"I was lucky to win a place in Pro Landscaper magazine’s 30 under 30 awards, which was a proud moment in my career thus far."
Laurence Vincent - Senior Operations Manager, TCL Group
I chose to attend Hadlow College as I was working in the industry already but wanted to develop my knowledge and expand my view on what a career in horticulture would look like. I was also attracted to the idea of living on campus and having the use of the glasshouse facilities at Court Lane.
The campus lifestyle was great fun and I made friends there I still have to this day. The lecturers we had were second to none and we did two study tours abroad, one to France and one to Italy, which were amazing. Seeing the Villa d'Este was a memorable highlight.
In my second year, I put myself forward for student president, and was elected. It was an interesting experience as it offered a valuable insight into the great things the college does in the local community.
Most horticulture students won’t be pleased to hear this(!), but the plant knowledge I came away with does set you apart from other candidates in the commercial landscaping sector. I just wish I’d paid more attention in my plant ident lessons!
I began my career as a Landscaper in 2010 and after 4 years, I made a move to become an Estimator at Ground Control for their fencing department; this taught me how to price for works commercially and also developed my contract management skills by running small works for their client, Anglian Water.
In 2016, I was running a retail/commercial nursery in Kent, which helped to vastly improve my plant knowledge and to understand the supply chain of the industry. After a year, I joined CGM group as Operations Manager for their bespoke projects department, where I developed my commercial project management skills, allowing me to apply for my current job at TCL. I am part of the management team for the South East region of TCL and we run commercial and housebuilder landscaping.
Very recently, I was lucky to win a place in Pro Landscaper magazine’s 30 under 30 awards which was a proud moment in my career thus far.
As for other career highlights, one rewarding project I was very happy to be a part of was building a vegetable garden and allotments for children with learning and mobility difficulties at a local school in Tonbridge. We had to ensure the garden was accessible and useable for children with a wide spectrum of backgrounds.
My main piece of advice to those seeking a career in this sector is diversify; don’t pigeonhole yourself as a ‘hard landscaper’ or ‘maintenance gardener’. Try working in all aspects of this wide and varied industry. I guarantee you will find roles you didn’t know existed and will be glad you took the jump.