​Remote working in 2022…For a lot of the food industry, ‘remote working’ isn’t an option, however within the commercial environment it’s still a hot topic.Morten Andresen, Associate Director here at MorePeople specialises in commercial roles within the food industry has noticed the shift in mindset whilst working with clients and candidates and speaks about how to tackle this topic as we move through 2022..."2020. 2021. 2022.3 years that will go down in history.2020 – Brexit, then Covid hits.2021 – Vaccine and starting to take back control.2022 – who knows?Is this the year we stop talking about Covid? Only time will tell.Despite the challenges, we have been incredibly busy and beaten records throughout the last year without signs of this slowing down anytime soon. This all points to a thriving and driven work environment, one which has decided to step up to the mark and not let the pressures get to them.We’ve seen an unprecedented amount of change over the past few years. Whether that is change to the industries and the additional challenges across the board, or the massive shift in ways of working and people’s mindsets towards it. This is even more prevalent in Commercial roles and in one area in particular – the remote working debate! There is a definite benefit to being in the office and close to the packhouses etc, but the view of Commercial people is generally that they don’t need to be there 100% of the time.The requests for remote working have always been there, it’s just that not many businesses have been set up to accommodate it, or they haven’t wanted to. Previously there had always been enough businesses saying that remote working wasn’t an option, so the conversation stopped there, no questions asked.However, the balance has now shifted.The hive mind of the work force has determined that there are now enough remote working opportunities that it’s worth holding out for roles that will allow the work life balance they are looking for, and this is proving to be a headache for a lot of businesses. There are many legitimate reasons as to why remote working works well for some, and less well for others. The reality is that every employer and employee need to decide where they stand and be upfront about it – everyone has their own version of what ‘flexibility’ in the work place looks like.I suspect there is a usual bell curve with the vast majority looking for 2-3 days in the office and 2-3 days remote. I would strongly urge that you have a plan for what YOU want, as an employer or employee. The truth is, this just becomes another factor in finding the right fit - culture is, after all, the most important fact in hiring people. This might just become a clear indication of how those cultures could align…or not."If you’d like Morten and his team to help you find the perfect fit for you, be it as a client or a candidate, give him a call on 01780 480 530 for a confidential chat!

​Plant a Tree for Jubilee!The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers are proud to launch the Treebilee Project, in support of the Queen’s Green Canopy. The QGC is a unique planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, and invites people from across the UK to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. The planting of trees will create a legacy of honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, which will benefit future generations. Find out more here.The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers have fruit trees available for those that would like to support the project in return for a donation to their Fruiterers Charitable Funds. The trees will be delivered with planting and aftercare instructions, an instructional video as well as stakes and ties to make for a straight forward planting process!With our Exec Chairman Guy Moreton being a Liveryman himself, we at MorePeople are keen to get involved and support the project, getting local communities planting trees and enjoying the benefits, as well as supporting the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers.Matt Hancock, Upper Warden at the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers states; “Thank you to MorePeople for their support helping us celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, helping our environment, improving our communities and raising money for important causes. Treebilee really is a fantastic opportunity to do so much good at various levels” ​We’re looking forward to our trees being delivered in March in time for Spring planting, and donating them within our local community here in Stamford. ​The deadline for ordering is 18th February 2022, If you’d like to get involved and find out more, click here!​

​Working in horticulture…At MorePeople we’ve got some really knowledgeable and passionate recruiters who specialise in the horticulture and agriculture sector.Lycia and Sarah cover the whole of the UK working with some of the top clients and candidates in the industry, and are still as busy as ever day in day out finding candidates their dream jobs and clients their perfect candidates. There are so many different types of roles available in the horticulture industry that we deal with on a daily basis. To name just a few;·         Grower Managers·         Junior Grower Managers·         Plant Heath / Crop Manager ·         Nursery Managers ·         Propagation Managers ·         Technical Managers·         IPM SpecialistsIn terms of location, horticulture jobs could see you in a variety of settings, such as Farm, Garden Centres or nurseries. You may wish to specialise in irrigation, propagation, husbandry - the list continues. Or maybe you’d like to become an expert in a certain type of fruit? To see all of Lyica and Sarah’s current Horticulture vacancies, click here. We've seen some fantastic progressions within the industry, and helped many candidates along their journey, as Lycia as witnessed;‘I am working with a candidate who started their career in Horticulture is 2005 as a supervisor on a soft fruit farm, spraying plants, supervising staff, loading and unloading vehicles for a year. They then wanted to step up so after a year moved up to a Horticultural Manager. They kept moving up the ladder within Horticulture and they are now a Commercial Growing Manager overseeing the commercial strawberry crop and husbandry requirements within the business.’Horticulturist’s can obtain a number of qualifications; PA1, PA6, BASIS, RHS Courses, and diplomas, degrees and btechs in Horticulture or Pathology and Sarah has seen many examples of candidates using qualifications to progress their career in horticulture;‘I’m working with an exceptional candidate that moved to the UK in 2013 and quickly started their career in Horticulture. Starting as a Nursery Operative, quickly worked their way up in 3 years to Grower Supervisor. They have continually studied throughout their career gaining various qualifications and certificates and are truly passionate about the industry. As a result, they have recently taken on a Grower Manager position in an exciting new business and I’m sure will continue to be very successful!’Want to make a start on your horticulture career, take it to the next step or find amazing candidates? Click to contact Lycia or Sarah!

