A firm licensed to grow and sell medicinal cannabis near Burton is eyeing up an expansion scheme due to surging demand.
Castle Donington-based Dalgety, which produces and distributes the plant from its base at East Midlands Airport, says it plans to create a further 50 jobs after it was given the green light from the Home Office to grow its products earlier this year.
Bossses say demand for medicinal cannabis in the UK continues to rise, with the first-ever parliamentary debate on the topic held last month.
Chief operating officer at Dalgety James Leavesy told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We’ve been working hard to push forward with our plans to harness this rapidly expanding market.
“With our state-of-the-art facility, the licence approval and now our first crop growing, Dalgety’s position is strong. It was also interesting to hear the discussion with MPs last month, where the accessibility of medicinal cannabis was put forward in relation to its enormous potential for the UK economy.
“This shows huge promise for Dalgety and all those within the industry that are looking to help patients with high-quality GMP-approved cannabis.
“Our operation was able to get off the ground after several years of research and planning, with our founders having contributed to the first round of investment.
“It is now time for us to take the next step to support the expansion of our team in finance, quality and regulation, medicinal research and development roles.
“This will enable us to ramp up production, improve the supply chain for complete control and create a better value product for the end user. A second round of investment will also help us develop our highly secure and purpose-built, indoor growing facility.”
Dalgety, which was founded in 2016, supplies its products directly to the medical industry, and they are given out to patients on prescription.
The products range from dried flower to concentrated extracts including crystals, liquids and concentrates, all grown in-house and harvested within the state-of-the-art facility.
Medical cannabis is used in the treatment of chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, MS, epilepsy, or to relieve symptoms of the side effects of chemotherapy.
Its use to treat other illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s disease, PTSD, sleep issues, anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis and heart conditions is being researched.
Source: staffordshire-live
Image: Pexels
