News & Events

​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.

​Should you include a section on your CV for 'Hobbies and Interests'? And what should you do if you don't have any?There are mixed opinions on this subject, and not all recruiters agree that they are necessary, however hobbies and interests do inject an element of personality into your CV.Reasons to include themDemonstrate additional skillsHelp you stand outMake your CV more individualCreate talking points for interviewsIf cultural fit is a deciding factor for an employer, or if it's a close decision between two candidates, knowing more about your personality can make the difference.What NOT to includeHobbies and interests can be anything from sports, music and dance to art, blogging and reading, but they do need to be interesting. Saying that you 'enjoy socialising, reading and walking' or 'watching football and spending time with the family' are all fairly passive and things that most people like to do. 'Watching films and TV' can be made more interesting by expanding on the particular genre you enjoy, but it won't help to increase your employability. What interests should you include?Not everyone has Olympic medals or national awards they can shout about, but take some time to think more about the activities you do in your spare time and how they demonstrate skills that are either beneficial or transferable to the workplace. If you take part in a sport, are you part of a team that can show off teamwork or leadership skills? If you are training for something specific, outline your motivations and how dedicated you are to this. With any sport or activity, are you responsible for organising or helping to organise events? When new people join your sports club or team, have you helped to mentor or coach them?Volunteering is also great for demonstrating your skills in working as part of a team, problem-solving, time management and many more. Have you taken part in charity events? Helped out in a soup kitchen? Marshalled at your local parkrun? For school leavers and graduates, a 'Hobbies and Interest' section can really help to fill your CV where you have little work experience to talk about. Think about any extracurricular activities you took part in while studying, or any roles or responsibilities you had such as head boy/girl, committees you were on, clubs, etc..Final tipsThe above advice should give you some ideas to put together a short paragraph to close your CV on a high but, if you really can't think of anything or you're low on space, it's fine to leave it out.Don't lie as you're likely to get caught out in an interview!Always put hobbies and interest at the end of your CV, after detailing your professional skills and experience. If you would like some more in-depth advice or feedback about your CV, please feel free to contact us via info@morepeople.co.uk and any of our recruiters will be happy to help.

Over the summer, students across the UK put on their mortarboards and gowns to officially graduate after years of hard work. There’s no denying that your graduation day is a big one. An achievement that you’ve worked towards your whole life and a day of parents and loved ones looking at you with teary eyes and a fiercely proud look.Now that’s all over, the reality of finding a job should be starting to sink in. While there’s no harm in enjoying some relaxation time, now’s the time to step up the search to find work. A simple Google search of the sector you’re looking to work in will pull up numerous jobs ads, it’s important that you don’t just apply for anything and everything as it’s likely that this will be reflected in your lack of enthusiasm during the recruitment process.While you can’t be expected to be appointed chief executive of a national company straight away - or even any time in the near future - landing a job you love as a graduate is possible. You just need to know where to look and how to apply yourself. Here we suggest five ways to help you land your dream job.1. It all starts with a good CVIn the age of digital media and social networking, having a solid CV may seem like an old-fashioned concept, and a factor that is at the lower end of your priority list. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. The whole recruitment process starts with an application and a submission of your CV, so if you don’t get it right it’s unlikely you’ll even be considered for a role.But what constitutes a good CV? This will vary depending on the industry and role but, nevertheless, there are some elements that ring true for most CVs. This includes keeping your CV concise by removing any information that is irrelevant. If a recruiter or employer picks up a lengthy CV that waffles on, they won’t bother reading it. Information you should include is key skills, education and previous experience. [Read top CV tips from our recruiters]2. Networking eventsThere are many professionals who have found jobs through people that they know because they have been recommended or mentioned. This is why it is important for graduates that are new to the industry to use any connections they have! However most graduates don't have this privilege, which is why networking is vital.Across the UK, there are thousands of events every year, specifically designed to help industry professionals meet others within the industry. As a graduate, this will be a great way to meet important people and gain crucial knowledge. Run a Google search for your target sector or have a browse through Eventbrite.3. Connect!A great way to gain visibility is to makes sure you are on social media and connected with companies, brands, recruiters and industry experts. Today, LinkedIn is a platform that acts a virtual CV, providing professional information on a person while helping them learn about what is happening in the industry.As well as calling candidates, recruiters use LinkedIn and other social media channels to gain information and contact individuals.4.Talk and listenDo you know anyone who currently works in the industry you’re hoping to break into? Or someone that could put you in contact with industry professionals? If so, get in touch with them for a chat about how they got into the sector, what skills are important, and how they would recommend you go about things.The more people you talk to, the better, as you’ll begin to form a more well-rounded vision of the industry you’re interested in.5. Ask for feedbackWhen it comes to interviews, the best way to improve if you don’t get the job is to learn from feedback - something that you may not receive if you don’t ask. Recruiters will give you feedback if you ask them, and may end up pointing out something that you weren’t even aware of before.Whatever the feedback, don’t let it discourage you and take it lightly - after all, the best way to learn is from your mistakes.If you're interested in pursuing a career in the Food, Fresh Produce, Horticulture, Agriculture or Garden & Leisure sectors but could do with a little advice, please do email us via info@morepeople.co.uk or call 01780 480530 to have a chat about your CV and career with one of our sector specialists.