Students gain expert insight into future horticulture careers at Hadlow’s annual Horticulture Higher Education Conference
The next generation of UK horticulturists explored the diverse career paths available to them as Hadlow College hosted its annual Horticulture Higher Education Conference.
Hadlow College students heard from a range of industry experts, gaining valuable insights into the opportunities their qualifications could unlock.
The 25 February event opened with a keynote address from Carol Ford of Ford Synthesis, followed by former Hadlow College student Josh Blakey, now a fruit advisor at FAST LLP, who shared his experiences at the College and his journey into the sector.
Holly Russell and Jill Kooijman from Enza Zaden took the stage next, discussing the development of new vegetable varieties.
They were followed by Adam Walker from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), who provided an overview of his work in sustainable pest control strategies aimed at reducing environmental impact.
The morning’s programme concluded with a talk from Sarah Calcutt, chief executive of City Harvest, a food charity that rescues surplus nutritious food from farms, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, redistributing it to over 130,000 people a week through food poverty organisations.
The afternoon session began with Andrew Armitage, Associate Professor in Bioinformatics & Plant Pathology at the University of Greenwich, who set the stage for Billy Stott, owner of Stotts Nursery in Buckinghamshire.
Alan Frampton then spoke about his work at Cambridge HOK, a specialist in vertical farming, glasshouses, and energy solutions.
He was followed by Adam Harrison, who shared insights into his role at Thanet Earth, Britain’s leading glasshouse complex and the principal sponsor of the Thanet Earth Centre of Excellence at Hadlow College.
Rounding off the event was Steve Thomas, founder of Ample Marketplace, a digital platform launched in 2024 that enables farmers to sell excess fresh produce directly to buyers.
Commenting on the event, Alan Harvey, Hadlow College’s head of curriculum for horticulture and floristry, said: “I have been involved in delivering the Horticulture courses at Hadlow College for many years and its hugely rewarding to welcome back so many of our graduates to speak at our HE conference. We are also very grateful to many of the sponsors of the Centre of Excellence for also supporting this important event.”
Hadlow College is Kent’s only rural and land-based college. It is focused on developing ”an efficient, economic, healthy and sustainable farming industry”.
It offers facilities that showcase latest technology, such as a ‘concept orchard and vineyard’ which features automated AI management systems, innovative crop diversity, cleaner storage and robotic fruit picking.
