Hillview Garden Centres have just announced the acquisition of Scotland Nurseries in Derbyshire, expanding their group to 10 centres located across middle England, stretching east to west from Northampton to Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire and north to south from Matlock in Derbyshire to Stokenchurch to Buckinghamshire. 

Scotland Nurseries Garden Centre, which is located above Tansley village, on the edge of Matlock, is a strong garden centre business with a 10 acre site. “This is a very well run, family, garden centre business which fits very well within our existing portfolio, not only geographically, but also in the way it has been developed,” said Boyd J Douglas-Davies, Hillview Garden Centres’ CEO, “we’re looking forward to investing in the business to take it to the next stage.”

The nursery was established over 300 years ago and has been owned for the last 30 years by Peter and Yvonne Reynolds. “We've thoroughly enjoyed our time at Scotland Nurseries, but it is time to move on and work on our other business interests”. said Peter, “We thank our customers and staff in particular for their help and assistance in creating the business we hand over today. I’m delighted that the rest of the team will be staying to work with Hillview on developing the potential of the site.”

The sale of the business was handled by specialist garden centre property advisers Gilbert Evans. “There is a good demand for well-run centres across the country at present,” commented Mike Gilbert of Gilbert Evans garden centre team, “the market is as strong as it has been for many years.” 

Nadav Livni, MD of The Hillview Group told GTN Xtra: “The progress made by Hillview Garden Centres since 2011 has been excellent and we’re very keen to see the business grow further through the acquisition of single sites and portfolios, as well as the ongoing investment programme across our existing portfolio to create attractive family friendly destination centres. Scotland Nurseries is a great addition to the group as it has a strong business and room to grow." 

Hillview Garden Centres acquired their first centre four and a half years ago. “We’re looking to grow the group further over the next couple of years and welcome approaches from operators of garden centres and retail/leisure operations” said Boyd.

• Garden Products - up 13%
• Veg-2-Gro - down 34%
• Growing Media - up 13%
• All Items Index - down 1%

Gardman has appointed experienced operations executive Matthew Payne as operations director...

His experience includes senior roles with a number of blue chip organisations including Boots and XMA (Westcoast Orion). Most recently, he was European head of distribution at Scotts Miracle-Gro, where his role saw him accountable for six warehouses and 11 transport operations across Europe.

His knowledge base will be critical in his new role as he focuses on defining the future strategy of the operations function whilst working to maintain the company’s much improved service levels achieved this year and overseeing the operation at Kings Lynn, (which Karen Fraser, logistics director, will continue to oversee and manage day to day).

Reports circulating in the national press and online over the past week say that retail entrepreneur Philip Day, owner of Edinburgh Woollen Mill and the Peacocks fashion chain, has put in a last-minute bid to buy Dobbies from Tesco.

The front-runner to date in a sale process Tesco is believed to want to complete before the EU referendum on 23 June, is Terra Firma, owners of Wyevale Garden Centres, who have instructed Goldman Sachs to prepare a bid.

The bidding queue was rumoured to be down to two parties, one existing garden industry party and one from outside the garden retailing business.

EWM have more than 500 stores in the UK, many of them in Dobbies Garden Centres and at Wyevale sites.  Last week EWM bought the Austin Reed brand (but not the shops.)

Philip Day has a respected reputation as a business turn-round specialist, having rescued Peacocks from collapse, saving 6,000 jobs. His company, EWM, recently bought the Austin Reed brand but not the 120 stores and they were also reported to be in the initail running to buy the now failed BHS chain.

EWM was at one stage owned by Rutland Partners the current investors in Gardman.The asking price for Dobbies, which made a loss of £47m last year due to write downs in the value of the business by Tesco plc, is understood to be in the region of £175m to £200m.

With this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show over for another year, it’s worth recognising the less-publicised skill that went into creating some of the gardens.

A great example is the stone structure in the ‘God's Own County – A Garden for Yorkshire’.  Inspired by the medieval Great East Window at York Minster, the structure formed the centrepiece of Matthew Wilson’s colourful garden, which won a silver medal and the ‘People’s Choice’ award. 

As some garden designers and others in the industry might have realised, the structure wasn’t in fact crafted from quarried stone, even though it perfectly resembled it, but from cast stone – a process that allows intricate shapes to be created using a mould filled with a precise matrix of loose materials, before being cured and allowed to set.

The cast stone was manufactured by Procter Cast Stone. Their sales manager, Simon Tibble, explains how the job came about.

