Growing the future under pressure: Nature Minister joins HTA event in Westminster

24 March 2026

Today, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) hosted its largest-ever ‘Plants in Parliament’ event, joined by Mary Creagh MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature at Defra. The event highlighted the importance of Britain’s original green businesses amid rising costs.

The HTA’s Plants in Parliament events began as a small drop-in session in November 2023 at Portcullis House. Since then, they have grown significantly in both scale and influence, with more and more plants carried along the corridors of power as an increasing number of parliamentarians queued to engage with HTA members and the team. Today’s spring reception was hosted for the first time in the larger Attlee Suite due to the growing support from MPs and Peers across the political spectrum.

Speaking at the event, HTA Chief Executive Fran Barnes highlighted both the scale of the sector’s contribution and the increasing pressures facing businesses.

Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the HTA, said:

“Plants in Parliament is about recognising the enormous value that environmental horticulture delivers to our economy, our environment and our communities.

“Our members are the businesses behind that impact, supporting 722,000 jobs and contributing £38 billion to the UK economy, while creating the green spaces that cool our towns and cities, improve air quality, boost flood resilience and support biodiversity. We are, quite literally, growing the future of this country.

“Every plant we took to parliament – and every plant in every cultivated green space – has been produced by a business. But the future of these vital businesses is under increasing pressure. While sales have grown, rising costs mean many businesses will need to increase turnover by 10–15% just to stand still. The increases to National Living Wage and National Insurance Contributions alone added around £134 million of additional cost to the industry, alongside business rates pressures, supply chain disruption, inheritance tax changes, energy costs and new regulatory burdens.

“For many businesses - particularly SMEs, which make up 90% of our sector - the past four years have meant tighter margins, reduced investment, growing uncertainty and less investment in the business as a result. Policymakers cannot continue to look at these pressures in isolation. The cumulative impact is what matters.

“Environmental horticulture delivers the green infrastructure we depend on for the environment, biodiversity, health and wellbeing and growing our green economy. Now is the time to recognise that and back the sector to grow.”

Mary Creagh MP, the Nature Minister, also addressed attendees, recognising the vital contribution of environmental horticulture to nature recovery, green infrastructure and communities across the UK.

Attendees were welcomed into a vibrant display of houseplants, bedding plants, and herbs supplied by HTA member Capital Gardens. They were invited to take plants back to their offices or constituencies, and this year, they could also pick up a DIY plant kit, complete with seeds from Crocus and materials from Mr Fothergill’s, to experience the growing process firsthand.

Event sponsor Ben Goldsborough MP said:

“It’s a pleasure once again to support the HTA’s Plants in Parliament event and to see it go from strength to strength, bringing more colleagues together each year to celebrate the UK’s environmental horticulture sector.

“This is an industry that delivers real value, not just economically, but for our communities and our environment. Events like this are an important opportunity to connect policymakers with the businesses behind that impact and to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.”

The HTA continues to build on the success of ‘Plants in Parliament’ as a platform for engagement between policymakers and industry, ensuring environmental horticulture is recognised as a strategic sector, capable of driving growth, supporting climate and biodiversity goals, and improving quality of life throughout the UK.