HEREFORDSHIRE'S S&A Produce is one of the largest independent soft fruit growers in Europe.

It supplies strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, goji berries and British asparagus to major UK retailers.

The firm began its astonishing growth in the 1990s when John Davies saw an opportunity to branch out from potato farming at Marden, near Hereford, into strawberry growing.

S&A now has two farms in Herefordshire, one in Wales and one in Kent, as well as producing asparagus from 70 hectares of land in Herefordshire.

It employs about 170 permanent staff and 1,400 guest workers housed in the firm's own on-site accommodation.

The Hereford Times was invited to visit its Brook Farm headquarters and learn more. This is the first of two special reports; the second can be found here. Both were produced in collaboration with S&A Produce, who funded part of the costs of production.

INSIDE S&A PRODUCE: Read our eight-page special here

Life on the farm

STANDING amid the caravans and pods which provide the on-site accommodation for workers, Brook Farm feels more like a village than a farm.

The Marden site is the busy headquarters of a multi-national soft fruit growers that employs about 170 permanent staff and more than 1,400 guest workers every year.

For much of the year, more than 1,000 of those guest workers are housed in the firm’s own accommodation, which ranges from static caravans to the more colourful shared facility ‘pods’.

Hereford Times:

It is modest and the company says their workers are made to feel comfortable and encouraged to take pride in their community, with events and celebrations helping to create a community spirit.

Keenly involved with the life of the on site ‘village’ is Human Resources Director Pete Holder, who explained that in some ways the community has taken on a life of its own.

“People take pride in this area, and have made it their own,” he said, pointing out the pots of flowers outside the residents’ doors and the carefully tended vegetable patch that has sprung up in the middle of the ‘village’.

Hereford Times:

Venture beyond the neat ‘streets’ of caravans, all named after local villages and landmarks, and there is a large recreational area, furnished with a terrace, picnic benches, barbecues, and a football pitch.

An on-site shop provides the basics in between the company’s regular coach trips to supermarkets in Leominster or by taking the local bus to Hereford. Its shelves are stocked with a range of commodities from the farm workers’ home countries.

Largely recruiting workers from eastern Europe, S&A says it aims to employ, develop and retain the best talent in the industry, and provides a supportive environment that lets people flourish.

The firm says: “We aim to make working and living at our farms an enjoyable, worthwhile experience for all.

“In doing so, we strive to offer a high standard of employment and accommodation to our guest workers, who we welcome from all over the world.

“Our goal is to have a fair, transparent, low-cost recruitment process.

“We do not collaborate with recruitment agencies or intermediaries or charge any fees or

take money to apply, speed up or influence the recruitment process.”

Hereford Times:

Fruit pickers Atanas Bayractarov, 52, and his wife, Elka, 48. Picture: Rob Davies

The Pickers

EVERY year, Herefordshire’s population swells by thousands, as workers from the continent make their way across the channel to our farms.

Fruit pickers Atanas Bayractarov, 52, and his wife, Elka, 48, have been coming to Herefordshire for nine seasons.

Faced with poor working conditions and even poorer wages in their home country, the pair were first tempted to make the 1,500- mile journey from Bulgaria to Herefordshire by the promise of better money and conditions.

Relying on the recommendations of friends, and leaving their two children with their parents in Bulgaria, they embarked on a journey to build a more certain future for their family. Now in their ninth year at Brook Farm, and like many others on the farm, the couple have been joined in the fields for the last four years by their 25-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son.

They work for eight hours a day in the long polytunnels that span the Marden farm’s fields, picking the strawberries for the shelves of supermarkets around Britain.

“For us, this work is perfect. There is work in Bulgaria, but here the work is good, the conditions are good and we receive good money. Probably half of the people from Bulgaria are trying to find work in the UK, Germany and Spain,” Atanas said.

The couple earn £8.21 an hour as a basic rate, while a bonus system is also in place. Based upon the weight of fruit picked, a worker can earn upwards of £10 per hour.

For the same work in Bulgaria, they would earn just 6,000 Lev per year, about £3,000.

“In Bulgaria, this would not be enough to provide for our family. This is the reality of our country,” Atanas says. “We are here for most of the year. We only go back to Bulgaria for holidays. There is nothing for us to stay there.”

Like many of their seasonal colleagues, the couple and their two children live on site for the duration of the season.

But they are concerned about what the future brings, fearing Brexit could mean they have to find work with a new company in Spain or Germany.

“It’s a friendly community here,” Atanas said. “A lot of people come here to work each year, and we have good relationships with them. We would like to keep coming back as long as we can.”

Hereford Times:

Peter Judge, managing director of S&A Produce. Picture: Rob Davies

The Managing Director

FOR those at the helm of the company, the globetrotting nature of Britain’s seasonal workforce is a vital consideration.

With companies employing overseas workers often coming under fire for choosing to employ ‘cheap labour’ over a local workforce, managing director Peter Judge was keen to address the misconceptions.

“People think we are paying slave wages, but that’s not the case,” he said.

“We pay the living wage as a minimum, regardless of age, and with the bonus system, most of our workers earn much more.”

And the incentives have to be good. It’s a highly competitive market, with the migrant workforce in demand across Europe.

“We have to recognise that they could just as easily find work in places like Germany, Spain or Holland, so we have to be an employer that people choose to come and work for."

Without those workers, Peter admits it would be difficult to adequately staff the farm.

“All of our positions are also open to local people,” he said.

“But we find that we don’t get much interest. Even though they could be earning more here than by working in a petrol station or a pub, it’s not seen as desirable.”

Peter puts the lack of local interest down to the nature of the work, which is undoubtedly hard and far from glamorous.

“Most of our guest workers are from rural areas, and are used to farm work like this,” he said.

But money alone is not the only factor. Over the years, the farm has adapted to create an inclusive and friendly environment for their workers, another reason for them to return year after year.

“Often, whole families come over and work here together. People are focused on the whole community doing well, help each other out, and abide by the rules.

But catering for the needs of more than 1,000 people from a variety of backgrounds and countries is no easy task, Peter says.

“We have a diverse range of people of all ages here, and we have to take that into account. We also have to be aware that people have religious beliefs and cultural differences that we need to respect.”

He’s also keen to point out the difference the workforce makes to the local economy, adding that local companies put on extra buses during season, and a lot of what is earned is spent here.