“Earlier in the year we were approached by Welcome to Yorkshire to see if we could help with the design and manufacture of the stone structure, plus other features, in their Chelsea garden. We’re based in Garforth, West Yorkshire, so I suppose our location along with renowned expertise in cast stone made us the perfect partner. We were delighted to help, and using only rough sketches as a starting point, we went on to design and manufacture the four turrets, 55 square metres of ashlar walling, the ‘laying down’ window, planters and benches.

“Of course cast stone has long been used by garden designers for stone features, but often just as standard products which, of course, limit creativity. Large custom-made structures formed from quarried stone are hugely expensive, but cast stone allows a much more cost-effective alternative. We’re seeing an increase in interest from garden designers in using cast stone for custom-made garden structures.”

Information: click here www.caststoneuk.co.uk/

Sapcote Garden Centre owner Andrew Porwol has acquired a second centre at nearby Sharnford.

Alexander Mackie Associates arranged the sale of Sharnford Garden Centre & Nursery (formerly Four Winds Nurseries) to Mr Porwol for an undisclosed sum. The 0.4ha site, with 2000 sq.m. of polytunnels and 400 sq.m. of glass, is on the B4114 Coventry Road/Bumble Bee Lane and traded largely as a wholesale nursery. Mr Porwol intends to create a retail operation to complement the Sapcote centre, which employs 50 staff.

The previous owner, Stephen Banks, is to pursue business interests overseas.

The Sun Flower Square, the garden industry collaborative exhibit in the Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, has been hailed an overwhelming success by the industry, the media and the public .

Visitors were able to take home ideas from the four front-garden-sized plots on display and seek advice from stand staff from across the industry.



The four gardens, including the 'Love the Plot You've Got' theme above, attracted celebrities with Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall, Alan Titchmarsh, Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton visiting the stand on Press Day. Minister of State for Defra, George Eustice also visited the stand to meet with Carol Paris, the HTA’s chief executive, and Raoul Curtis-Machin, head of horticulture.

The Royal visit saw the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the Countess of Wessex and the Duke of Duchess of Gloucester tour the gardens with Peter Seabrook and Carol Paris.

Media coverage of The Sun Flower Square was intense, with the four gardens featuring on the BBC’s daytime and evening coverage of the show. The exhibit was featured on This Morning as well as featuring in many national newspaper titles over the week.

Peter Seabrook said: “We were very grateful to receive plants and products from over 100 companies to create the inaugural horticultural industry exhibit which received a Silver Gilt medal in its first year at Chelsea, an incredible achievement, bearing in mind some of the plants were grown by junior school children!

 “The response we have had from the industry, the media and the public has been overwhelming and we couldn’t have done it without industry support.”

The full list of contributors to The Sun Flower Square were:

Allensmore Nurseries, Alton Garden Centre, Association of Professional Landscapers, Apta, Arden Lea Nurseries, Aylett’s Nurseries, Ball Colegrave, Barcham Trees, Barton Grange Garden Centre, Baugaarden, Beekenkamp Plants, Benary, Bents Garden and Home, Bernhard's Nurseries, Breast Cancer Now, Brookhouse Nurseries, Burcot Garden Centre, Burgon and Ball, Butters Group, Capel Manor College, Charlton Manor Primary School, City Spiritually, Coolings Garden Centre, Cowell's Garden Centre, Cramden Nursery, Delamore Nurseries, Deliflor, Desch Plantpak Ltd, Dobies of Devon, DT Brown, Earley Ornamentals, Eco Electrical, Eden Halls Greenhouses, Edenham School, Evanthia bv, Fleuroselect, Florist Holland BV, Galleywood Infants School, Garden Centre Association, Gordale Garden Centre, Halls Garden Site, Harrod Horticultural, Haskins Garden Centre, Hill Brothers, Hilliers Nurseries, Holtspur School, Horticultural Trades Association, Hozelock, Johnsons Seeds, Kapiteyn, Kerley and Co, Kernock Park Plants, Kings Seeds, Lovania Nurseries, LS Systems, Mammoth Onion, Marshalls Paving, Marshalls Seeds, Meadow Croft Garden Centre, Millbrook Garden Centres, Monkton Elm Garden Centre, Mr Fothergill's, Myerscough College, Neurdoff, Nursery Fresh Plants, Old Railway Line Garden Centre, Ornamental Plants Ltd, Perrywood Garden Centre, Pinetops Nursery, Ranleagh School Raymond Evison, Rolawn, Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, Sakata , Seiont Nurseries, Skylark Nurseries, Sneerboer, Squires Garden Centre, St Michael's School, Stone Warehouse, Sunshine Garden Centre, Suttons Seeds, the Van Hage Garden Company, Thompson and Morgan, Thrive, Thurrock Garden Centre, Tilly Dagnall , Unwins, Vivid Arts, Westland Horticulture, Whetman Pinks, WoodBlocx, Woolmans, Writtle College and Wyevale Nurseries.

