Yorkshire environmental business shows mushrooming diversity

Yorkshire based Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms outlined how its products can be used successfully in the bioremediation and pharmaceutical sector at the White Rose University Consortium Bioscience Forum today (03 November).

Formed in 2002, Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms is the European leader in mycelium propogation technology and the only UK company replicating mushroom mycelium. Its products are developed on a continual cycle to ensure peak viability and it supplies mushroom spawn to mushroom growers throughout the UK.

The company is seeking £500,000 to develop a new production facility and grow its sales, marketing and finance functions. Pitching to investors at the Bioforum’s investment track, Managing director Peter Watson explained: “We have three main markets. Firstly, for the end consumer we supply ‘grow your own’ kits, and mushroom spawn to farmers. Secondly the bioremediation market offers us an excellent opportunity as we can provide spawn that will draw impurities out of landfill or waste wood. Finally, certain mushroom strains have medicinal properties, for example, oyster mushrooms are cholesterol reducers, and with society increasingly turning towards natural solutions to health problems, there’s a large market in the pharmaceutical sector.

This is the first time the White Rose University Consortium Bioscience Forum has included an investment track. The track was run by Connect Yorkshire which specialises in training and mentoring for technology companies seeking finance. It also organises Investment Conference twice a year to bring technology companies together with investors.

Simon Browning, managing director of Connect Yorkshire says: “Gourmet Woodland Mushrooms already has many satisfied customers in the retail trade – they have developed some unusual and innovative products and now need investment to capitalise on their know-how by developing a state-of-the-art production facility in the Yorkshire and Humber region. This would be the only such facility in the whole of the UK, and would underpin significant growth including the potential to develop international sales.”

Simon Donoghue, acting chief executive of the White Rose University Consortium said: “This investment track has demonstrated to delegates the wealth of novel bioscience research being undertaken in the region. We hope that this opportunity will result in further funding for the companies, allowing their technologies to be developed further.”