Sisters Doreen Pettitt and Susan Hawes have recently clocked up 25 years working for Suffolk seedsmen Mr Fothergill's. The pair began working for two years as seasonal 'temps' in the mail order despatch department before deciding to take full time, permanent work.

Since then they have been responsible for picking and packing retail seed packets for supply to field and national accounts, both as initial collections and replenishment orders. In their time, it is estimated they will each have directly handled more than 14,500,000 packets of seed for the UK, plus several tens of millions of packets for the company's export customers.

To mark their 25 years' service, Doreen and Susan were presented with gifts from the company by logistics operations manager James Nutt. “Sue and Doreen set the benchmark for quality of work and dedication – as is proven with 25 years’ service under their belts,” he sasid. “They are a pleasure to work with and are valued members of the Mr Fothergill's Seeds Ltd family.”