News & Events

​A networking group for young professionals in the food and farming industries had its third social event on Friday night, attracting numbers that more than doubled the inaugural event. Over 40 people enjoyed a cocktail making masterclass at the Cosy Club in Stamford, mixing up some heady combinations while making valuable industry connections. MorePeople, a specialist recruitment business for the fresh food, horticulture and agriculture sectors, established the group to create an opportunity for professionals under the age of 30 who are new to networking style events to get together in an informal environment, share experiences and make new contacts. Edina Bremner, Team Manager for Agronomy & Growing recruitment at MorePeople, explained her motivation for setting up the group: “We attend a lot of networking events and I found it noticeable that they were not attracting many people under the age of 30. We wanted to fill this gap by hosting regular, informal, social events to give young people in the industry the chance to meet people from similar organisations.” “It’s fantastic to see the group growing so quickly, and feedback from everybody I spoke to on the night was extremely positive. We plan to continue hosting these events quarterly and I’m looking forward to planning the next one early in 2020.” If you want to find out more about the group, or sign up for notifications about future events, contact edina@morepeople.co.uk or call 01780 480530.

​We recognise that the food industry is not just about the front-line commercial, technical and operational roles, and we're always telling candidates about the fantastic career opportunities there are in all job functions. A key area in all food businesses is finance, where a fast-past environment and the demands of seasonality and exports require a certain type of person. The ability to manage tight budgets and margins is key, and these are skills that may be transferable from other sectors. Do you have any current or forthcoming vacancies in your finance team? We are delighted to introduce Lycia Pitcher, who has recently joined our Finance Recruitment team and is dedicated to finding the best candidates to fill financial roles for our clients. Lycia was previously working for a recruitment business in London where she spent two years growing the market within the property sector. At MorePeople, her focus is on Finance, which is a relatively new, but growing, specialism for us. The types of roles we've placed range from general admin and part-qualified accountants to finance directors across the sectors that we specialise in – Fresh Produce, Horticulture, Food, Agriculture, Garden & Leisure. If you would like to speak to Lycia about any finance-related roles, please call 01780 480530 or email her lycia@morepeople.co.uk.

​On 4th October, MorePeople's founder and CEO, Guy Moreton, was made a Freeman of the City of London, following on from his recent election to the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers. The ceremony took place at the Guildhall, the historical administrative headquarters of London's financial district, where Guy was asked to read out the Declaration of a Freeman and sign the Freedom Book before being presented with the Certificate of Freeman. After receiving the Certificate, Guy said: "It is a huge honour to be made a Freeman of the City of London and I am delighted to have joined such a fantastic list of recipients from over the years!" "I fully intend to use this as an opportunity to give something back and continue to promote the fresh produce industry and the dynamic, exciting and rewarding career opportunities that are available." Guy was nominated for this honour by Matthew Hancock, and seconded by Peter McDermott, both Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers. He now joins a prestigious list of Freemen, which includes royals, artists, writers and outstanding business people.Dating back to the early 1200's, Freedom of the City of London is one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies. The main privileges that still exist today that Guy is looking forward to supporting are of a charitable and educational nature.

