In This Issue
Tesco sell Dobbies for £217m - but not to Wyevale
Leighton Buzzard GC is Home & Garden's tenth
GIMA Charity Golf Day hailed as a great success
Whitehall will grow to over 22,000 sq m of retail area
Glyphosate decision deferred yet again
Sales boost for sunny side of the country
Hilltop's play barn raises £20k for Greenfingers
January Furniture Show's future secured in NEC deal
London potholes transformed into miniature gardens
Nurseries help charity with garden at Sophie House
Plantarea Assistant Bedding Plants – Essex
Sales & Marketing Exec, Landscape Amenity Sector
Garden Sundries Retail Manager - Cornwall
Garden Sundries Retail Manager - South Gloucestershire
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Durston appoints new national sales manager
Garden lighting illuminates slugs and snails
Another strong sales week for herb plants
Squire's to host RNRS southern rose show
Multi-purpose compost is a bestseller for Durstons
Thrive showcases its ‘life changing’ floral border at BBC Gardeners’ World Live
Improved displays feature in Mr Fothergill's 2017 retail range
WorldSkills semi-finalists announced for RHS Flower Show Tatton Park
Inside the June issue of Garden Trade News
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
GTN's Greatest Catering Awards
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Taming the beast at the HTA Catering Conference
Green Pastures, Fron Goch and Bents are The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Teams
The Greatest Afternoon Tea Experience Team
Poppies of Oban and Trentham Blue Diamond pick up gold as The Greatest Garden Centre Coffee Teams
Timmermans wins The Greatest Garden Centre Chef Team Award
Fron Goch and Squires Badshot Lea crowned The Greatest Garden Centre Front of House Teams
Situations Vacant
Plantarea Assistant Bedding Plants – Essex
Salary: Depending on experience
 
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Sales & Marketing Exec, Landscape Amenity Sector
Salary: £30,000 - £35,000
 
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Garden Sundries Retail Manager - Cornwall
Salary: £18,000 - £19,000
 
Read more»
Garden Sundries Retail Manager - South Gloucestershire
Salary: £18,000 - £21,000
 
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
Taming the beast at the HTA Catering Conference


Catering is a beast. The customer is king. It’s all about cake, coffee and hot food. Coffee is a culture. Casual diners still expect excellent service. Local is a given nowadays.

These were the sounds of the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, that took place at The Belfry Hotel and Resort, near Sutton Coldfield, this week.

Catering is an unusual, exciting, fast-paced beast that operations managers need to get behind if they want to move forward. This was the call to action by Pippa McKean, Director, McKean Consulting, who opened the conference and reminded delegates that we’re now very much a hospitality industry as well.

Over the two day event delegates heard tips, advice and case studies that they could apply to their own businesses…

Build a team of naturally positive people who smile and good service will follow. Top tips from Fred Sirieix, General Manager, Galvin at Windows, who treats service like a religion, included: be charming first, greet your customers with five smiles, give service with a magic touch, say thank you, and have two staff briefings a day.

Financial issues are trending in catering, but there are several ways to combat this by making cost efficiencies; the design and flow of your kitchen is a good place to start.

Aim for fast food naturally said Henry Dimbleby, Co-Founder of Leon Restaurants. Fast food can be good food too, but, it’s all in the detail – right staff, food cost, offering and consistency.  Make your garden centre a place for the community to gather .

To make a good cup of coffee you need to get the basics right – a good machine combo and a skilled barista. Don’t waste your milk!

Top ten food service trends were – grab and go, have three locations (garden centre, airport, workplace), offer wellbeing, serve afternoon tea and all day breakfast, make it personalised, go with the cafe culture, adapt to technology, try global flavours, consider delivery, find a partnership, and follow the trends not the fads.

A full event write up will be available at  www.hta.org.uk/cateringconference
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