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Regan McMillan wearing Stormline Stormtex-Air 652 farming waterproofs bib

Proud to work in farming? A new study says you should be…

Stormline professional pride index – When it comes to professional pride, farming professionals come top.

If you want professional pride, get out of the office, avoid customers and start producing something with your hands. At least, those are the findings of our new study into professional pride across the UK’s largest industries.

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People working in agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying are among the proudest workers in the UK, according to a new study by Stormline. As a company that produces waterproofs for farming, we know a lot of our customers will agree with these findings. The study, of just over 1,000 UK adults also found that:

 

  • Producing something tangible was the most commonly given reason for professional pride, more commonly cited than innovation and helping others.
  • Workers in education, health & social care and personal services all rated high for professional pride and said ‘making a difference’ or ‘helping others’ were the biggest reasons for this.
  • The real estate and food beverage and tobacco industries have the fewest professionals who identify as either ‘very proud’ or ‘extremely proud’ of their industry.
  • A third of UK workers cited ‘innovation’ as their biggest source of pride. Innovation was the most given reason for professional pride among pharmaceutical, aerospace and chemicals professionals.

 

Getting out of the office could potentially elevate our professional pride. Only two of the 10 proudest industries (research & development and business services) were predominantly office-based. Six of the top 10 proudest industries involve producing or creating something tangible, whether it be food, medicine, software, aeroplanes or ships.

The other 4 all involve interacting with people. Further down the list were industries with a strong customer service element, such as retail, hospitality (hotels & restaurants) and utilities.

Among the agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying professionals, 81% said they were either ‘very’ or ‘extremely proud’ to work in their industry, that’s 50% above the national average.

Educational professionals weren’t far behind, with 80% registering a high degree of pride. The next three proudest industries – pharmaceuticals, community and social services, and health and social care – were linked in some way to health.

Meet some proud farmers…

Andrew Freemantle has been farming pigs on the outside of Exeter, in Devon, for more than 20 years.

The family farm rears 9,000 pigs a year. As well as supplying meat, they have diversified and run a successful hog roast and outside catering business. The farm employs more than 15 full time staff.

Andrew said: ‘It really comes as no surprise that farmers would have the greatest level of professional pride. There is pride in how we care about the animals that we breed on the farm and it is of utmost importance to us that while they are in our care they have the best life possible and we use the highest standards to care for them.’

‘And then there is the pride in supplying quality, safe and nutritious food for your consumers.

When someone tells us how much they enjoyed one of our products, whether it was a pork roast on a local pub carvery or a sausage bap – you can feel pride in what you have provided.’

‘Farming is still hard work, it is a very physically demanding job.You know when you’ve had a hard day on the farm. It can be tough, but with that brings a great reward and a great pride in what you have achieved.’

‘With farming you have to be committed. This is long term, and whether you are ploughing a field, breeding animals or running a dairy, there is a great satisfaction, and pride in what you have created and what you are sustaining for the future.’

Neil and Sally Grigg have been tenant farmers at Burrow Farm, a National Trust farm near

Exeter, Devon for nearly ten years. They have a herd of 100 Red Ruby Devon cattle, as well as also running a mobile dairy unit in Dorset. They run two butchers shops, and employ eight members of staff.

Neil says: ‘I’m not at all surprised that farmers have the highest levels of professional pride.

Farming can be tough, but without pride, standards would soon slip. This profession is all about looking after your animals and crops, and ensuring the very best quality for the customer.’

Neil and Sally gave up their jobs as an accountant and surveyor respectively to take on the farm tenancy in 2007. Both were from farming families, and had attended agricultural college, so knew the levels of work and commitment that it would take to build up their business.

Since having their son in 2014, the responsibility of running the farm and ensuring its success has become even greater.

‘Farming for us is about creating a sustainable future for our children and generations to come.

It’s wonderful to see how this local, Devon breed of cattle has become so popular now and,’says Sally.

As well as attending various markets throughout Devon, the couple also sell their beef through their two Exeter-based butchers shops and have won various awards over the years for the quality of their meat.

Neil and Sally.jpg

‘Since taking on our butchers shops, we’ve received even more feedback directly from the customers, which gives us an enormous sense of pride and makes us want to continue to do what we’re doing, at the standards that we’re doing it.’ says Neil.

Wilfred EmmanuelJones, the Black Farmer

“I am a passionate supporter of British food and farming.  Our farmers are the backbone of this country and produce such a diverse range of food.  However, I feel strongly that we need to reconnect farming with the urban consumer and bring people back into the food-making process in order that there is more understanding and appreciation of the work that farmers do and the food they produce.  We need to re-engender pride in our great farming heritage.”

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Regan McMillan, director of Stormline believes producing something real plays a big part in professional pride:

“The UK’s farmers should deservedly feel proud of their industry and our study bears this out. The overwhelming majority of them feel proud of what they do. They can go home at the end of the day knowing they’ve played their part in producing something.

“This isn’t to do down the pride that teachers, health professionals and those at the cutting edge of software development should feel – they are rightly very proud of their professions too – but there is something uniquely satisfying about producing something that you can one day hold in your hands.

“Obviously we need all sorts of skills to keep the economy ticking over, but if our research encourages anyone to consider a career in one of the less glamorous industries in our study, such as farming, forestry, fishing or even shipbuilding, then that’s a good thing in our book.”

Proudest Industries

 

Industry % who are very or extremely proud Top reason for pride
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing Mining & Quarrying 81 Producing something tangible
Education 80 Making a difference to the world
Pharmaceuticals 79 Innovation
Community, Social and Personal services 78 Helping others
Health & Social Care 75 Helping others
Research & Development 71 Innovation
Aerospace 69 Innovation
Business Services 69 Innovation
ICT & Precision Instruments 67 Innovation
Shipbuilding 62 Producing something tangible
Digital, Creative & Information Services Financial Services 61 Producing something tangible
Construction 57 Producing something tangible
Other Manufacturing 56 Producing something tangible
Machinery, Electrical & Transport Equipment 55 Producing something tangible
Automotive 53 Producing something tangible
Metal, plastic and non-metal mineral products 51 Producing something tangible
Chemicals 48 Innovation
Communications 41 Innovation
Transport, Storage & Distribution 41 Innovation
Public Admin & Defence 40 Making a difference to the world
Administrative & Support Services 36 Solving problems
Hotels & Restaurants 34 Helping others
Utilities 32 Solving problems
Real Estate 31 Making a difference to the world
Retail 28 Helping others
Food, Beverages & Tobacco 21 Producing something tangible
national avg 54.46153846

 

Sources of Pride

Top reasons for professional pride %
Producing something tangible 34
Innovation 31
Helping others 15
Solving problems 12
Making a difference 8

 

Regan McMillan, director of Stormline believes producing something real plays a big part in professional pride:

“The UK’s farmers should deservedly feel proud of their industry and our study bears this out. The overwhelming majority of them feel proud of what they do. They can go home at the end of the day knowing they’ve played their part in producing something.

“This isn’t to do down the pride that teachers, health professionals and those at the cutting edge of software development should feel – they are rightly very proud of their professions too – but there is something uniquely satisfying about producing something that you can one day hold in your hands.
“Obviously we need all sorts of skills to keep the economy ticking over, but if our research encourages anyone to consider a career in one of the less glamorous industries in our study, such as farming, forestry, fishing or even shipbuilding, then that’s a good thing in our book.”

Stormline surveyed 1,010 UK adults between the dates of April 1st and April 30th 2016.

Industries surveyed based on the 26 largest UK industry sectors by number of employees, according to ONS data.

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