Why fruit grower needs pickers from overseas
AMAJOR Herefordshire fruit grower struggling with recruitment says his company tried interviewing 2,000 British workers during lockdown and employed 200.
But 60 didn’t last the first week, he said, and only 30 stayed to the end of the season.
Haygrove founder and chairman Angus Davison told a public meeting that his company takes on more than 1,000 seasonal workers each year but finding enough labour is a big problem.
“We had 150 Ukrainians last year, and now the men can’t come, but we are registered as a host for refugees,” he said.
His comments came as he struggled to win round locals to his plans to site more caravans on a farm in West Herefordshire to house seasonal migrant labourers.
In its latest set of reports to Companies House Haygrove said that efforts to recruit Britons to pick fruit were unsuccessful.
It said: “We do not see British nationals as an economic substitute to the highly motivated seasonal migrant labour in feeding the nation.”
Ledbury-based Haygrove, which is one of Britain’s biggest fruit growers with a turnover of more than £100 million, wants planning permission for 6.5 hectares of new fruit-growing polytunnels on fields at its site by the Welsh border, with 18 static caravans for pickers to be placed between them.
“We have been growing here for 23 years. In fact, we have already taken polytunnels off four fields, so the total covered area will still be smaller than before, said Mr Davison, who founded the firm which now also has substantial operations in China, South Africa and Portugal.
Introducing static caravans between the covered fields “aims to be more efficient from a transport and environmental point of view”.
Parish council chairman Barry James said the council “strongly objected” to the plan saying: “Further development of this sort will have a negative visual impact on this beautiful part of the country, and could impact on the aquatic life in the Gladestry brook.
“With six workers in each, the caravans “would more than double the population of Huntington, and mean more traffic and pedestrians in our narrow lanes.”
Among the 40 or so locals at the meeting, one drew attention to the claim in Haygrove’s recruitment brochure that “our summer barbecues and parties are legendary – we work hard and we play hard!”, and asked what this would mean in terms of noise.
Mr Davison said: “The party schedule would be once a month. We would ring round first. We don’t want our workers disturbing the neighbours.”
A lone voice in favour, bed-andbreakfast owner Sandra Jones said: “I can’t see how more fields of polytunnels would prevent people coming. Those who stay with me are delighted to know what’s growing in them. It’s better to grow fruit in our own country than in Africa – and you can’t make a living out of sheep or cattle.”
Mr Davison said that in light of the views expressed “we will make changes to the application, but I won’t commit tonight to which ones.” He undertook not to install any more caravans in the meantime.