The Sun Flower Square was also host to over 40 novelties, the largest number on a single exhibit.

To apply for this role click here

• Supervise a team of staff carrying out landscaping schemes on corporate and commercial sites. Mainly soft plantings but there may be some elements of hard, such as paths, paving or fencing as well.
• Be responsible for all equipment on site
• Be responsible for ensuring that Health & Safety standards are observed and reporting any issues to the Contracts Manager
• Liaise with the client on site and also the Contacts Manager to ensure that projects are carried out in accordance with the clients wishes.

• For this role they are seeking an experienced supervisor with good hands-on skills within the soft landscaping sector who has experience managing teams of 3 or more operatives.
• Good plant knowledge and the ability to read planting plants / design schematics
• Full Driving Licence and Trailer/towing Licence

• Have experience of working in a large restaurant with a track record for delivering high quality food and exceptional customer service
• Be focussed on driving growth in margins, revenues and profit whilst minimising costs and wastage
• Have strong leadership and people management skills, obtained ideally from within a catering or restaurant environment
• Have an understanding of how to promote and develop the business
• Have an excellent understanding of restaurant operations (both in kitchens and front of house) with an ability to identify and implement any necessary improvements in service delivery
• Have an awareness of the relevant health and safety regulations relating to kitchens, equipment, food preparation and service

• Ensure excellence of customer experience is continually delivered throughout the Garden Centre at all times.
• Ensure very high standards of store presentation and merchandising are maintained at all times.
• Achievement KPI targets for turnover, stock and losses are achieved throughout the store.
• Control of budgets by planning and managing resources effectively.
• Improve gross margins by reductions in waste and stock losses.
• Reduce overheads by keeping control of all costs and expenditure.
• To produce business reports and presentations to senior managers as required.
• To optimize stock availability by ensuring effective systems for replenishment are achieved.
• Seasonal and product promotions are planned and delivered.
• To recruit, motivate and develop an effective retail team complying with company procedures and ensuring individual performance is regularly reviewed through assessment and appraisal.
• To create an effective communication strategy, including team meetings and briefings to ensure accuracy of information across all employees.
• All Company Health & Safety procedures are adhered to and compliance with all statutory requirements.

• An experienced Retail Manager from either the garden centre, supermarket to high street retail sector.
• Be capable of giving the customer the best possible customer experience and be able to demonstrate this through past experience
• Candidates must have experience of working and managing large multi million pound centres.
• Be capable of managing a team of over 100 staff.
• Must have great commercial acumen, be an insightful and an instinctive retailer who does not need to be driven by head office instructions.
• Great communications skills and a target orientated, driven personality.

Ball Colegrave promise there will be more than four acres of displays to explore at this year’s Summer Showcase, which runs from 11 to 29 July at the West Adderbury trial grounds near Banbury.

Attractions include:

• More than 200 new plants for 2017
• Daily presentations on new varieties, including handy culture tips
• Innovative colour-themed patio gardens
• Retail merchandising ideas
• 700 experimental Annual and Perennial varieties
• A showcase of market leading basket and container plants
• Tomato trials and fruit tasting
• Perennial gardens

Trade exhibitors include HortiPak, Panacea, Anglo Eastern Trading, Desch Plantpak, Bulrush, Modiform, Stewarts, MasterTag, Elho, Waterwick and VertiGarden.

The company says the event gives retailers a perfect opportunity to review current plant ranges, identify new products for 2017 and view experimental lines being assessed for future introduction.

Tracey Moss has joined E P Barrus as area sales manager, working across the WOLF-Garten, Wilkinson Sword Tools, Energizer Batteries and Toolflex brands.

• Gardman Solar Mini Ice Orb and Smart Solar Eureka! Lightbulb Lantern held on to the top two positions.
• The highest new entry was the Gardman Hanging Lightbulb at No 22.
• Westland Eraza Slug & Snail Killer (800g) was the highest re-entry at No 24.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Pour & Feed (1 litre) was the highest climber, jumping 23 places to No 27.

The HTA is promoting clematis as its ‘Plant of the Moment’ for June.

From bold blooms the size of tea plates to delicate nodding bells adorning a garden arch, clematis are versatile and colourful climbers that no garden should be without. Whether left to clamber-up a trellis panel to cover walls and fences or trained over a pergola, clematis are a wonderfully diverse family with varieties to choose for flowers in every season of the year.

