In This Issue
Ansell Garden Centre opens to customers just five days after it was destroyed by fire
Demolition threat over garden centre revamp
Klondyke Strike Gold in Leeds
November storms towards record sales
GIMA and HTA join forces to buy The Garden Press Event
Wildlife World ramps up production to meet demand
Stewarts gain planning approval for Wimborne expansion
Squire's run school contest to decorate a Christmas tree
spoga+gafa continues on its course of success
GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards underway
Do your customers think you are The Greatest at Christmas?
Use social media, emails and website for customer votes
Product Merchandisers
Assistant Quality Controller (Northamptonshire)
Grower, Nursery Operative (Hertfordshire)
Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Lighting and gardening gifts boost sales
Santa and snow drive Christmas sales
Compost sales 14% higher than last year
Hedging your best with plant sales
HTA Contact Conference on ‘Surviving and Thriving’
Drive up sales: persuade customers to care for their Christmas poinsettia
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
Matthew Algie gets in the festive spirit with Espresso Warehouse catalogue
Big name speakers confirmed for Casual Dining 2017
Situations Vacant
Product Merchandisers
Salary: £22,000+
 
Read more»
Assistant Quality Controller (Northamptonshire)
Salary: £18,000 - £20,000
 
Read more»
Grower, Nursery Operative (Hertfordshire)
Salary: £14,400 - £16,600
 
Read more»
Garden Centre Sundries Shop Manager (Kent)
Salary: £35,000 - £38,000
 
Read more»
Plantarea Supervisor Manager (Berkshire)
Salary: Excellent
 
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


Ansell Garden Centre opens to customers just five days after it was destroyed by fire


Less than a week after it was destroyed by a massive blaze, Ansell Garden Centre re-opened for business. Customers were allowed in from 10.30am and 3pm on Friday and afterwards managing director Paresh Raithatha spoke to GTN Xtra about the amazing response they’d had from both the garden industry and customers.

“It has been immense,” said Paresh. “The kind words have kept us going through some dark times over the past week. On Facebook alone we’ve received 50,000 messages.

“This level of support gave us the push we needed to get back on our feet and rebuild this business. We face a long road ahead but we’ll be back. And we’re determined to make the garden centre even better than before.”

The garden centre was gutted by fire last weekend when a huge fire broke out at 4.30pm on Sunday. It took around 100 firefighters more than five hours to bring the flames under control, with huge plumes of smoke seen in the sky from miles around.

The Ansell team were so eager to get back on the road to recovery that they decided to open up on Friday, alerting customers to the fact via social media, tweeting “please let as many as possible know. Will be nice to see friendly faces.”

Paresh told GTN Xtra: “Everything inside the garden centre was destroyed but we were still able to offer our customers the chance to buy plants, compost and containers.

“A good number of people turned up and they were pleased to see us trading again so soon.

“We are taking a delivery of 500 Christmas trees on Sunday and they’ll be on sale from Monday onwards.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us but seeing the response from our customers today makes us even more determined.

“We’ve already started planning for the future and our aim is to get phase one of the rebuilding process complete by next Easter. That will give us the platform to restore Ansell Garden Centre to its former glory…but I promise it will be even better.”

To get some sense of how people have helped Paresh and his team face up to this awful blaze, here’s an extract from the Ansell Garden Centre Facebook page…

“We have been touched by all the kind words and support that you all have offered, from our family, friends, customers, suppliers, residents and our staff both new and old who have become part of our family.

“You all have given us the courage to move forward. We will hopefully see your smiles in the very near future and will keep you updated as much as we can.

“With some hope, we stay strong, we fight, we move forward.”




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