Horticultural consultant

Horticultural consultants give specialist advice to commercial businesses and public sector organisations on horticultural issues

As a consultant, your horticultural clients may include farmers, commercial growers, nurseries, botanical gardens and leisure organisations. You'll advise on the development and maintenance of their crops, parklands and other public spaces such as gardens.

As well as offering technical advice, you may consult your clients on the development of products and resources and on finding effective solutions to problems.

Types of horticultural consultant

You may choose to specialise in an area of horticultural consultancy, such as:

• business consultancy
• technical consultancy in commercial horticulture, e.g. offering specialist advice on crop management
• technical consultancy in amenity horticulture, e.g. offering suggestions for the maintenance of public parks
• sports turf consultancy
• landscaping and interior landscaping.

Responsibilities

As a horticultural consultant, you'll need to:

• visit horticultural clients on site, identify their business or technical problems and investigate causes
• analyse yields and the financial returns of existing commercial horticultural operations
• prepare new or modified operational strategies and business plans
• analyse horticultural and operational costs and the benefits resulting from existing or proposed public amenities and leisure locations
• conduct environmental assessments, taking into consideration the environmental impact of any developments
• visit historical sites, research old plans and documents, and plan restoration programmes
• design layouts and plan planting programmes for ornamental gardens or tree planting programmes with local authority officers
• design supply chain systems and support the infrastructure for processing, storage and transport
• formulate solutions, plan and organise trials to assess their effectiveness
• organise presentations, technical visits and demonstrations
• help clients meet the requirements of legislative regulations concerning quality, hygiene and employment
• provide expert opinion for planning appeals and litigation
• communicate with clients, colleagues and professional groups, through briefings, technical and operational reports and presentations
• write advisory leaflets, specifications and technical manuals
• carry out marketing activities to promote the consultancy
• maintain essential administrative records, including budgets and accounts
• keep up to date in specialist areas and with developments in land-based sectors.

Salary

• Starting salaries are usually around £18,000 to £21,000 or £30,000 to £35,000 if you have completed a Management Development Services (MDS) graduate scheme.
• As a horticultural manager, you can expect to earn £22,000 to £45,000+.
• With around 10 to 15 years' experience, you can earn £35,000 to £65,000 as a horticultural consultant, employed by a consultancy. Salaries may be higher at partnership level.

Many horticultural consultants are self-employed, running their own businesses - usually earning in the region of £30,000 to £40,000.

Much horticultural consultancy is project-based, with fees calculated according to time spent. A daily rate or an agreed fee is negotiated for advice given and reports produced within a time frame. However, agronomists or crop specialists may charge per hectare or acre of land.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours vary with client demand and may be long and unsocial. Part-time work and career breaks are possible once a strong client base has been established.

What to expect

• At times, you'll be exposed to the extremes of the weather.
• Your workload may vary according to the season.
• You may work from home and report to an office, which is usually based in an urban centre. Most independent consultants work from home.
• Travel within a working day is common. Up to 75% of your working time may be spent out of the office, travelling and on site.
• Self-employment in the form of a consultancy business is a viable option once you have gained considerable experience.

Qualifications

A degree or HND is normally required, and the following subjects are particularly relevant:

• agriculture
• agriculture with crop management
• agriculture with technology
• earth sciences
• environmental science
• horticulture
• plant and soil science
• plant biology.

Entry into consultancy without significant practical experience of the horticultural industry is difficult, so opportunities for new graduates are less common. In many cases, at least ten years' practical experience is needed.

It's common to enter this career after developing your own business as a grower, or after acquiring technical expertise in industry or research.

Occasionally, however, agricultural or horticultural consultancies may advertise posts open to graduates without direct relevant experience; these are usually at technical assistant or assistant consultant level.

In addition, colleges and university schools of agriculture and horticulture that also offer advisory services sometimes employ postgraduate students as assistants on client-based projects.

Some horticulture courses exist, such as the Management Development Services (MDS) graduate scheme, which recruits and trains new graduates on behalf of a consortium of employers in the fresh food and produce sector. The consortium includes growers, suppliers and retailers and offers a two-year fast-track programme of management training, leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Food and Fresh Produce Management. Trainees are employed by MDS and receive a salary of £24,000 in the first year, rising to £25,000 in the second year. Most trainees gain full-time employment following the end of the course.

Skills

You'll need to have:

• excellent communication skills, selling ability, initiative and tact
• a high level of competence in project management, to meet agreed deadlines and operate within agreed budgets
• business awareness and a practical approach to problem solving
• an awareness of the problems encountered in commercial horticulture and/or the leisure and amenity industry
• knowledge of practical solutions to environmental and conservation issues
• an interest in, and awareness of, the environmental and sustainability agenda and its implications
• a full driving licence.

Work experience

Try to find a work experience placement, or some vacation work, within the industry. Don't underestimate the value of short-term contracts as these may provide a way of gaining a good range of relevant experience.

Your chances of finding employment as a horticultural consultant will be considerably increased by gaining some post-qualification experience. Look for opportunities within development agencies, consultancies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and overseas, working in specialist posts for foreign governments.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Typical employers include:

• commercial companies supplying products, equipment and services to the industry
• environmental and conservation bodies
• farming and horticultural co-operatives
• food companies processing packaging and distributing fresh and processed fruit and vegetables
• horticultural consultancies
• local authorities (county, metropolitan borough and district councils)
• national park authorities.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Defra Recruitment - via Civil Service Jobs
• Farmers Weekly
• Grow - information about horticulture courses, including apprenticeships
• Horticulture Jobs
• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) - information about voluntary internships and apprenticeships.

Being flexible about the location of your work can greatly improve your chances of finding employment.

Most consultancies have only a small number of vacancies each year. Many do not recruit on a regular basis and vacancies are advertised as they arise, if at all. Speculative contact with consultancies can be useful, as many posts are filled by informal networking.

The membership directories of relevant institutes and associations may be useful for establishing contacts and finding freelance work:

• Association of Independent Crop Consultants (AICC) - Find Members
• The British Institute of Agricultural Consultants (BIAC) - Directory Search - you'll need an account to be granted access.

Professional development

The training offered by agricultural and horticultural consultancies involves a mixture of short courses and project work, supervised by a senior and more experienced colleague. The structure and duration of any training programme will depend upon the size of the consultancy and the pressures of business.

If you're aiming to become a technical horticulture consultant, you should look for employers who will provide the training necessary to obtain Basis (Registration) Ltd qualifications or equivalent.

As an independent consultant, you can keep up to date both in your specialist area and in the horticultural sector in general by networking with personal contacts, completing short courses and attending conferences.

Professional bodies offer a range of training and networking opportunities:

• Chartered Institute of Horticulture
• International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS)

Career prospects

On first joining a consultancy, you'll usually work in a general role, only specialising later in a particular area once you’ve gained some experience.

In commercial consultancies, progression is from junior consultant to senior consultant to team leader, with a possible invitation to become a partner or director.

In manufacturing consultancies and the public sector, promotion from team leader will be to the role of manager, either within the consultancy itself or in other areas of activity within the business or local authority.

You may combine consultancy work with running your own commercial growing business or with teaching or conducting research at university.