In This Issue
Fermoys and Le Friquet are the Garden Centres of the Year at Blue Diamond
Briers team joins Smart Garden Products
After Red Nose Day it's time to Go Green for Garden Re-Leaf Day
Pruning made simple with GARDENA’s new range of loppers
Looking forward to Mother's Day and Garden Re-Leaf
Mezu Silk Flowers – Cultivating A Business
Dobbies director to address GIMA Day Conference in April
Taylor Made Designs will make your staff look & feel great
Garden product suppliers hear export case studies
Charity shop and garden centre takings slump to £3 because of road closure
Horticulture to benefit from DCF’s investment in students
Extinction threat to beneficial UK slug
Haskins at West End raises £1,400 for hospice.
Darlac donates tools to assist injured service personnel
Squire’s employees really make a difference
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
New app will match up buyers and sellers at Glee
Young veg plants rush through the tills
Application to redevelop Squires Garden Centre, Windsor, withdrawn
Wild Bird Care down by 25%
Aldi wins approval to build on Malmesbury Garden Centre site
Growing activity up on both 2018 amd 2017
GIMA Awards entry now open
Propagation lights up garden product sales
Blooming Marvellous! £37K boost for national garden tourism group
Bumper week for young Veg Plants
Kingston Landscape Group Ltd takes home the Supreme Winner title at the APL Awards 2019
Buyers from Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Lithuania and Dubai seek new garden and pet products at event
The best of last week's
Shaw Trust buy two centres from Hillview
Jane Lawler joins GCA’s team of inspectors
Plant buyers in positive mood at Classiflora
Plant sales lead the way – up 456% compared to last year
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
CEOs of Jamie’s Italian & Las Iguanas join Commercial Kitchen’s stellar Keynote line-up
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Jane Lawler joins GCA’s team of inspectors

Jane Lawler has joined the GCA’s team of inspectors. Jane, who has more than 35 years’ experience in marketing and business development, will be responsible for inspecting member garden centres in North Thames, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have Jane join Alyson Haywood, Michael Cole and Gordon Emslie on our team of inspectors.

 

“She will be integral in helping us to ensure consistency and raising standards through our membership and will visit approximately 40 of our members’ centres each spring, scoring each one to given criteria, using our detailed inspection form, and giving objective and honest feedback on what she has seen.

 

“She will also make presentations at our regional meetings and during our annual conference in 2020.

 

“The 2019 inspections for member garden centres commence on March 18 and the inspectors are out visiting them until June 14, so those in North Thames, Scotland and Northern Ireland can expect to see Jane soon.”

 

Jane began her career in horticultural field trials with Pan Britannica Industries Ltd and then went on to work in customer services, advisory roles and technical product development before expanding her interest in marketing.

 

She developed her business and marketing skills in the 1990s through Cranfield School of Management, Henley Management College, Irish Management Institute and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. From 2008 she was Marketing Director with Gardman until 2013 when she left to establish her own business and marketing consultancy.

 

She said: “It’s a real privilege to be able to use my years of experience in the UK garden sector to support the GCA’s continued drive for excellence in garden centre retailing.

 

“I’ve seen from the outside how seriously members take the inspection and awards process and how it has contributed to continuous improvement in retail standards. So, I’m delighted to now have the opportunity to support and contribute to that process personally.”

 

Jane has run customer service teams, technical and regulatory development departments, international new product development groups and conceived and successfully launched online businesses. Some of her most notable achievements include the creation and development of brands for garden centre distribution in the UK and across Europe.

 

Jane is also the past Chair of Garden Industry Manufacturers Association (GIMA) and the garden product committee of the Crop Protection Association (CPA). She also served on the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) and Garden Industry Marketing Board (GIMB).

 

Mike Lind, GCA Chairman, said: “Jane is very knowledgeable about consumer insight and purchasing behaviour, so she is the ideal person to inspect our member garden centres for us and the knowledge and feedback she will pass on to our members will be extremely valuable, it’s great to have her on board.”

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