About us

David Symondson

Chairman

David joined his father, Warwick Symondson, in the mid-80's at a time when Warwick was innovating production techniques for the supply of young vegetable plants to the farming community. This became the genesis of Quantil as it is today, which David and Barry have expanded via glasshouse production and movement into new products. Throughout this time, David has been chairman of the company whilst developing his other interests in the private equity world.

Outside business activities, David enjoys country pursuits, skiing, culture and relaxing with his family.

Barry Pape

Managing Director

Barry joined the Quantil family in 1988 as Manager of (what was then) Quantil Seeds Limited. Now Managing Director of Quantil Limited and our sister business, Quantil Agriculture, Barry heads up the team of Directors, providing essential support, managing projects and acquisitions, and reporting to David Symondson, the owner. He spearheads long-term strategy for both Quantil Limited and Quantil Agriculture, and was a driving force in one of the most significant developments in Quantil's history: taking the business into the glasshouse sector and producing plants for the retail market.

Outside of work, Barry likes to garden, watch sports, and spend time with his family.

Stuart Blackhurst

Production Director

Stuart joined Quantil as Production Supervisor in 1995. He was appointed Production Manager in 2000. In 2015, he became the Director of Production, overseeing the development and innovation of production techniques and product lines. Stuart ensures that resources are utilised and revenue is generated all year round, helping to maintain a balance between peak and low season. He oversees Health and Safety, HR, sales and accounts, quality control, and staff structure.

Outside of work, Stuart loves weekends away to the coast with his family, and is fond of dining out.

Mark Clementson

Retail Sales Director

Mark has nearly 40 years of experience working across various aspects of horticulture, including nursery production, retail and sales. He joined Quantil in 2011, managing our key accounts, retail sales strategy and business development. Mark also takes the lead on the development of our retail products and ranges, as well as stock buying and programming.

Outside of work, Mark loves gardening and DIY, and adventuring on his paddle board.

Fiona Houghton

Nursery Sales Director

Fiona started working for Warwick Symondson, Quantil's founder, aged 16. She began as an office junior in the farm office and has worked many different roles, helping to shape how the business has grown over the years. She became director of Quantil Limited in 1996. In her role as director of Nursery Sales in the horticultural business, she takes the lead in sales and logistics for module production, as well as having a supporting role in other areas of the company.

When not working, Fiona enjoys spending time with her family and friends. A keen equestrian and dog lover, she loves being outdoors with her animals.

Jeanette Tillery

Financial Director

Jeanette joined the company in 2021 as our Financial Director. She takes the lead on our accounting strategy and financial planning, safeguarding the company’s finances, understanding our competitors, and analysing the profit drivers for the business. As well as the day to day running of all the finances, Jeanette also takes an overview of the business, streamlining processes and ensuring that we respond to the new challenges of the industry in a positive, efficient way.

Jeanette loves being in the great outdoors and is a keen horse rider, hiker and dog lover. She has a flat-coated retriever and a Dutch Warmblood called Mr Bo.

Colin Holmes

Head of Retail Production & Development

Colin has been working in the industry since leaving high school at 16 and brings a wealth of experience to his role. Supporting Stuart Blackhurst within the nursery, he is involved in developing new products, product design, and purchasing for the Herb range. With his expertise, Colin is focused on expanding our product range, to allow us to offer customers a greater variety & enhance our buying options to meet their needs.

Outside of work, Colin enjoys dining out with family and friends, traveling abroad, and playing golf when time allows. He is also an active member of the local crown green bowling community.

Simon Brown

Assistant Nursery Manager

Simon joined Quantil in 2000 as a Nursery worker. He is now in charge of all aspects of the running and regulation of the glasshouses, including irrigation, climate control and maintenance. He is responsible for the planning of growing activities, and organises space allocation.

When he's not on-site looking after his 16,000 poultry unit for free range egg production, Simon likes to caravan and go for long walks.

John Blackhurst

Site Nursery Manager

John joined Quantil in the late 1990s as a Nursery worker. As Site Manager, he works to ensure that the product we grow is high quality. He manages the day-to-day duties of Nursery staff and oversees the running of operations in the glasshouses.

In his spare time, John loves to go on long walks with his dog, and adventuring abroad on holiday.

Chris Lyon

Assistant Nursery Manager

Chris joined Quantil as a Nursery worker in 2010. Now Assistant Manager, he works alongside John supervising day-to-day activities at our Martin Lane site, with a particular focus on the herb crop. He also oversees the distribution of stock and activities in the pack house.

Outside of work, Chris loves to watch his son play football and rugby league, and his daughter play netball. He enjoys walking the dog, going for a pint, and socialising with friends.

Dave Lea

Transport Manager

David joined Quantil in 1975, beginning his career in the mill on the seed side of the business, where he gained hands-on experience working all aspects of farm production, and conducting crop inspections. Through dedication and hard work, David advanced within the company and was promoted to Transport Manager.

In his current role, David ensures that Quantil’s transport operations run safely, legally, and efficiently. He oversees staff, vehicles, and logistics to meet both business requirements and customer needs. His responsibilities include managing vehicle maintenance, planning schedules, and optimizing routes for maximum efficiency. Along side this David is responsible for the purchasing of seed, packaging, & all our essential horticultural supplies required for retail sales.

Outside of work, David enjoys attending music festivals with his family, watching Manchester United and other sports, and relaxing with a pint at his local pub.

