Grow Up Urban Farms

GrowUp is an urban farming business that produces fresh fish, salads and herbs in cities using a combination of aquaponic and vertical growing technologies. Founded at the start of 2013 by Kate Hofman and Tom Webster, GrowUp aims to become the market leader in commercial aquaponic urban farming in the UK.

Aquaponics, a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, is an efficient recirculating system where water is cycled from fish tanks through soilless growing beds for plants and back to the tanks. The plants absorb the waste nutrients in the water, and in turn, clean the water for the fish, removing the need for fossil-fuel derived chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

By combining aquaponics with vertical growing using LED lighting, GrowUp farms are designed for year-round sustainable high-density and high-yield commercial food production in low-carbon cities. Our farming technique maximises our yield per square metre, a necessity in cities where the price of land is at a premium.

With a growing cycle between 7 and 31 days year-round, crops can be grown to order and delivered to customers within 12 hours of harvest. We grow high quality environmentally-friendly produce for local markets, specialising in varieties of green leafy salads and herbs, including high-value crops like Basil and Micro-greens. We can also work with local businesses to grow crops they would normally struggle to get hold of, or have to import.