Sixteen prominent industry professionals from the UK’s fresh produce and foodservice sectors are set to take centre stage at The Fresh Careers Fair Wednesday, where they will participate as either mentors or panelists in a Dragon’s Den-style competition at the annual fresh food and drink recruitment event in London.
The mentors will provide the students, graduates, jobseekers and career changers in attendance with free career guidance and on-the-spot introductions to exhibiting employers, while the so-called ‘dragons’ will give attendees the chance to practise their interview technique and pitch their career goals for expert and inspirational feedback.
Making up the panel of fresh produce dragons are some of the trade’s longest-serving professionals:
- Christopher Mack, Chairman of Fresca Group
- Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC)
- Karen Sharples, HR Director UK Wholesale Division for Total Produce, who is sharing the role with colleague Sarah Trowbridge, HR Director UK Retail Division for Total Produce.
Equally, the foodservice dragon panel features three key specialists representing the breadth of the industry:
- Sharon Linney, Operations Director for Lusso
- David Cole, Head of Catering at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Carol Borhani, Director of Angel Human Resources
For the Meet-a-Mentor programme, sponsored by AC Goatham & Son, the participants confirmed to date comprise leading fresh produce growers, marketers and consultants, including:
- Amy Lance, Head of Business Development at Berry Gardens
- George Beach, Founder of Mudwalls Farm
- George Smith, Founder of Midsummer Marketing
- John Giles, Divisional Director at Promar International
- Tony Ganio, Managing Director of Back to Roots
- Will Sibley, Apprentice Master of The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers
The mentors representing the foodservice sector currently include experienced specialists:
- Alex Maynard, HR & Resourcing Specialist for Hospitality at Harrods
- Adria Wu, Natural Chef and Founder of Maple and Co.
- Ceri Radford, Recruitment and Training Executive for Admiral Taverns
The Fresh Careers Fair is the exclusive recruitment event where leading fresh food and drink employers connect with new talent. Growing in popularity each year, the fourth edition of the fair will be held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.
Hannah Gorvin, Chief Marketing Officer for The Fresh Careers Fair, says of the stellar line-up of 16 highly-experienced fresh produce and foodservice industry leaders, “Their insight and advice for attendees will be invaluable at a time when both the fresh produce and foodservice sectors are seeking to raise awareness of the numerous excellent careers opportunities in their respective industries.
“Our hugely popular Dragon’s Den-style competition attracts a high calibre of people looking to gain fantastic careers guidance and job-seeking tips from a panel of friendly ‘dragons’ working in either the produce or foodservice industries, depending on the candidate’s career aspirations.
“Following a short two-to-three-minute pitch, participants have the unique opportunity to receive honest and constructive feedback on both their interview technique and their career progression from our experts. What’s more, the best pitch wins an iPad mini!
“In addition, our Meet-a-Mentor programme is always a winner with attendees because they gain bespoke and on-the-spot guidance for the day and beyond. All our mentors have a breadth of knowledge and experience of the industry, which means they are ideally positioned to make introductions with prospective employers, and suggestions for future career paths.”
The Fresh Careers Fair (FCF) is hosted by the organisers of the award-winning The London Produce Show and Conference, which takes place on June 5-7, 2019.
This year’s FCF headline sponsors are: The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers and the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC).
Read the PBUK article about the exciting competitions being offered at this year’s FCF by The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers here.
The Fresh Careers Fair 2019 opens at 9.15am and closes at 4pm on Wednesdayat the Business Design Centre in Islington, North London.
- For further information, and to download the full brochure, visit the event website www.freshcareersfair.co.uk
