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Hello there, everyone. I would appreciate some advice on a situation we find ourselves in.

Work has been pretty busy so far this year for all the services we offer, and we're finding it really hard to balance everything at the moment.

What would really help is a new employee/subcontractor who could take on-site responsibility for the more horticultural jobs, eg garden tidys, project planting stages, fruit tree pruning etc. This would free me up to spend more time working on the design side of the business. I used Sketchup/Layout + plugins last year, and have recently purchased Dynascape to take it to the next level - professionally and presentation wise. But I'm the only one who can use these programs, and I need A LOT of time with Dynascape before I'm good with it. But currently, I have to be on site with every job that we have. I think by hiring the right person, we can offer a much better service, while also making more money!

My list of ideal attributes for this individual:

Horticultural qualification/s and hands-on experience -

• I need them to have the confidence to be left on site (with a clear set task list) and get the job done within a reasonable time. 
• Be able to answer the odd question from a client.
• Hard landscaping knowledge irrelevant - if I need them on a job like that, I'll be there to direct anyway. Wouldn't be anything more complicated than fencing. 

Able to supervise and direct other workers

• Will be working with my business partner and I, but will also sometimes be left to informally supervise one or two labourers (whom I treasure) for the day, while I go off and work on something else.

Own transport

• Not expected to bring own tools, but being able to get to and from site by themselves would be a huge plus point.

Enjoy the work!

• We like to have fun on site, and I like to think I'm pretty easy to work with. I've made it the rule that if someone thinks of a better way of doing something - they should speak up! Not just blindly do what I say.

We would estimate on average 2-3 day of work a week (but sometimes loads, sometimes none), so perhaps hiring them as a subcontractor? Our labourers are currently on a zero-hours contract, as we use them for essentially just manual labourers (although they are picking up a few skills - one has even done his pa 6/a)

I think I could be looking for anyone from a newly qualified person straight out of college (wanting to gain experience for a few years before setting out on their own), to a mother who used to work for the national trust who wants to start working again now her kids are in secondary school.

So...How would I go about finding this person, approaching this person...and what would the approx day rate be? (south-east London)

Thanks in advance - I tried to make this as clear as possible.

(p.s. - if you're interested, pm me)