UK’s First Fully Licensed Medicinal Cannabis Factory Opens in Derbyshire

4 February 2025

The UK’s medicinal cannabis sector, which serves about 50,000 medical cannabis patients, has reached a major milestone with the opening of its first fully licensed domestic production facility. Derbyshire-based Dalgety has unveiled its £10 million, 30,000-square-foot complex, which is heavily fortified with bullet-proof glass, razor wire, and monitored by over 150 CCTV cameras. The exact location is being kept secret for security reasons.

Cannabis for medicinal use was legalised in the UK in 2018, yet much of the market has depended on imports, which can take months to arrive and vary in quality. Dalgety aims to change that. The company secured two Home Office licences - first to grow and then to sell - and can now produce enough cannabis for roughly 4,000 prescriptions each month. By controlling the entire process from cultivation to packaging, the company says it can deliver more consistent and timely supply to patients.

Growing the plants is a meticulous process, overseen by a Canadian expert recruited for his experience in large-scale cannabis operations. Each plant takes nearly half a year from propagation to final curing, with an emphasis on “low and slow” techniques to ensure potency and quality.

For patients, the facility’s domestic supply could mean fewer delays, reduced costs, and a safer, regulated alternative to the black market. For the wider industry, Dalgety’s opening signals a potential shift toward UK-based production - an important step in an industry projected to be worth £2.3 billion, yet still dominated by imported goods and illicit sales (as more than 1.8 million people in the UK source illegal cannabis to treat their medical condition).