Peter Davies

Account Manager (South)

Before his role at Quantil, Peter accrued 28 years of experience as a Plant Area Manager in garden centres. He joined the team in 2018 as Sales Executive for the south of the UK. He regularly visits existing and new customers, cultivating relationships, taking reserve orders, and ensuring their requirements for the season are met.

Outside of work, Peter enjoys gardening and getting stuck into a DIY project.

Paul Morrissey

Key Accounts Manager (North)

Paul brings over 20 years of experience in the printing industry, having worked across a wide range of roles from production through to business development management. He joined Quantil in September 2024, bringing with him a wealth of commercial knowledge and a strong background in customer relationship management and creative problem solving.

At Quantil, Paul manages our Northern territories while assisting Mark with our major group accounts, POS initiatives, and product development projects. He enjoys applying his experience to a new industry, embracing the challenge of learning the horticultural sector and helping customers bring their retail ranges to life.

Outside of work, Paul enjoys travelling, watching Liverpool FC, eating out, and socialising with friends and family.

Kieron Barnes

Production and Operations Support

Kieron joined Quantil in November 2022 as Trainee Production Planner and Grower, a diverse role that allowed him to become familiar with many areas of the business. A year later, he progressed to his current role, in which he uses his mathematical and spreadsheet skills to assist with production planning and sales-related tasks. He has also been given the responsibility of monitoring production waste and presenting regular waste reports to the management team. Finally, he has been studying the programming language Python, with the focus of integrating it into Microsoft Excel to broaden the capabilities of the software; for example, he has been experimenting with a prototype automatic order generator, which is able to take account of factors such as stock availability and garden-centre size to produce instant provisional orders for the large garden-centre groups that Quantil serves.

Outside of work, Kieron is often meeting friends in Manchester, and loves poetry and art.

Eve Heaton

Sales Office Manager

Joining in February 2023, Eve joins us from a large online retailer, bringing many years of customer service knowledge and third party logistics experience. Eves responsibilities include; Implementing, Improving & maintaining procedures/office administrative systems. Organising training, ensuring that the team have what is needed to work in the most efficient way possible. Overseeing administrative activities that facilitate the smooth running of an office. Ensuring that office equipment is maintained, relevant records are up to date and that all administration processes work effectively. Supporting the team with order processing and dispatch during our peak season.

Outside of work, Eve enjoys going to Food & music festivals, concerts, eating out, and camping during the spring & summer with her children.

Anita Lea

Sales Administrator

Anita joined the team in 2008 as a Sales Administrator. She provides administrative support for our sales team, including processing orders, issuing invoices, and as a point of contact with clients. As an account manager, Anita processes orders from our web shop, sets up new accounts, and deals with credits and aged debt.

Outside of work, Anita loves long walks, cooking and spending time with friends.

Anne Leyland

Sales Administrator

Anne joined the team in 2011 as Sales Administrator. She liaises with customers, processes orders and issues invoices, as well as coordinating our hauliers. Anne also manages some of the sales accounts of our key clients, and provides essential support for the team in building sales.

Anne is a rugby season ticket holder, and loves to unwind with a good book or long walk with the dogs.

Jan Morley

Module Administrator

Jan joined the team in 2019 as Module Administrator. She ensures the smooth running of all the module sales orders, processing and invoicing them, ensuring goods are correctly delivered and that there are sufficient stocks, and helping with the recruitment of seasonal staff.

Outside of work Jan loves to spend time with friends and family, and helping take care of her young grandchildren.

Kerry Davidson

Sales Administrator

Kerry joined Quantil in February 2024 as Sales Office Administrator. Being the newest member of the Sales Team, Kerry supports the team by managing administrative tasks such as processing orders and payments, arranging deliveries, maintaining customer records, and handling company correspondence. Kerry ensures excellent customer service at every point of contact.

Outside of work, Kerry enjoys spending time outdoors caravanning, walking and gardening. She is passionate about travelling and exploring different cultures. She is also an active member of the local crochet group, the Southport Hookers, helping create post box toppers and contributing to various community/charity projects around Southport.

Amanda Berkley

Accounts Assistant

Amanda provides accounting and clerical support to our accounts department. Working with Sage, both sales and purchase ledgers, bank reconciliations, producing statements, processing invoices, & handling invoice queries. Supporting our Financial Director with the preparation of annual statutory accounts. Ensuring payments, amounts and records are correct. Recording and filing cash transactions.

Amanda enjoys lunches out with friends, reading, and is an avid cat lover. Amanda currently has her own handsome cat called Go-Go!

Izzy Walker

Accounts Assistant

Izzy joined the company in 2013, beginning her career as an administration assistant at Quantil where she supported Fiona on our commercial module team. After gaining valuable experience as part of this team, Izzy decided to follow her interest in finance — studying during the evenings to achieve her AAT Level 4 Diploma in Professional Accounting. Izzy is responsible for Payroll, inputting invoices, allocating payments & accounts queries.

Following 12 months of maternity leave in 2022, Izzy now balances her professional role in finance with family life, continuing to contribute to the company’s success part time.

Outside of work, Izzy loves spending time outdoors with her son. She is an avid fan of Disney and Disneyland, and enjoys taking regular holidays there with her family, with each visit evolving as her son grows older!

Caroline Wilcock

Financial Controller

Caroline joined Quantil in February 2025 as a full-time, hands-on Financial Controller, reporting directly to the Financial Director. Her main objective is to ensure that all financial data is accurate, timely, and aligned with Quantil’s strategic goals. She plays a key role in supporting sound financial management and informed decision-making across the business.

Outside of work, Caroline enjoys spending time in the garden and listening to music of all genres.