Farm Urban
The city farm defying Covid and changing lives – from beneath the Baltic Triangle
Liverpool City Region Future Innovation fund helps Farm Urban revolutionise food production and create a greener, healthier future
A firm in the centre of Liverpool is refusing to let COVID-19 derail its ambitions for a greener, healthier city.
Farm Urban is a social enterprise backed by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, and operates out of a Victorian tunnel underneath the Baltic Triangle.
A grant from the Future Innovation Fund meant they could press ahead with plans to grow a business which marries cutting-edge science with local food production.
Managing Director Dr Paul Myers said: ‘We were just getting going supplying local schools and businesses when COVID struck.
‘We switched to home delivery. The response was phenomenal and we were able to give the excess food to the most vulnerable in the city.
‘The support we got from the City Region means we can press ahead with plans to double our capacity.
The business has global ambitions and sees a future where rooftops and building sides in cities become food production hubs.
‘That’s good news for jobs, health and well-being,’ said Dr Myers.
More about the Future Innovation Fund
The £3m Future Innovation Fund supports businesses to adapt and innovate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivered through Growth Platform, the fund is providing grants to SMEs that have reacted innovatively to the changed business environment created by COVID-19.
Two funding rounds have been completed with the third to be announced this year.
The grants are available to businesses lining up with the Local Industrial Strategy priorities of building a sustainable industrial future; enhancing health & wellbeing; global cultural capital; zero carbon economy; technology and data to improve society; digitalisation.
Eligible companies must be a registered SME, operational before 1 January 2020 with headquarters or significant operations in the Liverpool City Region. For details go to growthplatform.org/future-innovation-fund/
