Job Description

Nursery Assistant -Seasonal full-time/part-time

Based out our Buckhatch Garden Centre, East Hanningfield Road, CM3 8EW

Fixed term contract until 26th June 2026

5 days a week 8 am to 4.30 pm including Bank holidays

Part-time, minimum 3 days, may be considered.

Perrywood is an independent, family-owned garden centre and nursery group run by the Bourne Family. Our Tiptree, Buckhatch and Sudbury centres are all surrounded by beautiful countryside, and our mission is to offer a memorable garden centre experience, delivering wow customer service and giving our employees and customers a reason to smile.

Our nursery grows over 1 million plants annually and they are grown exclusively for our three Perrywood stores. The nursery includes a propagation house and a modern warehouse housing a potting machine, transplanter and seeder.

Rewards and Benefits

In addition to your hourly rate, you will receive the following benefits:

Discount

- From the start of your employment you will receive 10% discount on specific items. Following a successful probation period, the discount increases up to 20% discount on specific items and after one year's service up to 40% discount on specific items. (some exceptions apply)

Paid holiday

- holiday entitlement is 22 days per year, plus bank holidays. Restrictions apply

Annual Christmas bonus

Part-uniform provided

Employee Assistant Programme

- a confidential personal and professional support service available to all employees and their immediate families 24/7, 365 days a year.

Training & development

, as required. We have an e-learning scheme called GROW, and also take part in other training with product suppliers and external trainers

Company sick pay

- following a successful probation period employees are entitled to 10 days paid sickness (part-time pro rata and subject to restrictions)

Access to our Retail Discount Scheme

- savings on retailers including Tesco, Pizza Express, M&S, Waitrose, Argos, Apple, Currys PC World, Thomas Cook and 100's more

Workplace pension

Free parking

Key duties

Carrying out tasks as required to produce plants in our nursery. Loading the potting and transplanting machines Moving stock around Support members of the nursery team with tasks including weeding, pruning, cleaning, etc. Labeling of products Assisting in retail areas e.g. moving plants and stocking up, labelling, cleaning

Your capabilities

Ability to work both inside and outside in varied weather conditions You must be able to bend, lift and pull/push trolleys and barrows Experience preferred but not essential as training will be given Ability to work as a member of a team A keen interest in plants and related products

Requirements

Fixed term contract - must be available for the contract period You'll need to work some bank holidays (as part of a rota with other assistants) Experience of working in a production nursery, garden centre or similar environment is preferred but not essential Good communication skills essential As part of this role when assisting in the nursery department you will be required to wear gloves (Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE) when handling certain crops which may be for large parts of the day

If this Seasonal Nursery Assistant position sounds like the ideal opportunity for you, please apply directly to us. We'd love to hear from you!

For further information and a full job description, please visit the Perrywood website https://www.perrywood.co.uk/careers/

Perrywood is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you require any reasonable adjustments, please inform us as soon as you are able so that we can make the appropriate adjustments

Job Type: Fixed term contract
Contract length: 5 months

Pay: 10.00-12.21 per hour

Benefits:

Employee discount Free flu jabs Free parking Health & wellbeing programme On-site parking Store discount
Application question(s):

Are you available for the fixed term period until 26th June 2026 and are you able to commit to working bank holidays? Please give examples of when you have communicated effectively. If you have experience of working in a production nursery, garden centre or similar environment please tell us about your experience
Work Location: In person