In This Issue
Judging of GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards set to start this week
Do your customers think you are The Greatest at Christmas?
100 firefighters tackle garden centre fire near Heathrow Airport
Great festive sales look set to deliver a record month
Taylors Bulbs raises £2,400 for Children in Need during Rickshaw Challenge ride-past
Cat Wars Bonanza for Garden Retailers
Completion of 'extraordinary' project approaches for Smiemans
Bonningtons' buying team expands to support rapid growth
Customer service team rewarded at Tong Garden Centre
Keter rolls out garden centre shed trial
Stewart featured in Parliamentary Review Manufacturing
Approval granted for £7m garden centre redevelopment
New climate control investment ensures peak freshness for Allensmore’s Christmas wreaths and planters
Thrive’s work with young people with special educational needs in Birmingham gains momentum
Gardman donates Poppy Bird Feeder kits to The Royal British Legion Care Homes
Wyevale Nurseries’ staff offer advice on career to grow into
Use your social media, e-mails and website for Christmas Customer Votes
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Plantarea Assistant (Oxfordshire)
Garden Sundries Manager (Oxfordshire)
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Vitax’s consumer-focused website goes live
Evenings draw in and lighting sales increase
Top 50 Christmas products up 20% year on year
A dozen compost lines are still growing sales
Bulbs provide welcome boost to plant sales
Spruce is Garden Plant of the Month for December
Ken White takes over chair of the APL
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Notcutts Norwich apologises after 'technical' issues at new restaurant
Cotswold Fayre to hold New Product Launch Shows
Situations Vacant
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Salary: Excellent
 
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Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Salary: £35,000 - £38,000
 
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Plantarea Assistant (Oxfordshire)
Salary: £18,000 - £22,000
 
Read more»
Garden Sundries Manager (Oxfordshire)
Salary: To attract the best
 
Read more»
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Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700



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Book your tickets for GTN's Greatest Christmas Party on Sunday January 8th 2017 by calling 01733 775700


Bonningtons' buying team expands to support rapid growth


The category buying team at Bonningtons is expanding to meet the needs of the business as it continues to exceed its range expansion and sales growth targets.

This month saw the appointment of Craig Bethel, 36, who joins from Virgin Media and will support Quality Control Manager, Damian Wielgat as a Quality Administrator in the UK office. He joins two other recent appointments to the team - Heather Turner, 28 who was previously a stock control manager for Celsa Steel and Alex Aitcheson, 27 a buyer from Sports Direct who have taken on category responsibilities for the Animal, Leisure, Gardening and DIY categories.

Together with two in purchasing administration and three graphic designers, the Category Buying  team is now up to a full strength of ten, headed up by Kate Smalley who took up the senior management role this year after 5 years with Bonningtons.

Commenting on the growth of her team, Kate said: "We have very ambitious growth plans for the next couple of years and I've recently been focussed on getting the right team in place to help us deliver. I'm very pleased that we have been able to recruit such a diverse and experienced team of young professionals."

Kate has launched a number of new brands into the Bonningtons portfolio in the past year, and the team has further plans for the expansion and development of new ranges in camping and outdoor leisure, DIY and torches in the immediate future. Early in 2017 there will also be new brands in home décor as well as a full brand review in birdcare.

"The range has grown to more than 2000 lines over the past few months, and I expect it to continue to grow at least as fast over the coming months. The team is going to be very busy!"

Pictured: (from left to right): Alex Aitcheson, Kate Smalley (buying manager), Craig Bethel and Heather Turner.
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