GTN Xtra - GTN Xtra - Issue 9 2014

Having proven its economic model, Greenfingers.com is now looking to double the scale of its business in the next three years. Part of that expansion includes the recruitment of a Senior Buyer...

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Contact us with your news. Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700

HTA catering day serves up success for 250

An attendance of more than 250 at this week’s HTA Catering Conference in Coventry proved how important catering now is to the garden centre industry...

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Redundancy fears as TGCG undertake staffing review at Garden & Leisure centres

The Garden Centre Group is undertaking an efficiency review of the management structure and staffing at its Garden & Leisure centres, and there are fears it could result in redundancies...

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'The secret of great margins? Put a lot of veg on the plate...'

An educational veg and fruit garden at Fairweathers in Hampshire supplies the re-branded restaurant and drives additional footfall...

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Cultivating business solutions together – Classiflora-Zelari 2014 Open Days
5th-6th March 2014, Heathfield Nurseries, Parklands, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 2AG.

Whether you’re seeking inspiration, education, motivation or simply a good day out, the Classiflora-Zelari 2014 open days on 5th-6th March 2014 will magically pull together those nagging items from your ’to do’ list and help you keep up with industry developments...

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Charlie Dimmock revealed as new face of Planting Magic

Charlie Dimmock has been announced as the new face of innovative new product, Gro-Sure Planting Magic. The gardening expert will star in a tongue-in-cheek TV advert, which will be on screens from April to May...

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Dragons' Den company launches Raised Bed Rescue campaign

WoodBlocX, the company that turned the humble raised bed into a garden must-have after appearing on Dragons' Den, is launching a nationwide campaign to help rejuvenate public gardens across the UK...

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Six products battle for orchid drip feeder sales

The battle for market share in the orchid drip feeder category has taken a new turn this week with the number of lines doubling to six in the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart, compared to the same week last year...

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Prestopets has 35 years experience in the fishkeeping industry

Prestopets have been specialist importers and wholesalers of ornamental coldwater and tropical fish to the aquatic industry for 35 years...

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How catering impacts on the bottom line

Cafés at Colette & Tyson and Plantation garden centres have both seen impressive increases in turnover, margin and net profit since major re-vamps, the HTA Catering Conference heard...

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Bents smashed fundraising total with £17k donation

Bents Garden & Home smashed its fundraising target for 2013 by more than £4,500 to raise a staggering £17,023 for its charity of the year, The Christie, and allowing the organisation to buy a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Bed...

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Garden centres get into the Valentine's Day spirit

Garden centres embraced Valentine's Day in a big way with flowers and food prominent in stores. We've collected a number of images from centres around the country, including this one from Perrywood's Coffee Shop...

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Consumer confidence boost but will the weather be on side?

The garden industry is starting off 2014 on a much firmer footing than 2013 with end of the year sales volumes at garden centres 6% up. That's according to the latest HTA Market Update figures, which also revealed that December sales alone were 6% higher than the previous year, buoyed by a strong performance in Christmas ranges...

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Newbridge Nurseries gets top national award

Newbridge Nurseries in Horsham, West Sussex, has been declared as the country’s Most Improved Garden Centre 2013/2014 by the Garden Centre Association...

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Jude Law, David Tennant and other stars present the Garden Re-Leaf Day quiz for 2014

Hollywood star Jude Law and Dr Who actor David Tennant (pictured) have joined the growing list of household-name celebrities to support Garden Re-Leaf Day’s popular Gardening Quiz, by recording a round of questions. The brain-teasing audio quiz is available as a customer event opportunity to any garden centre taking part in the annual fund-raising day in March...

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GTN February 2014

GTN December 2013-January 2014

Garden Trade News

Man breaks into Allwoods Nursery garden centre in Cheam but steals nothing

A man broke into a Surrey garden centre and stole nothing. And now police want help identifying the man in this CCTV image...

Tomato fever sets in already

There are five tomato seed lines in the GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart this week – and a 20% increase in sales volume gives all the indication we need that anything tomato flavoured is likely to be a best seller this year.

Get involved in Garden Re-Leaf Day with 'Loose Change'

The organisers of Garden Re-Leaf Day – the annual season-starting garden retail event in aid of children's garden charity Greenfingers – have announced a new and simple way to enable garden product and plant suppliers to get involved in time for the big day on March 14...

Joe Awome appointed Sales Customer Support for Easitill

Joe Awome has been appointed to handle Pre & Post Sales Customer Support for the South West, North West and Wales for the horticultural Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) company Eastill...

Good week for growing media sales...but let's not get carried away

Even with the wet weather, it was a good week for growing media sales – they were up 8% with all but 12 of the Top 50 lines increasing sales week-on-week...

Award nomination for HTA apprentice

HTA events team apprentice Chloe Bye has been nominated for the ‘best apprentice in a small business’ category in the Newbury College Apprenticeship Award programme...

Gardman initiative helps consumers migrate to no-net Fat Snax

With the addition of a new 50 Value Pack bag of No Nets Fat Snax, Gardman is providing retailers with a full range of non-netted Fat Snax products as part of its proactive strategy designed to persuade consumers to move away from netted suet...

New GIMA Member Popadome has a new solution to garden pest problem

The all in one fruit and vegetable protection system from Popadome, launched as part of the Innovators Zone at Glee 2013 is set to makes its mark in garden retail outlets this spring...

Slugs and snails are the most 'detested' pests

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced its ‘Top Ten' garden pests for 2013 with slugs and snails topping the list for a second consecutive year...

More pictures of Garden Centre Christmas displays than have ever been published before

The GTN team and Greatest Awards Experts have already been out and about visiting garden centres throughout the country and have seen some brilliant Christmas displays. Here's a selection of the 2013 displays that are selling through now. Just click on the garden centre name to take you to their picture gallery:

Arcadia
Armitages Pennine
Barton Grange
Berwick
Baytree
Brechin Castle
Brookside
Caerphilly
Coletta & Tyson
Dobbies Inverness
Dobbies Kings Lynn
Dunbar
Eastfield
Garden Pride
Glendoick
Hetland
Highfield Garden World
Houghton Hall
Huntingdon Garden & Leisure
Langlands Leeds
Mains of Drum
Notcutts Tunbridge Wells
Old Railway Line
Raemoir
Ruxley Manor
Simpsons
Strikes Stokesley
Swanland
Torwood
Trowell
Van Hage Peterborough
Walkers Nurseries
Webbs of Wychbold

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