top of page

Johnsons Nurseries Supplies Plants For Rockliffe‘s Multimillion-Pound Transformation



One of the UK’s largest plant nurseries, Johnsons Nurseries Ltd, has continued its long-standing relationship with the five-star luxury resort, Rockliffe, supplying more than 17,000 plants and trees for its newly landscaped grounds as part of its multimillion-pound transformation.


Set within 375 acres of historic parkland near Darlington, Rockliffe has undergone an extensive transformation, including the restoration of its Grade II-listed Old Hall, enhanced accommodation, new dining experiences, and the creation of a standalone restaurant pavilion named Atlas.


The ambitious project has seen the resort's gardens and outdoor spaces transformed to complement the renovated and new buildings, creating an attractive and welcoming environment for guests.


The landscape and planting scheme was designed by Colour Landscape Architects, while Johnsons Nurseries supplied an extensive selection of shrubs, trees, instant hedging, ornamental grasses, flowering perennials and topiary, creating year-round interest throughout the newly landscaped grounds.


Among the varieties supplied were mature Scots pines, multi-stem Amelanchier lamarckii and Magnolia trees, alongside instant Carpinus betulus hedging and ornamental Taxus baccata topiary. The planting scheme also features an extensive mix of flowering perennials and ornamental grasses, including Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', Geranium 'Rozanne', Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', Calamagrostis and Deschampsia, providing seasonal colour, texture and movement throughout the gardens.


The landscaping was carried out in-house by Rockliffe’s Estates team, led by Head of Engineering & Estates Phil Mennell.


Despite one of the hottest and driest summers, the team worked tirelessly to establish thousands of plants and trees, extensive hedging and new lawn areas, overcoming challenging conditions and tight deadlines to complete the grounds ahead of the resort's reopening.


Group Managing Director at Johnsons Nurseries, Graham Richardson, said:

"We're incredibly proud to have supplied the plants for Rockliffe’s newly transformed gardens as part of this prestigious development."

"From the restoration of the historic walled garden to this latest transformation, it's rewarding to see how the grounds have evolved. The finished gardens look fantastic, and we're delighted to have played a part in creating outdoor spaces that guests can enjoy for years to come."


Phil Mennell, Head of Engineering & Estates at Rockliffe, added:

"This has been one of the most ambitious landscaping projects we've undertaken at Rockliffe, and I'm incredibly proud of what our Estates team has achieved. Working closely with Johnsons Nurseries has been invaluable, ensuring we had the quality and variety of plants needed to bring the designs to life."

"It's been fantastic to see the gardens transform, and I'm looking forward to watching them establish and mature for our guests to enjoy for many years to come."


Emma Fletcher, Director at Colour Landscape Architects, said:

 “Johnsons have been a great support on the delivery of the new gardens at Rockliffe, assisting us on species choices and availability from early design stages and providing flexibility in deliveries to align with the challenging project programme."

"We are delighted that the completed gardens have been so well received, and a large part of that is the impact that the planting beds and stock have had.”


The completed gardens complement the resort's historic parkland setting, enhancing the guest experience and marking another chapter in Johnsons' long-standing relationship with Rockliffe, which reopened at the beginning of September.


Most Read

V12 Retail Finance Q3 Data Shows Home Improvement Finance More Than Doubling

V12 Retail Finance Q3 Data Shows Home Improvement Finance More Than Doubling

New quarterly data from V12 Retail Finance shows that UK consumers continued to turn to point-of-sale finance for high-value purchases in the third quarter of 2026.

High Street Gloom as Leicester City Centre Welcomes New Openings

High Street Gloom as Leicester City Centre Welcomes New Openings

Leicester continues to buck the national narrative of high street closures as a new wave of restaurants, cafés, fashion stores and independent businesses open their doors across the city centre.

Hill Cross Furniture Raises £1,500 For Overgate Hospice

Hill Cross Furniture Raises £1,500 For Overgate Hospice

North Yorkshire furniture specialist Hill Cross Furniture has presented £1,500 to Overgate Hospice after taking on a 1,042-mile cycling challenge inspired by the team’s work on the hospice’s new Inpatient Unit.

Categories

Dec 5, 2023
2 min read

Eatron Technologies and About:Energy have been awarded funding from UKRI’s Faraday Battery Challenge to develop a first-of-its-kind AI-powered decision engine that delivers increased battery longevity, accelerates time-to-market, and cements the UK’s position as a global leader in AI-powered intelligent battery management systems.


