As the daughter of Herbert Engineering’s founder and chairman, Rod Herbert, Jo Herbert joined the well-established family business in December 2003 under the helm of her brother and managing director, Nick Herbert.
She reflects on her decision to leave her city life and job to learn about the manufacturing and produce industries: “With slight anticipation, I joined my brother and father in the company. Naturally, I had a few reservations, the obvious changes which included working in a predominantly male environment, relocating to a rural region and interacting with family in a business capacity on a daily basis,” she says.
“However, I have never looked back, apart from hot footing to London at weekends. Working in the industry throws up new and exciting challenges every day, there is still so much to learn in this ever-changing industry and many opportunities are presenting themselves for the company to grow and succeed.”
The breadth of her communications experience has given Herbert some valuable tools to share with the family business. Her background in marketing stretches from event and conference management, to PR and marketing for companies such as Walt Disney World, Twinings, Scottish Press Awards, SBC International Cinemas and Jongleurs Comedy Clubs.
She says: “I always enjoyed organising events and after qualifying with a Hospitality and Tourism degree from Queen Margaret’s University in Edinburgh, I was able to embark on roles which allowed me travel and work abroad, picking up a wide range of skills along the way.”
When asked about the highs and lows of her current job Herbert says: “The most interesting part of the role is the people I now work with. There are many talented people at Herbert Engineering, with extensive technical knowledge and amazing problem-solving abilities.
“Being a female is not a disadvantage in the industry, in fact most business colleagues seem to welcome the entrance of women into the industry. My biggest challenge however has been that although I can apply my marketing and communications skills to the business, my technical knowledge is much less compared to most of my contemporaries, who have been in this very specialised industry for a longer period. However, this is what I now look forward to - learning more about the future of both industries.”
When it comes to experience, both James Smith, 29, and Matthew Spanton, 26, started working on their family farms at a young age, and studied agricultural-based degrees at college, with the intention of keeping their inheritance in working order.
Both men are horticultural farmers based in Kent. Smith manages one of his family’s two holdings, Loddington Farm, which produces 1,000 tonnes of English apples and pears, and, for the past two years, Spanton has been managing TG Redsells farms - 150 acres of apple, pear and cherry production as well as 200a of hops - while his father continues to run the family’s arable farm.
Having worked as a technologist at Mack Multiples, specialising in avocados, Smith returned to manage Loddington Farm in 2002 and says he is looking forward to the prospect of gradually buying out his uncle’s share of the business. Similarly, although Spanton says he is enjoying the varied challenges of his latest role, he will ultimately return to the family farm.
Despite the personal history invested in farming, neither son has felt pressure to adopt the path set by their ancestors. “I was never under any obligation,” says Smith. “There was no competition from my brothers or sisters and because I showed an interest in the farm, they felt free to do what they really wanted to do.” Speaking for himself and Spanton, he adds that their parents realised they are exceptions to the rule nowadays, and are lucky to have sons wanting to get involved. Smith says the farm is still central to the family, however, and he is keen to keep it that way for any future generations.
With acres of picturesque green fields as far as the eye can see, at least one perk of the job seems apparent, and both farmers agree they have always felt drawn to the land itself. “For me the main attraction is working in the countryside with natural products and natural cycles,” Smith says. “Even though the cycle happens year-on-year, every year it is a bit different. To see trees going from bare, to buds, to blossoms, to apples is quite fulfilling and I think it’s really worthy in the fact that we are producing something natural that everyone needs, and not just churning out the latest mobile phones or some other manufactured product which the market is demanding.”
However, while he insists every young boy has an inclination to one day realise childhood play with tractors in the sandpit, Smith admits the depleting number of young people entering the farming industry suggests the negatives must largely be outweighing the positives for most young people in the UK.
“The number of people entering the colleges is dropping dramatically,” he says. “I don’t think they even offer my course at Reading anymore.” Likewise, Spanton says that most of his fellow students have since come out of the sector, and diversified into redeveloping farms for other business opportunities, land management or surveying, owing to financial incentives.
