Working at Churchtown Farm
Churchtown Farm is a very successful family run flower farm; we grow scented flowers and post them direct to our customers throughout the year. The farm is situated on St Martin's in the beautiful Isles of Scilly, 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall. It has a permanent population of 140, a general store, a pub, a hotel (summer only) and a fish and chip cafe. So you must be happy to live in a small but very friendly, isolated community.
We have a year round mixture of about 18 permanent, part time and seasonal staff. Some staff are locals with their own accommodation, whilst the remainder live in accommodation that we provide here on the farm.
Most seasonal staff come to us for around 6 months starting in either the spring or autumn, although there are always exceptions. However, over the years many of our seasonal staff have enjoyed living and working on St Martin's so much that they have extended their contracts for a year or more.
Sorry, no jobs at present
We don't currently have any jobs advertised but we are always interested in hearing from people who would like to join the team at Churchtown Farm.
We normally recruit in the late winter to start in the spring or late summer to start in the autumn but you can send your details at any time if you want to be considered for a job in the future. All applicants must be eligible to work in the UK for at least 6 months.
If you would like to be considered for future work at Churchtown Farm please have a good look at our website and then send your CV and a letter of introduction, including your eligibility to work in the UK to neil@scillyflowers.co.uk .
COME AND JOIN OUR
Friendly team
Skills needed:
- English at GCSE grade 5/C or above
- Good customer care skills
- Good attention to detail
- Willingness to work across all areas of the farm
You must be able to show that you are eligible to work in the UK for at least 6 months.
Additional useful skills:
- Previous housekeeping experience
- Driving licence
- Tractor driving / farm experience
- Maintenance skills
General information for all jobs:
Experience of similar farm or customer service work would be preferable and a clean UK valid driver’s license is of great interest to us but not essential. We also have two holiday cottages so experience of housekeeping is also desirable.
The farm is organised into three areas, most jobs will cover more than one area...
Field - flower picking
You will be mostly picking flowers as well as carrying out other fieldwork, such as making hay, cutting hedges and helping look after our small beef herd. This is all hard physical work and therefore you need to be physically fit. At times you will also be asked to work in the packing shed helping with jobs associated with packing the flowers. A reasonable level of spoken English so that you can follow instructions and ask questions is required.
Shed - flower packing
You will be working mainly in the packing shed grading and packing flowers to fulfil orders. At times you may also have to work with the field team, picking flowers, making hay or general gardening. A reasonable level of spoken English so that you can follow instructions and ask questions is required.
Office - taking orders
You will be dealing directly with customers taking their orders via the phone and internet and other office based tasks. Complete fluency in written and spoken English is essential, therefore you must have GCSE English Language grade 5+ / C+ or equivalent. You will also spend a lot of time working in the packing shed processing flowers, packing flower orders and occasionally helping with picking flowers and other general farm work.
Pay and accommodation
Any positions advertised are full time, 40 hours per week over 5 days and your pay will be at least £12.21/hr if you are over 21yrs. Your initial contract will be for 6 months but there is often scope for this to be extended. We are very busy in December and March when you might be asked to work longer hours for short periods. Please be aware we don't give leave over the Christmas period.
Accommodation is provided in a shared house, there is a statutory weekly deduction per person of £74.62 for a single room or £49.75 each. for a double room. We can house individuals or couples provided both people work full-time at Churchtown Farm. We don't allow pets but you can often borrow a dog to take on a walk.
How to apply:
Have a good look around at our website, find out where the Isles of Scilly are and make sure you have the relevant qualifications.
Our induction information for new team members might be useful, click here to read it.
Email neil@scillyflowers.co.uk with your CV and an introduction explaining why you should be considered for any jobs that are available.