British Sugar never had a license to grow cannabis, they have a license to produce cannabis products - all the cannabis was grown by GW Pharmaceutical, who were the only license holder for growing until a couple years ago.
Northern Leaf, which was founded two years ago and received its permit in December, is the second only company to be granted a UK licence for commercial marijuana cultivation. GW Pharmaceuticals, a US-listed leader in cannabis-based epilepsy medicines that was founded in the UK, was awarded the first permit in 1998.
The story about Victoria Atkins came from Theresa May's tenure as PM, which was well before 2021.
I'm aware there are articles that say British Sugar grew it, but they're simply wrong. Like I say, I'm pretty sure there's also been a 3rd license granted to a company in England since this article.