​MorePeople new recruits...Another two new team members joined us on our first day back in January.James Pye joins us with a wealth of industry knowledge. Having spent 25 years working in the food industry starting in 2 AA Rosette Restaurants and Hotels as a head chef, then transitioning into Product Development in food manufacturing for some of the UK’s leading food manufacturers.James is now a senior consultant here at MorePeople and will be covering a range of roles. Ben Woodward joins the MorePeople academy to begin his career in recruitment. Ben left Stamford Endowed School at 18 and became a tree surgeon, before joining Copthill independent school as a Groundsman and Sports Coach, as well as working for Waitrose. ​​​To find out more about any member of the MorePeople team, click here or call us on 01780 480530 to talk about how we might be able to help you or your business. Want to know about working for MorePeople? Take a look >

​Big changes at MorePeople!We’re ready to kick 2022 off with a bang with exciting changes across the business. Peter Hunt Retiring21 years after co-founding MorePeople with Guy Moreton, Peter Hunt has retired from the business. Guy and fellow shareholder Andy Fitzmaurice have purchased Peter’s shares and now begin the exciting next chapter for MorePeople. Peter retires after a lifetime in the industry. Starting his career at Armitage Bros in the petfood sector, he moved to GW Padley in the late 80s in a finance and accountancy role and then spent a number of years with Geest (now Bakkavor) in the 90s before meeting Guy in 1999 when Peter was a Divisional Finance Director of Redbridge Holdings (now Total Produce). Together, Guy and Peter founded MorePeople in 2000 and went on to make a difference to the lives of thousands of clients and candidates in the recruitment sector and laid the groundwork for the company we have today. Guy summed up the past 21 years with Peter; “I could not have wished for a better business partner, he has worked tirelessly to help build MorePeople into a market leading recruiter within our sectors and was a constant source of support, advice and friendship!" We wish him and his wife Luci (another fresh produce lifer) a very happy retirement. Another retirement this year came with our long-standing Chairman Michael Paske hanging up his boots. Michael became a Non-Exec Director of MorePeople in 2004 and has served not only as the company Chairman but also as a mentor to Guy, Peter and Andy in that time. Michael’s long career in the food and agriculture sectors has seen him as Vice-President at the NFU, founder of Exotic Farm Produce and a range of other directorships. We can’t thank Michael enough for his contribution to MorePeople, Guy continued; “For the past 15 years or so Peter and I had Michael’s shoulder to lean on and his wise counsel was always insightful and most of the time, absolutely bang on! His support and friendship has been incredible and I will miss them both. Hopefully we can grow the company and make them both proud”. 2021 2021 was a fantastic year for the recruitment industry and this rang true at MorePeople. We smashed our targets and got back on track with our growth plans – we added 9 new faces to the team in a range of roles. Working across the food/horti/agri supply chains, we worked with over 350 different clients, all over the UK, on a variety of roles with salaries ranging from £20,000 to £200,000. Structural Changes The departure of Peter allowed us to make some very positive structural changes in the business; Guy’s role becomes Executive Chairman and Andy is now the CEO. Richard Hanwell – one of the 9 appointments from last year - picks up the role of Managing Director and, after 10 years with the business, Morten Andresen joins Luan Harrison in the role of Associate Director. As the majority shareholder Guy sets the business strategy and helps the newly appointed CEO and MD grow the business. Guy also continues to be responsible for the MorePeople Executive Recruitment Division, which recruits MD’s, CEO’s, CFO’s and Non Exec Directors. As newly appointed CEO, Andy Fitzmaurice states, “As CEO and shareholder, I lead the business, drive business strategy, performance and growth. It’s my job to ensure that we are ‘doing the right things’. We have some very exciting plans at MorePeople. The new shareholding and company structure is future-proofed and fit to deliver for everyone who is involved in the business. Each quarter we get better; it’s an exciting journey to be on and there’s a real sense of pride and enthusiasm for what we do.” Looking forward to 2022 There are more hiring plans for 2022 – we have started the first week back with two new hires – and there are some very, very exciting plans to be confirmed soon, which will see us move to a new premises in Stamford. The new office will be a massive step towards realising our potential recruiting in sectors that we are knowledgeable and passionate about. ​

