In This Issue
New display ideas, new products, new suppliers at Bunnings first UK garden centre - GTN Xtra picture exclusive
Dobbies reports best Christmas trading for five years
Flowering plants and veg lines buck the trend
Resolva Liquid Shots back on TV
Wyevale Nurseries tree sales up by 22%
Diarmuid Gavin is new brand ambassador for Vivagreen
Plant pot manufacturer Hum celebrates export success
Hygge trend driving customer trends in the garden
HTA Study Tour celebrates and learns in Holland
More Greatest Christmas Award winners...
Garden Centre Manager
Garden Centre General Manager (Dorset)
Plant Buyer (Essex)
Plantarea Department Head Seasonal Plants (Essex)
Wholesale Senior Plantsman (Kent)
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Baby Bio to rejuvenate the houseplant sector
New UK-bred pot petunia gives a thundering performance
Christmas orchids drive repeat sales
Onion sets and shallots boost Veg-2-Gro sales
Farmyard manure sales beat the February blues
Plants brighten sales...even on grey days
Book your seat for the APL Awards 2017 - before it sells out!
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
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Situations Vacant
Garden Centre Manager
A Competitive Salary
 
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Garden Centre General Manager (Dorset)
Salary: £30,000 - £35,000
 
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Plant Buyer (Essex)
Salary: Depending on experience
 
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Plantarea Department Head Seasonal Plants (Essex)
Salary: Excellent
 
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Wholesale Senior Plantsman (Kent)
Salary: £27,000 - £30,000
 
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Dobbies reports best Christmas trading for five years


Dobbies Garden Centres reports its most successful Christmas trading period in the last five years with a number of standout performances for the business.

Sales of the Christmas range rose 9.8% from the previous year. Live trees had its highest ever sell through and Santa suppers and breakfasts were up 41% and 13% in the company’s restaurants.

Keeping up momentum, January sales performed well with a like-for-like increase of +14% and footfall rose +7% over the month, bucking the retail trend. In addition, internet traffic grew by 127%.
  • Christmas sales +4% like-for-like
  • January sales +14% like-for-like

John Cleland, CEO of Dobbies, said: “As the first Christmas trading period under new ownership, I’m delighted with the performance which is a credit to the work that the team have put into new ranges, better value, improved customer service and a new approach to digital engagement.

"The solid start to 2017 is extremely encouraging and represents a strong foundation for our new 3 year strategy plan and investment for long term growth.”

Dobbies hosts its first national ‘Customer First Always’ conference in February and later in the month John Cleland is the keynote speaker at Garden Retail Summit 2017.

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