Foot-and-mouth hits farming dot.com

23 April 2001



Foot-and-mouth hits farming dot.com

By FWi staff

AN internet company which planned to sell agricultural supplies to farmers over the internet has postponed its plans indefinitely because of foot-and-mouth.

Agrifirst.co.uk, the UK trading arm of the French online retailer Agrifirst.com,
was due to open an online one-stop-shop for agricultural inputs this spring.

But in a statement on the companys website, chief executive Michael Dickinson said: “The climate simply isnt right for launching Agrifirst in the UK.

He added: The situation is unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future.

Mr Dickinson said the group would now invest its time and money France, where he described the potential for growth as immediate and sustainable.

Agrifirst was confident of attracting further finance for the expansion of their business in continental Europe, the statement said.