Booming eco startup scene cements Bristol's credentials as green city

Bristol has become a fertile ground for small businesses with an eco agenda. What is fuelling the city's environmental powerhouse?

A downtown district of Bristol mainly populated with commercial warehouses and scrap metal yards isn't where you'd expect to find an urban farm. But Grow Bristol isn't your average farm. Run out of recycled shipping containers, it uses innovative ways to sustainably farm fish and salad vegetables, to sell direct to Bristol's consumers and to the city's restaurant trade clients.

"We're talking about food metres, not food miles," says Dermot O'Regan, one of the company's founders. The business uses hydroponic and aquaponic systems to grow leafy greens and farm tilapia, with the waste from the fish used to feed the plants. The enterprise is still in early stages - O'Regan explains that they're just getting ready for their first sales - but he's confident there's an appetite for what Grow Bristol has to offer among the local community.