demonstrate our commitment to the environment.”

Central to the Epic Project is the construction of the Epic Centre, which will feature exhibition halls, office and meeting facilities all built with a focus on using sustainable materials. The ten month build, overseen by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, commenced in July this year and is on course to open in May 2008.