Having had to endure a 60 per cent pay cut after leaving Mack, Smith admits that without the prospect of a beautiful farm house with much sentimental, as well as financial, value attached, few young people would be attracted to a job which pays £14,000 and offers little in the way of benefits, holidays or other tangible rewards.
For Smith, the financial loss is compensated for by a vastly improved quality of life, gained from being active and outdoors for a large part of each day. However, cold frosty mornings can take their toll and Spanton says the crop, which means working all available daylight hours and accepting that summer holidays are a thing of the past, dictates a farmer’s life.
Solitude is another aspect that some people might resent, Smith says. “It can be quiet, depending on the size of the business. At Mack, I was working in big teams and there was always a lot of people about. But if I’m out pruning for a day, I might not see anyone else at all and there aren’t many other young people around.”
Spanton agrees the industry has experienced a definite shift in terms of sociability, with fewer farmers interacting outside of working hours. “There used to be a lot of farmers clubs but of the ones left all the people are still of my father’s generation, in their fifties and sixties. There isn’t enough interest these days,” he says. And it is the same scenario at every NFU or other industry meeting he attends, he adds.
Smith had harboured hopes of allocating quiet periods for improving his cricket skills but, in reality, the number of required tasks exceeds the hours in his day. “I don’t know if there ever really was any, but the romance has definitely gone,” he says. “Now you have to really know what you are doing and be able to do everything.”
According to both growers, with staff sizes declining, they are under pressure to take on increasing responsibilities. Faced with the alternative of contracting out maintenance work, they usually end up doing the majority themselves, in addition to working on the land, ordering equipment, managing staff and performing numerous administrative tasks.
According to Smith, this has been the biggest transition for his generation of farmers. “My father has 40 years experience in the business but even he agrees that he wouldn’t have been able to get us to where we are now,” he says. “Now you’ve got to have IT skills, and man-management is more important than it used to be.”
Although his office is not yet fully computerised, Smith claims it is only a matter of time before the whole system is mechanised, with the implementation of software such as Pickwise, which allows for rapid control of traceability along the supply chain.
Another important shift is the increasing percentage of foreign labour. Both farms already accommodate seasonal immigrant workers, however, Smith believes horticultural students in Poland and Lithuania will soon be assuming farm-management roles in the UK, as British young men opt for more lucrative positions.
Both men agree a lack of money is the major deterrent from entering their line of work. “The number of farmers is dwindling all the time, leaving only a few key players. And even though there may be opportunities for younger growers to acquire the land of their retiring neighbours, they do not have sufficient funds or any means to borrow them,” Spanton explains.
The question of an alternative career path in the event of having to sell up is a real concern for all, according to the pair. Farmers have long been branded with the stereotypical image of sitting on a tractor and chewing straw so the job title doesn’t make an impressive feature on a modern CV. However, many of the skills required are comparable with numerous other office-based roles, they claim.
Despite a growing interest in healthy living in the UK, those responsible for producing the desired food are afforded minimal respect and even lower profits. And this not only prevents any further attempts to make the sector more dynamic, youthful and progressive, Smith says, but also disallows the promise of a sustainable career. “In 10 years time I’d like to think I’ll be here with a couple of 100 acres of top fruit supplying to the general public with enough money to invest in the business,” he says.
However, the pair agrees this will depend on the multiples and whether the UK public learn to realise the true value of British produce, enough to demand it from retailers, who will then be forced to comply. “I would rate this as the best job going if you can generate a profit, but if not, it is totally soul destroying,” Smith concludes. “Rather than competing on shaving prices we need to encourage UK retailers to compete on the quality or range of British produce available. People at farmers’ markets always tell us how good the fruit is and say they would buy more of it if they could find it in the supermarkets.”
