Around 40 of us joined Will Tyler and Mike Freely of Octink to visit their business and tour the factory. Octink are not only an award winning display specialist but are also committed to being one of the greenest companies in the country and have a commitment towards the local community that goes way beyond most companies' CSR.

Maria Gledhill, of Pathways (formerly Ealing and Brentford Consolidated Charities) spoke to us about Cultivate London, an innovative urban farm based across multiple sites in West London, including polytunnels on a car park in the Commerce Road site. They produce a range of herbs available locally. Maria thanked us for the invitation to the meeting and commented: "Next year Cultivate London intends to concentrate on becoming a wholesale nursery growing potted herbs for local garden centers. We are seeking the following support for our mission to provide youth training and to reduce Londoner's food miles:

• Support and advice for marketing our wholesale potted plants to garden centers and nurseries
• Contacts with local restauranters who might be open to buying locally grown winter vegetables when the season starts in 2 weeks time
• Sponsorship for existing and new poly-tunnels (average cost £5k each), and also help in drawing up prospectuses for potential sponsors
• Work placements, and of course employment opportunities, for our trainees who have completed their programme with us
• Grants and other financial support to cover the costs of the training aspects. Each traineeship costs about £400 for 3 months, apprenticeships cost £10k pa, qualified trainers
• Referrals for next Spring for young people who might like outdoor manual work and would like to try our traineeships.
• Suitable urban land with at least a 3 year lease, and help with the costs of land clearance, build outs, water supply, site security etc."

If you have any suggestions or offers of help please get in touch with This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Will Tyler then spoke briefly about the operations of Octink before we broke up into groups to go round the factory. This gave us the opportunity to have a look at the various printing machines and display techniques. Octink is at the forefront of modern technology which is not also fast and precise  but also doesn't rely on solvent based inks.

It was interesting to tour a modern working factory which is an example of the future of British manufacturing. Tours behind the scene are not just a useful insight but also entertaining, hence it would add to the diversity of our meetings if other business would like to offer the same. Please get in touch if you think you could host one.

 

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