Christine Lumb of Concordia was the proud recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at last week’s Grower of the Year awards.
Lumb has worked for the not-for-profit organisation, which specialises in supplying low-skilled seasonal workers to UK horticulture under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers (SAWS) scheme, for 30 years, and was responsible for building the firm’s network of agents across eastern Europe.
Concordia chairman Robert Mitchell told freshinfo: “Christine has been a great ambassador for UK horticulture for many years now. She has been the face of this country to many overseas students wanting to work here and learn about our culture, and winning this award is a wonderful achievement.”
Concordia had further cause for celebration on the night, as a whole host of the firms to whom it supplies labour cleaned up in the edibles categories.
These included Top Fruit Grower of the Year and overall Edibles Grower of the Year Alan Firmin Ltd, Organic Grower of the Year Wight Salads, Salad Grower of the Year Valefresco and Roly Holt from tomato glasshouse specialist R&H Holt, who won Young Grower of the Year.
Concordia also supplies labour to Worth Farms at Manor Fresh, which won the Best New Variety - Edibles category and the Vegetable Grower of the Year gong for its growers John Addams Williams and Philip Kingsmill.
The other nominees in the top-fruit category, A Hinge & Sons and AR Neaves & Sons, are also supplied labour by Concordia.
Mitchell added: “The fact that we supply labour to most of the top growers in this country is wonderful.”
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