GrowHow UK Ltd is to be the new name for the joint venture company formed by Kemira GrowHow Oyj and Terra Industries Inc. The company will begin trading on 1 October 2007 and will be responsible for the combined Terra and Kemira GrowHow fertiliser and associated process chemical businesses in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

The new Chief Executive Officer is Paul Thompson who moves from his current post as Vice President Sales & Marketing at Terra’s headquarters in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. Paul is a chartered engineer and a graduate of Sheffield University who has worked in varied roles within ICI and Terra. “This is an exciting development and a true integration of two great fertiliser businesses. It will allow us to improve our competitiveness in what is now a global market securing a sustainable future for our customers and employees,” he says.

Joining Paul Thompson on the GrowHow management team from Kemira GrowHow will be Simon Walkington as Chief Financial Officer (formerly UK company secretary) and David Stacey as Commercial Director (formerly UK managing director). From Terra Nitrogen UK comes Carol Devlin as Chief Administrative Officer (formerly UK managing director) and Ashraf Malik as Manufacturing Director adding the Kemira GrowHow site at Ince, near Chester, to his current responsibilities for Billingham and Severnside.

The new company’s head office will be located at Ince. The Terra UK head office in Thornaby on Teesside will close. Where possible, alternative vacancies will be sought for those employees who are at risk of redundancy. All three production sites will focus on identifying improvement opportunities and eliminating inefficiencies. The new company is as committed as its predecessors to manufacturing products to the highest levels of quality and service at competitive cost. Product wise the two companies are a natural fit. Terra’s focus is on Ammonium Nitrate and the market leading brand, Nitram, whilst Kemira GrowHow’s strength is in NPK, NPKS and NS products. Terra’s well-known ‘blue bag’ livery will be adopted across the whole product range.

The new Commercial Director David Stacey adds, “Farmers will continue to have access to world class fertilisers and to a full range of advice and support services through our own GrowHow Advisers or from the distributor GrowHow Fieldsmen.”

The announcement follows final approval for the joint venture which was given by the UK Competition Commission on 14 September 2007. The new company will be the largest producer of ammonium nitrate and compound fertilisers in the UK.

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