British workers pick fruit during Covid crisis

When British workers, who were furloughed during the Covid-19 crisis, were urged to help out Britain’s farmers by picking fruit, we were there with our cameras to record the first volunteers to arrive for work with one of the UK’s most successful soft fruit growers.

Our interviewees included a worker from the oil and gas industry, a former employee in the hospitality sector and an A-level student who had seen her exams postponed.

They were happy to talk to us when we were called in by the Hall Hunter Partnership, who wanted to show that the UK workers could operate successfully on their farms alongside the many Eastern European workers who had joined their business in recent years. Many of the company’s senior management, started life as pickers and the company has a proud history of developing people who work hard and often return to their farms year after year – often with members of their families.

“I think some people have got an outdated view of what we are doing here,” said Clare Pullen who normally works in the oil and gas industry. “It’s really not hard work and I wanted to help the British farmers.”
See our interview with Clare and other local pickers who have joined the Hall Hunter team.