Working at Churchtown Farm
Come and join the Churchtown Farm team
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.
NO JOBS AT PRESENT BUT WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
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 read this page carefully, 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 [email protected].
Come and join our friendly team
Desirable skills that we are looking for
Obviously different roles require different skills but a universal requirement across the farm is good attention to detail and a willingness to be a flexible team player. Experience of similar farm or customer service work is 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 and we're always very interested to hear from people who have a range of maintenance skills.
THE FARM IS ORGANISED INTO 3 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 be 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
Nearly all positions are full-time, 40 hours per week over 5 days, including working weekends on a rotational basis. Our starting rate of pay, if living in farm accommodation, will be slightly above the National Living Wage. Initial contracts tend to 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 that we don't give leave over the Christmas period.
Accommodation is provided in a shared house, there is a weekly deduction for rent and services. 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!
We have made a short virtual tour of the share house. If you watch, you'll see you won't have far to commute.
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 to read.
When your ready email Neil Wood - [email protected] with your CV and an introduction explaining why you should be considered for the advertised role. Or if you are sending a speculative application the type of role you would be most interested in.
