company, he responded by declaring a freeze in relations with the BZW
team.^11 Meanwhile assurances were given that the final go-ahead for Tilade
would follow shortly.
On the scientific equipment front, Fisons had continued to grow more by
acquisition than by organic means throughout the late 1980s. By 1990, the
scientific equipment business ranked third or fourth in the world, behind
the computer giant Hewlett Packard, and some leading German firms. The
cyclical nature of the business meant that it was generally regarded by ana-
lysts as vulnerable to economic downturns, despite protestations to the
contrary by Fisons.^8
Meanwhile the small, sound Horticulture Division plodded along
happily, providing a modest but steady stream of profits, with only the
occasional hiccup resulting from fluctuations in the price of peat. As a
‘third leg’ to the business it was too small to be capable of offsetting losses
in the larger divisions, so was largely ignored by analysts. Latterly,
however, the division’s peat-cutting activities had developed into some-
thing of a cause celebreamong other sections of the population.
Problems with peat
Fisons had first become involved in the peat business with the acquisition
of large peat deposits in the 1960s. The tracts of land brought with them
long-standing planning permission for commercial peat extraction. To
exploit the resource, Fisons had invested heavily over many years in peat-
working and processing equipment. Traditionally peat had been used for
fuel or animal litter, but a sustained marketing effort by the company suc-
ceeded in establishing it as an important horticultural product. Value-
added peat products, such as peat plant pots and growbags, were
subsequently developed. By 1990, consumption of peat in the UK had risen
to some 2.5 million cubic metres per year. In terms of volume, between 70
and 80 per cent of the market was in commercial horticulture. Fisons held
around 60 per cent of this sector. In monetary terms, the UK market for
peat and peat products was worth around £200 million per annum, with
annual sales to the lucrative amateur gardening sector estimated to be in
the region of £66 million.^13
Britain has over one and a half million hectares of peatlands, but the fine-
quality peat sold to gardeners came almost exclusively from active peat
bogs classified by conservationists as ‘raised lowland mires’. These mires
accounted for only a tiny proportion of the country’s total peatlands, but
were important wildlife habitats, havens for many rare and endangered
wetland species. By 1990 less than 10,000 hectares of the raised lowland
mires remained intact. The peat producers owned just over 5200 hectares
of them; over two-thirds of these (3432 hectares) had been designated as
274 Relationship Marketing