When police arrived at the field outside Bristol in October 2023, two old cars, wheels removed, were blockading the gates. Protesters had hauled them across the entrance to stop developers building on the slice of north Somerset green belt. The threat was not housing or industry, but a company building vegetable patches.
Roots builds privatised allotments to give city dwelling customers a place to grow food. It was co-founded in 2021 by Christian Samuel, Ed Morrison and William Gay, who were frustrated by a 28-year waiting list for a plot in their area of Streatham, south London. “We thought: ‘This is crazy’,” says Samuel, 32. “‘Why don’t we just build our own?’”
The idea was a runaway success. Roots now has 20 sites from London to Leeds, and nearly 5,000 customers. Last October the founders announced a £6m fundraise. Backers included Terry Leahy, the former Tesco chief executive and Mark Selby, co-founder of Wahaca restaurants. There are early plans for a site in Austin, Texas – Roots’ first abroad.
View image in fullscreen Roots co-founder Christian Samuel at the Meadow Hill Fields site in Croydon. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
The startup leases farmland and turns it into plots that it rents out on subscription. Prices range from £9.99 to £49.99 a month for a patch of up to 108 sq metres.
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