​During your career, you’re bound to come across a huge range of people and a wide variety of personality types. Not all of these will be compatible with you, and managing those who clash can be a challenge, however it is something that all professionals have to deal with if they want to be successful.When personas collide, or if a person is difficult to deal with in a working environment, it can have a major impact on performance - both personal and at a corporate level.For business leaders, creating the right balance of personalities is vitally important and some of the most successful teams are made up of a real variety of characters. So instead of shying away from those with personalities that are different to our own, developing and embracing them is a key skill we all need to acquire.By understanding and respecting other personality types, businesses should be able to allocate people to roles which they will excel in, selecting the right mix of characters to best complement the organisation’s culture and achieve their long-term goals.At MorePeople, we use Clarity4D profiles in team building and with our clients to make an impact on efficiency and sales performance. Like many of the most widely used profiling models, the Clarity4D approach is based on the most effective psychological research and, in particular, the work of Carl Jung.It is a great tool to use for personal and team development, from selection through to appraisals and cross-departmental communication. By developing personnel, companies can reduce the costs of high staff turnover, missed deadlines and errors due to poor communication.Here's a brief overview of some of the more typical personality types that Clarity4D and other research has identified. Maybe you can recognise one that most describes you?The OverthinkerMost professionals will encounter a few overthinkers throughout their time in the food and agriculture industry, and they will often be a great asset to any company.Research from the Five Factor Model, which analyses personality structure, claims that overthinkers will look into most things, spending a lot of time analysing information or tasks.While overthinkers can appear to be frustrating to deal with when a task needs to be done quickly and effectively, they will pick up the smallest details and will be really useful when something needs to be properly investigated and pulled apart.In controlControllers will often be in senior positions where they have to manage members of staff. They like to have everything a specific way, where everything is under control.Although some people will find those who exercise control difficult to work with, they can also be a great asset in a situation that requires organisation, by bringing structure and discipline.They are often conscientious by nature and are therefore usually well prepared due to good time management skills and a sharp attention to detail.CompetitiveCompetition is important in any business. If you want to be the best at something, you’ve got to compete with others to get to that position. Healthy competition is the life blood of most commercial organisations and is something that most businesses will encourage.However, those with really competitive personalities can often turn the smallest things into a competition - which isn’t always productive. When everything is turned into a battle, it can cause stress and work can be delayed, creating a high-pressure environment which some can struggle with.Professionals who feel as though their competitiveness can take over from time to time should let the little things go and prioritise those tasks that really do benefit from a competitive approach.Energetic workersProfessionals who have heaps of energy are also a personality type which can benefit most offices. They are great in situations where action is required, are good for improving team morale and boosting the general office atmosphere.Energetic workers are usually not afraid to share opinions or ideas, which is great when a business wants to take a new approach to something. It’s good for a candidate to have energy and passion because it usually means that they care.It’s important to remember that everyone is working towards the same goal, and sometime a company requires energy and passion to ensure goals are reached and ideas are pushed beyond their boundaries.The introvertEvery office has workers that are quiet, observant and often keep things to themselves. But it is important to realise that this doesn’t mean that these personality types are shy or anxious. It just means they express their emotions in a different way. Their nature is to internalise things and mull things over before they act.Clarity4D categorises introverts as a simple personality type, people who like to strip things down and keep things as simple as possible.Introverts usually have good listening skills and excel when working independently. While they may work hard to get things done, they may also need a little more of a push when it comes to putting ideas across to a wider audience.The extrovertAs you would expect these are to opposite to introverts. They express their emotions externally, so are generally more noticeable, more verbal and as a consequence 'appear' to be the most confident of people. Extroverts are usually open-minded and willing to learn. They are curious to try new things and can be innovative and creative - which is a core trait in most businesses.They often like to think positively, taking things on the chin when they don’t go as planned, which is a great attitude to have. However, sometimes these types of characters can be hard to control or rein in, especially if a job needs to be done in a particular way or with a certain degree of discipline.Managing personalitiesJudy Oliver, director of Clarity 4D, commented: “Having some understanding of the core personalities that people exhibit is important, as it underlines how individuals like to be spoken to or dealt with. In this fast-moving world, those individuals and companies who can recognise the different communication preferences of co-workers and customers, will be able to respond in the right way and gain a competitive edge."“Our profiles provide a powerful and enlightening personal learning experience and because they are centred on easy to recall elements around colour, and the 4 core elements of fire, air, earth and water that people recognise, remember and then actually apply those principles in their day to day interactions with others.”If you’re interested in exploring different personality types, or want to know more about the Clarity4D profiles, please feel free to email us on info@morepeople.co.uk or call 01780 480530 and have a chat with one of our recruitment specialists.

​MorePeople is delighted to once again sponsor the annual FPJ Live event, which is taking place on 7th and 8th October at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. This year's theme is 'A Healthy Future' and delegates can expect three stages of thought-provoking content delivered in a TV show style format. There will be punchy presentations, on-stage interviews, multimedia and awards with sessions covering Production & Trade, Retail & Marketing and Wholesale & Foodservice. The emphasis will be on how the industry is evolving to meet the many challenges presented by the current trading environment, as well as capturing the opportunities around the drive for cleaner eating. MorePeople are sponsoring the FPJ Life Stories session, which will feature an in-depth interview with one of the UK industry's leading lights - Guy Singh-Watson, Founder of Riverford. The day finishes with another in-depth interview with Minette Batters of the NFU. Find out more at fpjlive.com 200+ key figures from the fresh produce industry are expected to attend this inspiring event. Video interviews will also be broadcast afterwards on the Fruitnet TV channel - freshtalks.tv.

​Last month, Sarah Want, one of the recruiters in our Agronomy & Growing team, visited Ghana for a month on a charity mission. The latest trip came about following a previous mission that Sarah took part in four years ago, where she spent a life-changing month volunteering in a remote African village. Sarah went with a charity called Village by Village, whose aim is to reduce the needless suffering and deaths of children living in poverty in remote rural African villages, and she has stayed in contact with them ever since.This summer Sarah went back to Ghana for a month, taking her mum with her. Whilst out there they supported with teaching during term time, before running a summer school.They also supported in baby weighing, visiting the remotest of villages to keep baby records up-to-date, which involved weighing them, updating records and preparing vaccinations.Any spare time was spent building and they helped to finish two Junior High Schools. This involved everything from mixing mortar and plastering to laying floors, painting and digging trenches.Before going on the trip, Sarah and her mum had to raise over £2000, which was donated directly to the charity for things such as school and building supplies.MorePeople was pleased to support Sarah on this mission. She is now back in the swing of things and actively looking for candidates for some exciting new agronomy roles. To find out more about these roles, email sarah@morepeople.co.uk or call 01780 480530.