The next generation of horticulturists explored the diverse career paths available to them as Hadlow College hosted its annual Horticulture Higher Education Conference.
The next generation of horticulturists explored the diverse career paths available to them as Hadlow College hosted its annual Horticulture Higher Education Conference.
Students heard from a range of industry experts, gaining valuable insights into the opportunities their qualifications could unlock. The 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 @ 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.
Alan Harvey, Hadlow College’s Head of Curriculum for Horticulture and Floristry, says: “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 offers a number of Higher Education courses, taught by industry professionals, with a strong focus on practical, job-related skills.
Horticulture students benefit from the Thanet Earth Centre of Excellence @ Hadlow College a groundbreaking partnership between the College, leading industry grower Thanet Earth, and research and innovation organisation Growing Kent & Medway. The Centre is based at the College’s state-of-the-art glasshouse, which is the UK’s first centre of excellence in greenhouse growing.
The College also has its own on-site residential accommodation that was graded as Outstanding by Ofsted last year.
To find out more about studying a Higher Education course at the College visit the University Centre section of the Hadlow College website.
About Hadlow College
Hadlow College is Kent’s only rural and land-based college. It is set in the beautiful surroundings of a large managed estate that includes over 265 acres of prime grazing land, woodland, sports facilities, natural river, three commercial farms, established show gardens and horticultural glasshouses, lakes and other natural habitats.
The College is fully focussed on developing an efficient, economic, healthy and sustainable farming industry, and has many facilities that showcase the latest technology such as a ‘concept orchard and vineyard’ which features automated AI management systems, innovative crop diversity, cleaner storage and robotic fruit picking.
The College is part of North Kent College which was rated as ‘Good’, with an assessment of ‘Outstanding’ in Behaviours and Attitudes, at its most recent Ofsted grading in 2024.
The College also offers residential accommodation for students who wish to live in on-site. This was judged as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted across all categories at its most recent inspection in June 2024.
Visit www.hadlow.ac.uk for more information.
Source Hadlow College
