A group of private investors have come to the rescue of energy
crop specialist Bical,
after the company went into administration on Monday (23
November).
The group of four unnamed individuals paid the administrators
Milsted Langdon an
undisclosed sum for the old company and have formed a new company,
to be called Renewable Energy Crops. Bical's subsidiaries, which
include the grower groups BiSel and BiEd supplying key customers
like Drax power station and EDF, did not go into administration and
were not part of this week's sale.
Renewable Energy Crops director Graham Kerslake said all growers
who supplied rhizomes to Bical would be taken on to new REC
contracts, while miscanthus growers supplying the subsidiaries
would also have the opportunity to sign up to new contracts once
details of the new company had been finalised.
"We'll be calling all affected growers individually to reassure
them that they'll be looked after," he told Farmers Weekly on
Wednesday (25 November). "They'll have the opportunity to sign up
to new contracts, or alternatively some may decide to supply
end-users directly through their own local supply groups.
"The fact Bical has been acquired so quickly is actually very
good news for the energy crops industry," he added. "The company
didn't get into trouble because miscanthus isn't working; it was
down to turbulence in the financial markets which affected the
availability of capital to the small and medium-sized enterprise
market. End-user demand for miscanthus is still very strong."
That feeling was echoed by East Yorkshire grower Tom Nash, whose
brother John started growing miscanthus in 2005 to supply Drax
through BiSel. He has since gone on to form a separate grower
group, Miscanthus Growers Ltd, which shares information about the
crop with around 70 local growers.
"Thankfully the crop, its potential and place in the
environmental and economic agenda has never been in question and
the main local customer for green energy, Drax, has moved quickly
to confirm its commitment to the crop," he said.
NFU members concerned by
the changes at Bical can get advice by calling NFU Call First on
0870 845 8458.