Current battery management systems (BMS) rely on simple, empirical methods that sacrifice accuracy in return for reduced computational effort. Conventional AI-powered methods, meanwhile, remain challenging to integrate within the BMS due to their complexity, demanding training process, and the need for large volumes of input data.


The new project – dubbed aiMAGINE – brings together About:Energy’s pioneering high-fidelity electrochemical battery models that achieve rapid and accurate calibration with Eatron’s unique edge and AI-powered cloud platform. Combined they will deliver highly accurate assessments of state-of-charge (SoC), state-of-health (SoH) and patented remaining useful life (RUL) predictions.


AI complements the electrochemical models, enhancing predictions by accounting for complex physical behaviours that cannot be modelled. As a result, the pioneering new AI-powered decision engine (AI-DE) will provide highly accurate operational parameters to the BMS, significantly increasing battery pack longevity and simplifying integration.


“Implementing our novel AI-powered intelligent battery software layer with this revolutionary AI-DE can extend a battery pack’s first life by up to 20%,” said Dr Umut Genc, CEO of Eatron. “This makes it possible for OEMs to design optimally-sized, more cost-effective battery packs, and this actively contributes to our sustainable e-mobility goals by reducing raw material consumption and CO2 emissions.”


“The use of our advanced electrochemical models vastly streamlines AI model training, and this facilitates both ease of integration and a reduced time-to-market for OEMs and Tier 1s,” said Dr Kieran O'Regan, Co-Founder and COO of About:Energy. “The high-fidelity modelling reduces the need for physical experiments while delivering a clearer, more accurate picture of battery health. Armed with this information, an AI-DE-equipped BMS can deliver not just a longer battery lifetime, but faster charging times, too.”


Eatron and About:Energy will capitalise on their existing relationships with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to develop the system for use in both 2- and 4-wheeled electric vehicles. The two businesses collaboratively applied for the grant after sowing the seeds for a partnership at the Battery Technology Global Business Innovation Programme in Japan, where Innovate UK brought together some of the UK’s most promising innovators in the battery development and technology space.


The funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Faraday Battery Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK, is part of an £11 million package that aims to accelerate the development and commercialisation of state-of-the-art battery technologies in the UK and support growth of the supply chain in the UK battery sector. It forms a key part of the UK Government’s net zero transport goals and supports job creation in cutting-edge AI technologies and increased consumer confidence in electric vehicles.


Most Read

V12 Retail Finance Q3 Data Shows Home Improvement Finance More Than Doubling

V12 Retail Finance Q3 Data Shows Home Improvement Finance More Than Doubling

New quarterly data from V12 Retail Finance shows that UK consumers continued to turn to point-of-sale finance for high-value purchases in the third quarter of 2026.

High Street Gloom as Leicester City Centre Welcomes New Openings

High Street Gloom as Leicester City Centre Welcomes New Openings

Leicester continues to buck the national narrative of high street closures as a new wave of restaurants, cafés, fashion stores and independent businesses open their doors across the city centre.

Hill Cross Furniture Raises £1,500 For Overgate Hospice

Hill Cross Furniture Raises £1,500 For Overgate Hospice

North Yorkshire furniture specialist Hill Cross Furniture has presented £1,500 to Overgate Hospice after taking on a 1,042-mile cycling challenge inspired by the team’s work on the hospice’s new Inpatient Unit.

Categories

Shepherd Neame Scoops Multiple Awards For Beers, Pubs & People

Shepherd Neame Scoops Multiple Awards For Beers, Pubs & People

Britain’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, is celebrating a number of accolades received throughout October, recognising the quality of its beers, the success of its pubs and the achievements of its team members.

Annexe Communities Secures Funding To Distribute Café Lunch Vouchers

Annexe Communities Secures Funding To Distribute Café Lunch Vouchers

The people of Partick will continue to enjoy affordable, healthy food and a welcoming place to socialise at Annexe Communities' community café, thanks to new funding that will help hundreds of people.

As UK Export Growth Slows, Expert Highlights the Evolving Role of Shipping Containers

As UK Export Growth Slows, Expert Highlights the Evolving Role of Shipping Containers

Seventy years after a converted oil tanker carried the first standardised steel boxes from New Jersey to Texas, the shipping container remains the basic unit that global trade is built on.

Recent Posts

bottom of page