Impressive large-flowered hybrids coming into their own now these are joined later in the summer by daintier of viticellas that continue blooming into autumn

Top clematis for summer colour

· ‘Alabast’ (white) (right)

·  ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ (deep magenta)(pictured on cover page)

· ‘Etoile Rose’ (pink)

· ‘Lasurstern’ (blue) 

Top tips customers will appreciate on growing clematis:

Clematis like their heads in the sun and feet in the shade. Plant so that the soil around the roots is shaded to keep it cool, training shoots up into a brighter, lighter space above.

Always plant summer-flowering clematis deeper than they were growing in their pots. Dig a deep hole so the top of the rootball sits about 7-10cm below the soil surface, and bury the base of the stems with soil. This can help plants regrow if they ever suffer from clematis wilt disease.

Spread a deep mulch of compost or bark over the soil after planting to lock in moisture and protect from the sun to keep roots cool.

All clematis belong to one of three pruning groups depending on when they flower. Make sure you nominate a member of staff as your expert who can explain which pruning group each clematis belongs to. Staff can check online at www.rhs.org.uk.

Colourful clematis companions

·Roses

·Honeysuckle

· Golden Hop  (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’

·Golden Jasmine (Jasminum officinalis ‘Aureum’)

· Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’

·Wisteria

Shrubs that offer support:

·Camellia

·Conifers including yew and junipers

·Holly (Ilex varieties)

·Japanese maples

• The highest re-entry was Bridgen Rosemary Rosmarinus Prostratus Gourp (1-litre) at No 17.
• Farplants Coriander (9cm) and Tarragon French were both new entries at No 37 and No 48 respectively.
• Meanwhile Farplants Runner Bean Polestar was the highest climber, moving up 36 places to No 5.

• The highest climber was GroWise Multipurpose Compost, jumping 16 places to No 28.
• The highest re-entry was Westland Top Soil (25 litres) at No 33.
• Two other Westland products were re-entries – Decorative Mini Bark (50 litres) and The Gardener’s Multipurpose Compost (50 litres).
• Scotts Levington Multipurpose with John Innes (20 litres) also returned to the Top 50 bestselling items.

• Exclusive SOLEX Preview.
• Rreview of Chelsea Flower Show - Spotlight on new plant varieties.
• Garden industry has its say on the EU Referendum.
• Look ahead to the HTA National Plant Show.
• Great retailing tips from Rising Stars.
• Insights into property and planning.
• How a GIMA Award can launch a product to great success.

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra printed newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2014 as well as 2015 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers.  Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.

Sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, this two day event takes place on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 June at The Belfry Hotel and Resort, near Sutton Coldfield, with the dinner featuring on the first night.

After presenting the awards for The Greatest Catering Awards 2016, Lisa will give a short talk about her career as an actress and becoming the 2010 Celebrity MasterChef winner.

Lisa first established herself as a leading actress starring in numerous high profile TV dramas including Holby City, Spooks and Dangerfield. In 2010 Lisa won BBC 1′s Celebrity MasterChef and has since gone on a remarkable food journey.

Lisa’s first cookery book, Recipes From My Mother For My Daughter, became an instant bestseller, reaching number one in The Times non-fiction list. Following this, Lisa released her second cookbook, The Way I Cook, and her third book, Tea and Cake, also becoming a bestseller.

Lisa has presented a number of TV programmes, including hit Channel 4 daytime show What’s Cooking? as well regularly cooking in the This Morning kitchen. Lisa is a regular face on the Food Network, in 2014 she presented The Big Eat alongside Matt Tebbutt and Kitchen Superheores. Lisa is also passionate about cooking with children and last year her new series Crash My Kitchen launched on CBBC, in the series Lisa teaches children and their families how to cook simple and healthy meals. As well as presenting and cooking on This Morning Lisa has also anchored a number of food strands including Coastal Cottage, Comfort Cottage and Hollywood Menu.

Following her talk, Lisa will present The Greatest Catering Awards 2016 alongside host Trevor Pfeiffer, Managing Director of Garden Trade News.

As part of the Greatest Awards on Tour 2016, Garden Trade News will celebrate excellence in garden centre catering by hosting and presenting their awards in the following categories:

• The Greatest Afternoon Tea Experience 2016
• The Greatest Garden Centre Coffee Team of the Year Award
• The Greatest Chef Team of the Year
• The Greatest Front of House Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Team of the Year

The cost of the HTA Catering Conference to HTA members is £325.00, plus VAT, which includes the two day conference, dinner and accommodation for single occupancy at The Belfry (£445.00, plus VAT for non-members). Single day only rates are also available for those who cannot attend the full conference. For more information and to book visit www.hta.org.uk/cateringconference