Jones Food Company

Jones Food Company grew herbs and leafy greens in large indoor vertical farms. Founded by James Lloyd-Jones and incorporated in November 2016, it opened JFC1 in Scunthorpe in 2018, then billed as Europe's largest vertical farm and a major UK supplier of cut basil, and in 2023–24 opened JFC2, a £23.5m facility at Lydney in Gloucestershire, plus an innovation centre in Bristol. Ocado Group took a 58% stake in 2019 and later increased it to a majority holding; the company also raised a £25m round in 2021 and a further £3.65m in 2023. Its accounts recorded continuing operating losses and reliance on shareholder support, and directors had flagged the need for more funding. Production stopped and the doors closed on 7 April 2025, when Damian Webb and Stephanie Sutton of RSM UK were appointed joint administrators; 61 staff were made redundant and 11 kept on while the business and assets were marketed.

RSM UK's administrators closed both farms, made 61 staff redundant and retained 11 to maintain the sites while seeking a buyer for the business or assets. The administration was extended in March 2026 and progress reports were filed in November 2025 and May 2026; no completed sale had been reported in the sources reviewed.

Capital-intensive vertical farming needed repeated external funding to cover operating losses, and when the majority shareholder stopped increasing its commitment the business had no route to profitability at scale. The failure tracked a wider sector pattern (Plenty, AeroFarms, Kalera, AppHarvest).