After nearly 30 years advising ornamental growers in East Anglia and the East Midlands, we were sorry to say goodbye to our technical area sales manager John Clarke - who retired at the end of May.  Replacing him, we are delighted to welcome experienced nurseryman Carl Mason, also based in Lincolnshire.

ICL's new technical manager for East Midlands Carl Mason

On leaving school, Carl trained in cut flowers and studied part time at Brackenhurst College becoming a Craftsman in Horticulture. Having spent ten years working with bedding and brassicas, he joined Lincolnshire-based Bell Brothers Nurseries working his way up to Production Manager.  Carl joins ICL having gained 12 years experience working with a variety of bedding and pot plant crops propagated from seeds, cuttings and bulbs. 

 “Carl already has considerable practical growing experience as well as in-depth knowledge of our products,” says ICL sales manager Adrian Thirtle-Watts.  “He will be a valuable addition to our technical team advising and working with growers to maximise the benefits of our industry leading products.”

Newly retired John Clarke joined ICL in 2007, with 17 years of similar sales experience already under his belt. “Back in the 90’s it was a simple job selling growing media and fertilizer as growers would generally compare products purely on price,” he recalls. “There were a handful of different growing media mixes and a small range of water soluble fertilizers. Move forward thirty years and, while you still have to be price competitive, the industry has become increasingly technical and demands a high level of technical input from suppliers.

“With a career dedicated to horticulture, John is extremely knowledgeable and well known in his region,” says Adrian Thirtle-Watts.  A larger than life character, we are going to miss him greatly and wish him a long and happy retirement.”

While John is looking forward initially to relaxing, this is unlikely to last long as he plans to take to the road again this time in his Morgan Roadster 3.7. “I’m looking forward to putting a few cherished miles on the clock,” he says.