RHS targets recruits drawn to gardening over lockdown

THE Royal Horticultural Society is seeking to capitalise on lockdown’s gardening renaissance by recruiting a new army of workers who lost their job in the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain’s leading gardening charity has warned there are thousands of vacancies in the sector, which is worth £24.2billion a year to the UK economy and already supports 370,000 jobs.

But the industry is suffering from a skills shortage and is lacking in areas such as plant styling, ethnobotany – the study of how cultures use indigenous plants – and agronomy.

A new campaign on the website highlights how people have switched from careers as stage performers to horticulture in the hope of attracting recruits to the industry.

Sue Biggs, RHS director general, said: “One of the positives out of the pandemic is the huge resurgence in gardening with more people connecting with nature, gardening and plants for their health and well-being, especially young people.

“We now wish to capitalise on this gardening revolution and encourage and raise awareness of the amazing opportunities for rewarding careers in the horticulture industry, which is crying out for new talent and gives the added benefit of working with nature.”

According to latest figures, some 120,000 people have lost their jobs, or are at risk, due to coronavirus.

As the Government is encouraging more people to consider vocational training and apprenticeships, the new careers page was launched this week on the RHS website. Sixty individuals have also made videos describing their roles in horticulture, aiming to inspire.