Thomas Thomson

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About Us

West Haugh and Westfield are two soft fruit farms run by Peter and Melanie Thomson under the company name of Thomas Thomson (Blairgowrie) Ltd. Both farms are situated on the east bank of the River Ericht, 2km from the centre of Blairgowrie. Westfield Farm covers an area of 10ha to the north and West Haugh Farm 30ha to the southwest of the centre. We also rent land adjacent to West Haugh from Mr Strachan and Mr McFarlane.

The only crops grown are soft fruit, mainly raspberries and strawberries with other crops such as redcurrants, gooseberries and blueberries taking just a small area. The main customers are the large supermarkets for high quality fresh fruit, which is distributed all over the UK. In the past all the fruit went to processors, along with 1000s of tonnes of fruit from other farms in this area, but now this market has become uneconomic.

In 2002 a new packhouse was developed in conjunction with two other growers, collectively known as Blairgowrie Fruit Packers Ltd. It is sited on route to the town centre, in Haugh Road, between the two farms and is also on the east bank of the river. Previously all the cooling and packing of the fruit was done at West Haugh Farm, but the present site provides fast and efficient packing to meet the ever-increasing demands of the supermarkets. The farms’ main office is situated at the new Packhouse.

Living Here

We have accommodation available to most of our workers. It is not a requirement that workers stay on the camp and accommodation if provided is not part of the employment contract. We employ seasonal workers who live off-site. The farm camps and their facilities are provided for the use of residents only. Some of our caravans are self contained (with a kitchen, shower room and water). There is a communal kitchen and shower/ toilet block for the caravans that don’t have their own facilities. We have a communal TV/ lounge room, and a games room with pool tables, table tennis, books, maps and internet facilities. Each caravan sleeps 4-6 people.

There will be a programme of events arranged including barbecues, karaoke nights, football matches, Scottish night and coach trips. Everyone who is on site will be given details of these as they are arranged.

Work

Most of you will be working here as a seasonal worker and for reasons of crop, weather and customer demand, work cannot be promised at any time. However, because nearly all our crops are covered, we do anticipate that there will usually be plenty of work and picking takes place on the farm seven days a week once the season gets going. We expect you to work at least 5 days a week and 6 or 7 days at busy times.

squads are made up of approximately 30 pickers and are overseen by 2 supervisors. The supervisors are responsible for ensuring that the required quality and quantity of fruit is picked correctly and economically by the pickers, into the correct punnets and trays. They are also responsible for communication between the field, van driver (who uplifts the fruit and supplies empty punnets and trays) and the packhouse and management.

The available picking day generally runs from 7.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. and we pick seven days per week. Saturdays are often a shorter day or a day off for the farm at the beginning and end of the season. Wet weather can cause some disruption, but all of our fields are covered with plastic tunnels so we keep picking most days. Some days we finish early if all the fruit has been picked, particularly at the beginning and end of the season. If the weather is very hot the picking day may start much earlier to avoid the heat of mid afternoon when it is difficult to work and the fruit is hot. At the height of the season (mid June to early August), we may have to occasionally work later in the evening to keep up with the fruit ripening.

All the fruit is harvested by piecework; i.e. you are paid for the amount of fruit you pick, provided it is correctly graded for quality and quantity. The more you pick the larger the bonus above the minimum wage you will earn.

We aim to provide streamlined working conditions in the field with our backup and supervisory staff to enable pickers to work fast and efficiently. Pickers who require extra supervision to work to our standards cannot be employed. Picking is physically demanding work.

99% of our workforce need no disciplinary measures and work very well. Unfortunately there are a few who only take our requests seriously if disciplined.

Poor performance by pickers either for quality or speed of picking cannot be tolerated for economic reasons:

Quality - the supermarkets demand a product that is graded to a specified quality and produced with assured growing and picking systems. Any compromise of these standards will affect our current and future markets.

Speed of picking - as an employer our duty is to pay a piecework rate of pay that equates with the National Minimum Wage. Economically and legally we cannot employ pickers whose speed of picking consistently falls well below the average of the squad.

Pay

All seasonal workers, including pickers are employed as Seasonal Workers and are paid weekly. Statutory tax (PAYE) and National Insurance Contributions (NI) are deducted before payment.

Seasonal workers are paid on a Friday for work done up to the Saturday before. Wages will be paid directly into your UK bank account.