• WSGA •

Student Hub

Grow Your Future!

We hope you have heard about us through assemblies at your school, your careers leaders or as part of one of your lectures and it’s great you’re here to find out more. WSGA want to engage with students like yourself so you can find out more about career opportunities in horticulture in your local area.

WHAT CAREERS ARE

AVAILABLE IN HORTICULTURE

There are so many roles available in horticulture: growers and pickers as you probably expect, but also engineers, agronomists (crop doctors), IT experts, systems integrators, finance specialists, operations managers, human resources and people management, data analysts, sales and marketing, digital marketeers, food scientists, quality assurance, continuous improvement, etc.

WHAT JOBS MIGHT BE AVAILABLE TO YOU NOW?

If you are under 16 but genuinely want to find out more, we can organise a day or more for you to come and visit our sites and find out what goes on in different aspects of horticulture.

If you are 16, you could come and work for us as a weekend or summer job to earn decent money and find out if horticulture might suit you.

You could also enrol on a T-level, L2 or L3 course in horticulture at a local college and spend some time each week working with us on placement.

If you are 18, you could consider applying for a number of roles advertised by our members or even an apprenticeship with us. Many of our member businesses have their own apprenticeship programmes often for engineering, finance, HR or IT, or WSGA run their own small scale apprenticeship programme for our leaders of the future

Meet the Faces of the Future

Here are a few young people who work in our sector to inspire you.

Adam, Trainee Assistant Grower

My name is Adam, and I am an Apprentice Trainee tomato Grower at The Green House Growers in West Sussex.

Each morning begins with a crop walk, where we assess the overall performance of the crop and predict yield as accurately as possible for the sales team. I have a variety of routine tasks which includes taking plant measurements, collecting and analysing data off the climate computer and mixing the feed bags which the crop receives.

I did my first seasonal work in a tomato crop in the school holidays of 2021, before being taken on as an apprentice when I left school.

Seeing the plant progress from being not too much larger than a seedling to producing a high yield is incredibly rewarding, but not without its challenges on the way!

Daisy, Marketing Assistant

Hi, I’m Daisy and I’m Marketing Assistant at Fargro who supply sundries such as pots, growing media and beneficial insects to the horticulture industry.

My day-to-day tasks can vary a lot which I like. I collaborate with different departments to create email newsletters that inform and educate our growers about new product launches.

I also keep our growers up to date with important news on social media such as LinkedIn and Instagram and ensure that product listings on our website are accurate, with the correct descriptions and details.

One of my highlights of working in marketing so far was attending Fruit Focus last summer. It was a great experience to explore the show, listen to industry talks, and see first-hand the conversations our technical team has with growers. It was also useful to see what other companies are doing and how businesses connect in the industry.

I enjoy working in Marketing and Horticulture because it’s a constantly evolving field. As technology develops, there is always something new to learn and get stuck in to.

Aaron, WSGA Apprentice

Hi I’m Aaron and I am a WSGA Apprentice in my second placement, managing a small team at Woodleigh Nursery in Sidlesham who grow and harvest blackberries for Marks and Spencer.

I started work with the West Sussex growers in October 2024 after completing my A levels at The Regis in Bognor.

I am studying for a Level 3 Supply Chain Lead qualification from the Apprenticeship College alongside 4 x 6 month placements in four different horticultural businesses.

My first placement was at Tangmere Airfield Nurseries, the biggest pepper grower in the UK where I learned about pepper glasshouse production, spent some time with the engineering team and worked in the packhouse.

Woodleigh Nursery is teaching me about blackberry production, people management and the importance of customer service levels to the retailers.

Emily, Trainee Grower

My name is Emily and I am also a trainee grower at The Green House Growers Sussex.

Each week I take plant measurements to observe the crop and rates of growth. Based on this data we can make informed decisions to alter the climate to produce the best yield.

I like this job role because I learn lots about the crop and what conditions they grow best in.

I completed a week’s work experience here in year 10 and have been working here whilst I study for a L2 in Horticulture at Brinsbury College and now my L3 in Horticulture from Merrist Wood.

Start The Conversation

it’s easy, if you are interested, contact rachael.williams@wsga.co.uk and find out more

Did you know that the UK only grows 54% of the vegetables we consume and only 16% of our fresh fruit due to the UK’s climate, seasonality, and consumer demand for out-of-season and exotic produce, which rely heavily on imports. Source: UK Food Security Report 2021 gov.uk