​MorePeople and the YPHA!The Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA) was formed in January 2020 to unite the under 35s working in horticulture. They aim to raise awareness and appeal to a younger demographic than the industry previously has done.We’re lucky to have two active members of our team involved with the YPHA, Sarah and Chris, helping introduce young people into the world of horticulture with their own knowledge and passion within the industry.Sarah specialises in recruitment in the Horticulture and Agriculture sector here at MorePeople, “YPHA are a fantastic collective, with a goal to promote the industry and show what sort of opportunities we can offer. Horticulture typically gets stereotyped into ‘dirty hands-on’ work but there is so much to the sector. Think about where you get your Christmas trees, houseplants or bouquets of flowers from – to get them into the customers hands there will have been growers, quality controllers, buyers, despatchers and so many more people involved! I personally got involved with the YPHA after hearing about it from my network. I have recently taken on the role of blog and social media assistant and I can’t wait to get more stuck in.”The Plant Based PodcastSarah and Chris recently took part in their first podcast! Being active members of the YPHA, they joined The Plant Based Podcast to discuss some key issues surrounding young people in the world of gardening and horticulture, sharing their views and experience from inside the industry. You can take a listen here.YPHA’s first in person event!February 3rd will see the first in person event hosted by the YPHA, which MorePeople are very excited to support and attend. Chris will be joining the event at the RHS Wisley gardens; “As the majority of my role is networking and meeting new talent, I cannot wait to join the YPHA for our first live event since the beginning of Covid'19. I started my horticulture career after being inspired by the industry experts that I met at GLEE and haven’t looked back. I look forward to meeting everyone in person, broadening my network with like-minded people who have a true passion for the industry.”

​Garden Centres have officially bounced back – what will 2022 bring?Garden Trade News reported a ‘record end to a record year’ with Garden Centre sales during the first week of December 2021 reaching a new seasonal high, up 8% on the same week in both 2020 and 2019 (according to Epos data).So why have Garden Centres seen such a boom during a global pandemic when we’ve seen other UK retailers closing down stores nationwide, and some not even making it through?As we all know, the Covid’19 pandemic forced us to stay at home, and many turned to their gardens to keep busy, stay active and relieve stress - especially during those warmer months of 2020. At one stage when other areas of retail were closed, Garden Centres were still there for us to wonder round and get that ‘day out’ feeling we were all missing, and only fuelled the gardening trend!Based on the demand for Garden Centre roles we’re currently seeing at MorePeople, we’re expecting the Garden Centre boom to continue throughout 2022.Our Garden Centre jobs are vast and varied, and of course nationwide. We regularly recruit for:·         Growers·         General Managers·         Account Managers·         Hospitality roles·         Sales and Marketing·         Planteria rolesJust to name a few! We’re seeing many new candidates that are excited to get into the industry and are bringing their skills from other areas of retail, along with working with some fantastic clients – many of which featured in Horticultures Week top garden centres of 2021! Chris specialises in recruitment for Garden and Leisure here at MorePeople, with a fantastic knowledge of Garden Centre Management, Retail Management and Hospitality Management, including skilled workers in the Horticulture industry from Planteria to Retail. Chris works with candidates and clients within the sector providing the help, support and advice to aid in the recruitment of permanent employees, and building long standing professional relationships. Interested in seeing what roles Chris can help you with, or need help finding the perfect candidate? Give Chris a confidential call on 01780 480530, or email Chris@morepeople.co.uk.

MorePeople new recruits...To finish off a successful 2021, MorePeople welcomes 4 new starters into the ever-growing team.The MorePeople Academy is busier than ever with 3 new faces well into their induction training: Rae Goss – Originally a New Yorker, Rae joined MorePeople in November 2021. With a degree in Art and Entertainment Management and having worked primarily in event management in the music industry, Rae is now covering a range of roles at MorePeople as part of the academy training.Amy Csoke – Amy brings experience from a broad first career which includes professional translating, production planning and also recruitment coordination. Originally from Hungary, Amy has a degree in philology from the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and joined MorePeople in November 2021 covering a range of disciplines within the food team.Jake Gilbert – Jake has spent 8 years serving in the British Army before joining the world of recruitment in 2020 in a broad industry. Jake joins the MorePeople Academy to enhance and focus his skills on our specialisms and sectors.​We also welcome Natalie Smith who has joined as Marketing Manager. With a degree in Management and Marketing from the University of Lincoln, Natalie has started at MorePeople to look after all external and internal brand marketing.We have smashed our targets in 2021. After a challenging 2020 for everyone it is a great feeling to be back on track with our growth plans. We have built a super business on some very solid foundations and there is a lot of opportunity for new people to join the business – to add value to our clients and candidates and to build amazing careers in the recruitment industry. The new crop of hires bring some great experiences and add plenty of strength in depth to an already excellent team.To find out more about any member of the MorePeople team, click here or call us on 01780 480530 to talk about how we might be able to help you or your business. 

MorePeople WIN Business Service Partner at the FPC Fresh Awards 2021​The Fresh Produce Consortium hosts the FPC Awards every year for all those involved in the fresh produce industry, to celebrate outstanding achievements of individuals and businesses. The team at MorePeople enjoyed a fantastic evening, and better yet… WE WON the award for Business Service Partner!The dedicated team of judges are senior directors from a range of businesses across the industry, FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney described the Fresh Awards as “the ultimate accolade from the UK fresh produce industry”. MorePeople has a long association with the FPC and we count many of the FPC members as clients. The events that the FPC run and the high regard in which the group is held across the industry makes anything they run a great thing to be involved with. We have supported many of the events in our time, but we have seldom put ourselves forward for an award – which makes it all the more special to win. A fantastic achievement for MorePeople as we near the end of a successful 2021.