Some business ideas are so brilliantly simple that you wonder why someone has not come up with them before. In 2020, a small group of friends set up Roots Allotments, offering private allotment plots to communities round the UK. The lucky people who rent them do not get just an overgrown patch of weeds to start working on (which is often the case with council-run allotments), they start off with a fully cleared, compost-rich patch of land ready to plant. They also receive seeds, plug plants, instructions and horticultural support – not only at the beginning of their allotment journey, but month by month that year, the following year and every subsequent year. It almost sounds too good to be true, but Will Gay, his twin brother Josh, Christian Samuel and Ed Morrison have developed a system that runs like clockwork.
The idea for the business came about as a result of the lockdowns. Disillusioned by his job in advertising, Ed had escaped from London during the pandemic to live with his grandmother in Devon, where he took over part of her garden to grow vegetables. He returned to London in December 2021 a different person, waxing lyrical about growing food. ‘I felt such a mental and physical boost from growing veg, it kept me sane,’ explains Ed. ‘I discovered Charles Dowding and his no-dig method, and it was a revelation. When I got back to London, I was banging on about it to Will and Christian, and we decided to get an allotment together.’
However, as they quickly discovered, it was almost impossible to obtain one. ‘We were shocked at the waiting lists,’ says Will. ‘At our age, we’d have to wait a lifetime to get a plot.’ They realised that people like them, who were keen to grow their own organic food, would welcome an alternative. ‘We researched the allotment waiting list statistics and discovered you’d have to wait 33 years in Camden, 28 years in Lambeth and 14 years in Bristol. Most councils don’t come anywhere near fulfilling their legal requirement to provide allotments, so we thought somebody else needed to step in. We did the numbers and realised there was a viable business here. So Ed and I quit our jobs and left London.’
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They set up the first Roots allotment site in March 2022 at Tuckers Meadow, near Bath, and have since opened four more: another in Bath; one in Stourbridge in the West Midlands; one in Leeds; and one in Croydon. Another will soon open in Bristol. Will takes on the operational side of the business, managing the site construction, while Christian deals with planning and strategy and Ed develops the horticultural and educational aspects of the business. Josh, who manages a regenerative farm near Bath, acts as a consultant. Always on the lookout for new sites, they have several in the pipeline and hope to work directly with councils to offer allotments to people on existing waiting lists. ‘We provide four sizes of patch. The standard one is three metres by 12 metres – smaller than a traditional allotment and a more realistic size if you work full time,’ explains Will. Time – or the lack of it – is at the crux of their strategy and the reason they provide pre-prepared plots and the means to get started. ‘You can turn up and begin planting 15 minutes later,’ he continues.
Paying a monthly fee (from £9.99 for a mini patch), members become part of a friendly, sharing community with access to online growing advice. Everyone gets a welcome-pack tote bag containing seeds to start them off in spring and, throughout the year, there are plug-plant parties at which members can pick up free vegetable plants. Each site has a horticulturally trained patch manager, who is on hand five days a week to give advice, and there is a buzzing WhatsApp group for members to share knowledge and ideas. For anyone worried about not keeping up with their plot, Roots offers weeding and watering services, bookable online. Ed runs a programme of educational courses for schools and other groups, while members volunteer their skills to host different events – from worm workshops to cookery courses – which often take place in the allotment’s communal tipi.
With the no-dig gardening method at the heart of everything they do, the Roots founders are adamant that each site must be chemical-free and managed as sustainably as possible. Josh’s experience in regenerative farming has taught them about soil health and each site is built using minimal machinery. The plots are made by piling 8cm of compost on top of a thin layer of weed-suppressing cardboard. Compost and manure is provided for members throughout the year, so everyone can maintain their patches using the no-dig technique. Up to 20 per cent of each site is left clear for wildflowers or trees, including communal orchards and edible hedges to provide habitats for insects and other wildlife. Most importantly, the members are growing their own produce, making them less reliant on mainstream, carbon-guzzling food chains. ‘So much supermarket produce travels hundreds of miles before hitting our plates,’ says Will. ‘It’s not doing us or the planet any good. We want healthy humans and a healthy planet, and a no-dig allotment is a great way to start making a contribution.’
Growing food organically may be the motivation for anyone taking on an allotment, but they are also likely to be healthier and happier. ‘We’ve been blown away by people’s responses – 93 per cent of our members say we’ve improved their wellbeing,’ Will observes. ‘We thought sustainability would be the main driver, but mental and physical health is as important.’ The wellbeing of these hard-working entrepreneurs has also improved. They are now living the dream in Somerset with the shared allotment plot they could not get in London. ‘And we don’t have to wait until we retire to get to the top of the waiting list,’ says Will proudly.
Roots Allotments: rootsallotments.com
