Horticultural Sales and Design Trainee
Reports To: Head of Sales
Location: Architectural Plants, Pulborough, West Sussex (Nursery and site-based)
Employment Type: Full-time (part-time considered), Permanent
Salary: £26,500 p/a
About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity to develop your career across both sales and planting design. You will work in our busy sales team welcoming customers and providing expert plant advice, while also supporting our design team with customer consultations, proposal creation, and design development. This role offers genuine exposure to both disciplines, allowing you to develop skills and discover where your passion lies within our business.
You will learn from experienced sales consultants and designers, gaining hands-on experience in customer service, plant knowledge, design consultation, and proposal creation. We design on the ground with customers, using our beautiful 32-acre nursery to bring ideas to life. This is a trainee position perfect for someone enthusiastic about plants and keen to develop their career in horticulture.
Key Responsibilities
Sales and Customer Service
- Welcome customers warmly and set them up for an excellent nursery experience
- Provide knowledgeable plant advice to retail and trade customers
- Process sales transactions accurately through our systems Build customer relationships and encourage repeat business
- Learn our stock system and maintain up-to-date plant knowledge Prepare and package plants ensuring customers receive quality products
- Achieve personal sales targets and contribute to team goals
- Handle straightforward sales enquiries and general customer questions
Design Support and Development
- Support the design team with customer consultations and site visits
- Learn to conduct on-the-ground design discussions with customers
- Assist in developing simple planting design concepts
- Create design proposals and visuals using Canva, Qwilr, or similar tools
- Prepare quotations for design projects
- Coordinate customer communications and follow-ups
- Learn from senior designers and develop your design eye
- Contribute ideas and grow your horticultural and design knowledge
Plant Knowledge and Development
- Build comprehensive knowledge of our extensive plant range
- Understand plant combinations and their uses in different gardens
- Learn plant care requirements and customer advice
- Stay current with new arrivals and seasonal availability Develop expertise in architectural, exotic, and specialist plants
- Support the team with plant identification and recommendations
Team Support and Operations
- Support design and sales team members as needed
- Assist with events and customer open days
- Help maintain sales area presentation and tidiness
- Work collaboratively with nursery, dispatch and installation teams
- Contribute to a positive, learning-focused team environment
Essential Requirements
- Strong passion for plants and genuine enthusiasm for horticulture
- Excellent customer-facing skills and warm, professional manner
- Good plant knowledge or keen willingness to develop it
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities
- Sales-focused mindset with drive to achieve targets
- Quick learner able to pick up new skills and systems
- Creative thinker interested in design concepts
- Proficient with digital tools and able to learn new software quickly
- Team player with collaborative approach
- Full UK driving licence
Desirable Requirements
- Previous sales or customer service experience
- Some horticultural knowledge or training
- Experience with design or visual thinking
- Familiarity with CRM or sales systems
- Interest in garden/planting design
- Experience creating visual content or proposals
What We Offer
- Training and mentoring in both sales and design
- Exposure to diverse roles within our business
- Opportunity to develop horticultural and design knowledge
- Working with exceptional plants in a beautiful nursery setting
- Real exposure to prestigious garden design projects
- Supportive, collaborative team environment
- Career development pathways into either sales or design
- Varied, interesting work where no two days are the same
- Training on systems, tools, and techniques
If you're a plant-obsessed, enthusiastic individual who wants to develop a career in both sales and design, build strong customer relationships, and discover your path in horticulture, we'd love to hear from you.
Pay: £26,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
