horticulture

2024 Recap for the Horticulture Team

12 days ago by Emily Wood

​Just before Christmas, we shared our '2024 Horticulture Wrapped' on LinkedIn, which ignited a lot of discussions about processes, recruitment, and beyond. Consequently, it feels like the perfect opportunity to share my thoughts on the subject! Let’s break down our key indicators to gain a better understanding of our 2024 horticulture recruitment trends.

Job Titles

Our top job titles were Grower, Grower Supervisor, Landscaper and Maintenance Supervisor.

Personally, I have a strong belief in simple job titles and 2024’s results have absolutely reinforced this for me. It’s great for a candidate or a client to have a particularly niche or descriptive job title, however, when people are looking on job boards for their next challenge, unique job titles won’t always pull into job or CV searches online. Keep it simple when advertising, they still work, and people are more likely to come across them. Internally, you can use whichever job titles you’d like!

Top Locations

Lincolnshire, Sussex, and Cambridgeshire are a hub for business in the horticulture and fresh produce industry, so I’m not surprised these were our top locations. Honourable mentions to West Sussex and Kent who weren’t far behind! We placed from Devon to Dundee last year with a sprinkling of placements in Ireland too, so whilst we do have areas that are busier, our candidate reach is far and wide. We work to find the right fit for candidates and clients regardless of location.

Number of Jobs we advertised externally

We advertised 60.9% of roles on job boards last year, which people might be surprised by, but the result is as I would have expected. We work on so many roles that are new, confidential, or can’t be advertised for other reasons, which is why we work so hard to keep in touch with our candidates and the more ‘passive’ market. When we get jobs called in, we often already know which candidates would be great for these, so they don’t end up getting advertised. There are so many opportunities people might miss if they’re just looking on job boards, always ring us for a chat!

Salaries and Job Title Range

In 2024, the salaries we placed in the Horticulture team ranged from £24,500 to £105,000, but this is in line with our job titles ranging from Trainee Grower to Director of Growing in Horticulture, and Trainee Agronomist to Director of Farming in Fresh Produce.

Having the breadth of working from graduate level to director level means that our reach is even bigger, and it keeps it interesting for us, as no two days are the same!

Sarah said: “I have particularly enjoyed seeing how candidates I’ve worked with have developed their own careers in the (nearly) 6 years I’ve been here. Some of the first placements I made in 2019 are now on their 3rd or 4th promotion!”

Retention

97% of people who our team placed in 2024 are still thriving in their new roles. Some have even got promotions! There’s always a risk when employing someone new/ going to work for a new business. There are so many factors to consider, the role not being quite what was described, culture, personal circumstances and more. I’m proud of the team to say we’re managing the process for everyone involved with all the information and knowledge we have, to keep that percentage exceptionally high. We spend a lot of time day-to-day educating, and working with both candidates and clients to ensure the right questions are being asked, and risk is minimised as much as possible.

Overall

2024 was an incredible year for us, packed with events, podcasts, meetings, video calls, and successful placements that made a real difference for so many people. We also ventured into fresh territory by attending the British Poinsettia Conference, HTA Member Events, and Floral Fantasia for the first time. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re excited to explore a fresh lineup of trade shows and opportunities!

2025 has kicked off stronger than ever, and I’m excited to see what we can achieve this year!

Are you thinking about moving positions or expanding your team in 2025?

Get in touch with our Horticulture recruitment specialists, Sarah, Emily and Kieran.

01780 480 530 | emily@morepeople.co.uk | sarah@morepeople.co.uk | kieran@morepeople.co.uk