In January 2001, biodynamic agricultural students Stein Leenders, 24, and his partner Noor Bunnik left their roots in the Netherlands with thousands of young apple trees, to set up a biodynamic apple orchard. The couple found a site in East Sussex to put into practice what they had been studying for over the previous four years at Groehorst College in Dronten, a specialist biodynamic course.
Leenders explains that the college has 100ha of farmland including 5ha of vegetable and salad production, greenhouses growing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, 30ha of apple production and 2ha of soft fruit. “We are exposed to all crops and cattle in the first two years of the course since the college also owns 45 dairy cows and 60ha of arable land, which grows potatoes, carrots, onion and cabbage.”
Unlike the others interviewed, neither Leenders nor Bunnik had any family ties with the sector. “I always wanted to be a farmer since I was little and had my own vegetable patch in my parents garden,” says Leenders. His partners’ entrance into the sector was not as clear, as Amsterdam-bred Bunnik wanted to be a pilot. However her hearing was not precise enough to be accepted, and upon finding a brochure on the biodynamic course offered at Groenhurst, visited the college and enrolled in the course.
While the couple were still in their final year as students in 2000, they had been watching the price of apple trees in Dutch nurseries falling, and at one point decided to buy thousand of trees at a discounted price, borrowing funds from family.
At this time, they did not know where they would plant them - either the UK or France - so decided to temporarily plant them in the Netherlands as storage. Eventually they decided the UK provided the best opportunities to develop organic apple production, since there were only a small number of growers.
“We agreed to rent a 6.5ha site at the community farm, Tablehurst, and planted up the orchard which consists of three varieties, Jonagored, Elstar, and Early Windsor,” says Leenders, “with help from family.”
“Previously the site was only a vegetable field so we had to build all the infrastructure and source materials and suitable machinery for organic production - basically we had to do everything from scratch,” he says. Leenders enthusiasm is obvious as he rationally explains his choice of sector within the industry: “I always knew I wanted to be a farmer and I enjoyed working in the orchards; it was easy to decide because I don’t like pigs nor early mornings.
He adds: “I was introduced to organic apple production through a college trial where a local Dutch grower was wanting to develop organic apple production in the Netherlands. And here we are.”
The couple’s first marketable crop in 2003 produced apples good enough for supermarkets - 60 per cent of volumes found their way onto Sainsbury’s shelves, sold as an organic four-apple pack. The remaining product, which did not meet supermarket standards were sold to the London markets or juiced and bottled for local sale.
The farm works closely with students from nearby Emerson College, the only college in the country offering a biodynamic agricultural course. An agricultural course had been offered since 1968 but over the years, the course reduced in size to the point it was no longer offered. However in 2001, a new three-year biodynamic agriculture course was launched with the help of Groenhorst College, who approached Emerson to implement the Warmonderhof training system.
“Previously we ran only short courses in biodynamic agriculture but we realised we needed a course that focused on hands-on training so when graduates left they were able to run a farm with a new structure,” says Alysoun Barret who is involved with Biodynamic/Organic Agriculture Training at the college.
“Students are committed to being growers when they sign up to the course - they get the theoretical learning from science and economics, marketing and management to tractor driving. During the three-year course, students undertake a five-month placement along with a rotation programme in year one with three local farms - Tablehurst Farm, a dairy farm and a market garden,” she explains.
“For example when the students work with the market garden they take on everything - from growing vegetables to top fruit, and marketing and distribution including billing and invoicing. They have guidance from our horticulture teacher with all steps. It is obvious that all who choose to undertake the course are very conscious and active about their choice - they are sure to see it through and go into it with a passion,” says Barret.
A second baby on the way this month for the young Dutch farmers has not lessened their passion for the sector nor their appetite for risk - Leenders and Bunnik have bought more apple trees to expand their organic production, again not having a secure site for planting. And Leenders optimism is also endless: “If you think you can’t get decent returns in this sector, then you shouldn’t be in it. There is still so much to be done in organic top-fruit, and I am looking at introducing other crops too.”
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