We currently have vacancies for: ​​​
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Farm Shop Supervisor (full time)
Catering Assistant (part time)​​
Apprentice Butcher (full time)
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About us
Tablehurst is a 500-acre mixed biodynamic/organic farm in Forest Row, East Sussex, with mob grazing Sussex horned cattle, Jersey dairy herd, arable, pasture, ponds, woodland, and footpaths on Wealden AONB. It includes a vegetable/fruit garden, polytunnels, farm buildings, bakery, pie kitchen, farm shop, café, and farmer accommodation. The farm produce, beef, lamb, pork, poultry, local wild venison, raw dairy, pastries, fruit and vegetables, is mainly sold through the on-site farm shop.
We have consistently won prestigious awards, the latest ones being BBC Food and Farming Award for Food Producer of the Year 2022, and Sussex Food and Drinks Awards 2021 Sussex Butcher of the Year. Our Pie Kitchen won a Soil Association food award for our delicious Steak and Kidney Pie, made with our own produce.
Our farm is committed to biodynamics as its core farming philosophy, and to community engagement as a central pillar of our work.
Farm Shop Supervisor
Tablehurst Farm runs a thriving farm shop in which the local community, as well as customers who travel from afar, come to buy our farm-produced and externally sourced products. To a large extent the farm shop is where the farm interfaces with the community, so it is essential that it maintains a friendly and welcoming image, provide excellent service and ensures that customers enjoy the experience of shopping at Tablehurst Farm.
We are recruiting a full-time Farm Shop Supervisor to oversee the day-to-day operation of the farm shop. Reporting to the Farm Shop Manager, the responsibilities of this role will include:
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Setting up shop in preparation for opening in the morning;
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Use of MS Excel Stock Inventory Management System and Accounts Software to monitor and control stock levels, product pricing, goods in checks etc.
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Clearing and posting supplier invoices to our digital accounts system;
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Serving customers mainly at the till check-out and occasional telephone orders and answering questions about our products and service;
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Cashing up and closing shop including day end clearing and cleaning routines;
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Allocate tasks to shop assistants to ensure the jobs listed by the Farm Shop Manager are completed.
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Together with the Farm Shop Manager, ensure the layout of the farm shop is welcoming, and showcases the products on sale being appropriate for the season (including festivals and holidays).
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Interface sensitively with customers who have complaints to either handle or pass them onto the Farm Shop Manager, depending on complexity.
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Maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness, food hygiene and health and safety throughout the enterprise. This includes keeping daily records (for example cleaning schedules and temperature records) to ensure compliance with HACCP and other food hygiene or environmental health standards.
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Work with the Farm Shop Manager to conduct monthly reviews and make adjustments to ensure compliance with Biodynamic Association, HACCP and other standards; support the Farm Shop Manager in preparing for and during inspections.
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Support events on the farm as necessary.
Desired Experience:
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A strong record of food retail experience.
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Be computer literate – familiarity / experience with MS Excel is essential.
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Be friendly and a people person with exceptional customer service skills who will lead their team to achieve exceptional levels of customer experience.
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Have well developed organisational skills with the ability to work under pressure and at the same time having keen attention to detail.
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Have a ‘can-do’ attitude.
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Have experience of dealing with people; leading by example and have the ability to drive the team to success.
Job Type: Full-time (42.5 hours per week), permanent, Tuesday to Saturday
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Salary: Competitive for the successful candidate
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Benefits:
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Company pension
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Discounted or free food
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Employee discount
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Free On-site parking
It is essential that you are able to commute to Forest Row, East Sussex.
Catering Assistant
Tablehurst Farm runs a thriving pie kitchen which bakes award winning pies, sausage rolls, quiches and cakes etc. These products are then sold in our farm shop and cafe.
This is a great opportunity for a candidate who is keen to learn how to work with pastry, and make our popular pies and cakes from scratch using organic and many farm-reared ingredients. Being onsite a biodynamic farm, they will gain understanding of how a “farm to fork” production process works.
The successful candidate must be willing to work and prepare food with an adult from our care home, who has learning disabilities, once or twice a week.
The ideal candidate will:
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Assist the Pie Kitchen Manager in the making of our pies, cakes and other goods. The tasks include:
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Preparing ingredients, such as washing and chopping vegetables, mixing eggs, cutting pastry;
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Assisting the cooking of ingredients as per the Pie Kitchen Manager’s instructions and recipes;
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Delivering products to the farm shop and cafe.
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Keep a high level of cleanliness and hygiene, both personally and in the pie kitchen.
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Demonstrate exceptional timekeeping and reliability.
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Comply with food handling and hygiene standards.
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Comply with health and safety regulations.
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Work with a care home resident and undertake training assigned by the Care Home Manager.
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Work effectively in a team and collaboratively with all other Tablehurst staff and volunteers.
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Have a genuine interest in how our animals are reared and in how we farm.
Job Type: Full-time or part-time, permanent
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Salary: Competitive for the successful candidate
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Benefits:
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Company pension
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Discounted or free food
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Employee discount
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Free On-site parking
It is essential that you are able to commute to Forest Row, East Sussex.
Apprentice Butcher
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Tablehurst Farm runs a thriving farm shop in which the butchers' counter is the star attraction. The majority of the meat is direct from the farm, and all the cutting and processing takes place here in the farm shop. This is a great opportunity to join an established team of butchers working in a traditional environment on either a full time (42.5 hours per week over 5 days including a Saturday) or part time basis - exact days to be discussed with the successful candidate. Full time working hours to be 8am to 5.30pm with 1 hour for lunch.
The ideal candidate will:
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Support our butchers in primary and secondary butchering of all categories of meat and poultry.
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Support our butchers in other areas of the butchery, such as mince and sausage production, preparing orders etc as required.
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Serve customers and provide them with information about the farm and the meat we sell.
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Work with colleagues to maintain excellent standards of food hygiene and food safety throughout the butchery.
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Help to develop new ways to present our meat to customers
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Participate in events such as workshops and tastings
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Work collaboratively with all other Tablehurst staff and volunteers
Desired Experience:
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Some butchery experience would be an advantage (but not essential)
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A genuine interest in how our animals are reared and in how we farm.
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Excellent customer service skills.
Job Type: Full Time or Part Time
Schedule:
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Full time (8.5-hour day shift over a 5-day week) including Saturdays (currently our butchery is closed on Mondays)
Pay
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To be discussed with the preferred candidate
Benefits:
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Company pension
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Farm lunch
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Employee discount
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On-site parking
Ability to commute/relocate:
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Forest Row RH18 5DP: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)
Work Location: In person
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Please send your CV and cover letter, explaining why you're interested in the role, to office@tablehurstfarm.org.uk. For Shop assistant job please email shop@tablehurstfarm.org.uk
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