Head of Horticulture Capel Manor College

Capel Manor College is seeking to appoint a professional Horticulturist as its new Head of Horticulture.

They would be the senior horticulturist at the College and getting the right person is fundamental to driving their ambitions for this important area of the College's work forward.

The College was, for many years, the Centre of Vocational Excellence for Horticulture, Garden Design and Floristry and has some of the most extensive horticultural facilities, and modern garden plant collections of any college in the Country. It also hosts the National Gardening Centre (30 modern domestic sized gardens of varying design/planting regimes) 20 plus different themed gardens and its own historic gardens that attract 60,000 plus visitors per year.

The main campus is on the Enfield/Herts border and there are centres across London at Gunnersbury Park, Regents' Park and Mottingham where Horticulture and Garden design are taught.

In 2023-24 the College is delivering over 1200 horticultural and Garden design qualifications (excluding Arboriculture, Floristry and countryside studies). Along with apprenticeships and planned investment in the gardens and resources, there is the potential for significant growth.

The role

The College needs someone who is passionate about horticulture and promoting it as a career by:

• providing vocationally relevant education and training
• ensuring the gardens at Capel Manor exemplify good practice in planting, design and maintenance
• servicing the growing UK plant production and retail sector
• working with everyone in the industry to create a pool of qualified staff who can deliver the sector's ambitions.

The package

The salary is up to £57k/year for the right person and if someone wanted to also have a big say in the garden development and management the College would be prepared to explore this.

Applications

I am happy to chat things through with anyone informally. Formal details can be found at .

Dr Steve Dowbiggin, OBE, FCIHort.