May has proved to be a rewarding month for some of the fresh produce and horticulture industry’s brightest young prospects. At the beginning of the month it was a case of third time lucky for Patrick Wiltshire as he was crowned Young Horticulturist of the Year after securing victory in this year’s final - held at Cornwall’s Eden Project on May 3rd. Patrick is studying Practical Horticulture at Wisley and is looking forward to using his £2,000 travel bursary to good effect as he hopes to visit and work in some of the worlds leading botanical gardens – first stop the USA! Once again MorePeople were delighted to provide sponsorship and support for the regional heats and semi-finals of the competition and are committed to helping the organisers widen the profile of the event  - especially amongst the commercial sector of the industry.

Less than a week later saw Tom Richardson of Waitrose win the MorePeople Young Person of the Year award at this year’s re:fresh awards. Tom is a citrus and top fruit buyer at Waitrose and joined the company six years ago after having spent a couple of years working in the supply chain. A farmers son, and graduate of Harper Adams University College, Tom impressed the judges with his passion for the sector and his ability to translate this into positive outcomes for both Waitrose and its suppliers. A close second to Tom was Giorgio Lercara, of ScSmb Produce who similarly impressed the panel with the progress he has made in his career over the last 8 years. Giorgio arrived in the UK with little knowledge of English but with his positive attitude, a desire to learn and the support of his managers he is now the company’s fire officer and a valued member of the ScSmb team.

Commenting on MorePeople’s involvement with these awards Guy Moreton says, “We are delighted to be involved in promoting awareness of the horticultural sector and recognising the achievements of these talented young individuals through our sponsorship of these awards. It’s also important to us that we are involved in promoting all aspects of the fresh produce and horticulture sectors. Horticulture, in particular, is a word that covers a broad spectrum of activities and means many things to different people. However, there is a common factor that links them all and that is the passion and the enthusiasm of the people involved. The young people who won through to the final of these awards have also shown that they too have that passion as well as the determination and ability to make that passion work for them in building a successful career in the industry. Congratulations should also go to the businesses that have supported them in their career to date by having the foresight to invest in and develop the talent they have within.”

MorePeople are delighted to announce that Ian Merton, the former Food Trading Director of Sainsbury’s Plc, has joined the MorePeople team as an Associate Director. Ian will be working with Guy Moreton, Michael Paske and Peter Durose on the continued development of MorePeople’s Director level recruitment services, and in particular will be helping us develop the range of recruitment and training solutions that we provide within the broad category of Fresh Food.

Ian brings to MorePeople a wealth of retail sector knowledge gained from a career spanning over 40 years in both food and non-food. Commenting on Ian’s appointment MorePeople Director Guy Moreton says “We are delighted that someone of Ian’s calibre and experience has chosen to join us here at MorePeople. His understanding of the needs and demands of UK retailers and what that means for companies operating in the fresh food supply chain can only benefit us in the sourcing and development of the talented individuals needed to ensure our clients stay at the forefront of the sectors they operate in.”

Ian’s appointment continues to demonstrate MorePeople’s commitment to developing a sector leading People Solutions business operating across all areas of the fresh food and horticultural supply chain. It also underlines our principle of only recruiting team members with practical hands on experience that is directly relevant to the areas they operate in and we believe this is all the more important when recruiting for senior manager and director level roles.

As is always the case for us here at MorePeople we are working on a number of exciting projects that are in the development stage at the moment and we believe that Ian’s experience and expertise will be a great asset to both us and all of our clients. 

In the meantime should you want to talk to us about the specific details of Ian’s appointment or have any recruitment, training or consultancy needs you would like to discuss please feel free to contact either Guy Moreton or Peter Hunt on 01780 480530.

The 2008 Grower of the Year Awards saw Richard Arnold, commercial director of the Really Welsh Trading Company, right, crowned MorePeople Sales and Marketing Professional of the Year.  The Really Welsh Trading Company has come a long way in the last 3 years and its strong local identity and commitment to supporting Welsh good causes has been a message that has gone down 'really well' with both customers and consumers alike.

MorePeople sponsor the category of Sales and Marketing Professional as we are keen to highlight the important role that professional salesmanship plays in getting all of the fantastic products that British Growers produce out into the market place and into consumers' shopping baskets and trolleys.  Richard has been key in the development and implementation of the 'Really Welsh' marketing and sales strategy and this award is recognition of all the hard work done to date by him and his colleagues in creating a real point of difference in today's highly competitive market place.

In true 'Oscar' style Richard could not be there in person to pick up his award as just a couple of days before Mothers day he was too busy exemplifying the dedication that won him the prize and overseeing the sending out of hundreds of thousands of Daffodils!  However, his colleague Andy Blair was there on his behalf and is pictured below receiving the award from MorePeople director Guy Moreton and compere for the evening, BBC TV presenter Hazel Irvine.

Calling all Young Horticulturists! The first round heats of the Institute of Horticulture's Young Horticulturist of the Year 2008 competition are just getting under way. Anyone aged under 30 on or before the 31st July 2008 and engaged in some way in the horticultural sector in UK and Ireland is eligible to enter. The Competition is run in three phases - local heats, branch finals and the national final which this year is being held on 3rd May at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Once again MorePeople are proud to be one of the key sponsors of the competition and in particular the regional heats. Commenting on the event MorePeople director Guy Moreton says "As a professional Horticulturist and Fellow of the IoH I am naturally keen to encourage and support the development and nurturing of talented young people in our sector. As a businessman I am also keen to encourage a wider take up of entrants for the YHOY within the commercial sector of the industry. Traditionally it has perhaps been seen a little bit as a competition mainly for students but one of the key reasons that we got involved was to help Sue Nicholas and her team broaden the appeal of the contest and try to encourage more of those under 30's out there in the commercial sector to get involved."

The overall winner of the competition collects the Percy Thrower Travel Bursary of £2,000. This is provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society and is designed to fund the winner on a horticultural tour to any where in the world. Previous winners have visited New Zealand, the Himalayas, the USA and all parts of Europe.

So as you can see the YHOY competition not only provides the winner with a fantastic opportunity to travel to some of the most horticulturally interesting places in the world but it is also a great platform for both the individuals taking part and their sponsoring organisations to promote their businesses.

Do you know someone in your business that you think could benefit from this sort of opportunity? If you would like to find out more about YHOY 2008 then follow the link below to find the contact details for your regional organiser.

 http://www.horticulture.org.uk/PDF/BRORG2008.pdf