Happy New Year to all involved in the UK garden retailing business!
As you'll see from our list of most read stories below, 2018 was a year dominated by news about Wyevale Garden Centres, Gardman, Blue Diamond and Dobbies (Nicholas Marshall did leave in the end...
Happy New Year to all involved in the UK garden retailing business!
As you'll see from our list of most read stories below, 2018 was a year dominated by news about Wyevale Garden Centres, Gardman, Blue Diamond and Dobbies (Nicholas Marshall did leave in the end.)
The backdrop to all that news, however was a year of weather extremes that according to our GTN Bestsellers Epos analysis delivered both the record lowest week of garden centre sales and the highest week ever.
With so much change happening, and still in the pipeline for 2019, what are your expectations for 2019? Please all your expectations using the comments button below or e-mail: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk.
Thank you for reading GTN and GTN Xtra during 2018. We look forward to continuing to be your No 1 source of garden retailing information throughout 2019.
Happy New Year.
Trevor, Neil, Mike, Mandy, Ben, Alan, Harry, Holly and Karen.
2018 was a year of extremes weather wise and a series of events that will shape our UK garden retailing market for years to come. As a result GTN Xtra was read by over 45,000 people during 2018 and they viewed almost 1.2 million pages, a monthly pages viewed average of 98,584.
But what were the most read stories during one of the busiest in our memory for industry news? Surprisingly our most read story wasn't about Wyevale garden centre sales or Gardman, it was a story that got picked up via social media and ended up being viewed over 83,000 times.
Here's our Top 25 most read stories of the year. Just click on the link to see them in full or click the link below to see the full Top100. Thank you for all your reading of GTN and GTN Xtra in 2018, here's to a fantastic 2019. Happy New Year!
2018 was a year of extremes weather wise and a series of events that will shape our UK garden retailing market for years to come. As a result GTN Xtra was read by over 45,000 people during 2018 and they viewed almost 1.2 million pages, a monthly pages viewed average of 98,584.
But what were the most read stories during one of the busiest in our memory for industry news? Surprisingly our most read story wasn't about Wyevale garden centre sales or Gardman, it was a story that got picked up via social media and ended up being viewed over 83,000 times.
Here's our Top 100 most read stories of the year. Just click on the link to see them in full
Leading indoor plant pot supplier Ivyline are 'spreading happiness' since the launch of their link with Greenfingers, which sees 25p from every Happiness Pack sold being donated to the charity...
Leading indoor plant pot supplier Ivyline are 'spreading happiness' since the launch of their link with Greenfingers.
Ivyline's two triple packs of Happiness Teacups have been a great success! The two sets of happiness teacups are perfect for herb & cacti planting, a huge trend at the moment, and come packaged in a full-colour box, great for in-store volume displays.
UK Sales Manager James Brindle says: "Since the launch at Glee, and the prominent position within the Glee Trend Lab, sales of the Happiness Teacups have been brilliant. Orders are coming in already and strong volumes have been signed off within the largest groups in the industry. Having sold thousands since January the donation is building up very nicely. We are all really happy, no pun intended!"
Greenfingers is a national charity dedicated to supporting children with life-limiting conditions and their families, who spend time in hospices around the UK. The charity funds, designs and creates magical and inspiring gardens for them to relax in and benefit from, and as Ivyline is donating 25p from every Happiness Pack sold, the teacups are helping to make a very real difference.
"We are so pleased to be working with James and the team at Ivyline, we all love these fun teacups which are sure to put a smile on many faces. Raising money for Greenfingers Charity through a promotion like this really is win win for all. We hear that it's been great for business and at the same time is helping to make a difference to life-limited children and their families", says Linda Petrons, Head of Fundraising & Communications, Greenfingers Charity.
"Ivyline are investing in more stock due to the volumes already sold and pre-ordered" James states "so contact your local Ivyline agent or our head office for more information".
Please contact your Ivyline Agent for further information or contact Ivyline direct on 0844 8002214 or on sales@ivylinegb.co.uk
Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of four garden centres to individual buyers. The centres are: World of Pets and Leisure; Codicote; Sudbury and Oxford. Sudbury and Oxford have been sold to operators who are expected to continue to run them as garden centres...
Sudbury has been sold to Perrywood Garden Centre.
Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of four garden centres to individual buyers. The centres are: World of Pets and Leisure; Codicote; Sudbury and Oxford. Sudbury (pictured above) and Oxford have been sold to operators who are expected to continue to run them as garden centres.
Roger Mclaughlan, Chief Executive of WGC, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of four of our garden centres. In the case of those centres which have been sold for alternative use, we are very pleased to honour our commitments to our colleagues and partners and will seek to redeploy our excellent colleagues in our other garden centres wherever possible in coming months. We would like to thank our great colleagues at these centres, who have been central to our turnaround in the past few years.”
WOPAL and Codicote been sold in separate transactions to purchasers who are expected to develop the sites for alternative use. These centres were previously identified for potential redevelopment as part of the company’s active portfolio management strategy. WOPAL centre has already been closed and Codicote is expected to continue to operate as a garden centre until early 2019 after completion of the sale.
Anthony Jones, Chief Financial Officer of WGC, said: “The centres sold to date had been highlighted as ‘non core’ as part of our ongoing portfolio review, which predated the sale process. The sale of these centres reflects our continued pursuit of positive outcomes for our colleagues, concession partners, suppliers and customers. We are very grateful for the dedication and commitment of the teams at these centres, and we’ll continue to support them through the transition.”
WGC has received a significant number of offers for all or part of the remaining WGC business from national, regional and financial operators as well as local entrepreneurs.
Sudbury has been sold to Perrywood Garden Centre and Nurseries Ltd and Oxford has been sold to AWBS Ltd, which is an existing concession holder on site. WOPAL has been bought by Harlex Property, while Codicote has been sold to Taylor Wimpey Plc.
Simon Bourne, of Perrywood, said: "We look forward to bringing the team at Sudbury into the Perrywood family, and can't wait to get to know them and the site better. More details to follow after completion!"
Northamptonshire Police have just issued a bulletin on their website stating that a man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire. Roads in the industrial estate remain closed while firefighters continue to tackle the fire and work closely with the police and other agencies to maintain public safety....
Northamptonshire Police have just issued a bulletin on their website stating that a man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire. Roads in the industrial estate remain closed while firefighters continue to tackle the fire and work closely with the police and other agencies to maintain public safety.
The bulletin goes on to report: Deputy Chief Fire Officer David Harding, from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We expect to have fire officers at the scene for at least the next couple of days while we continue efforts to extinguish the fire.
“This was an extremely large building on fire which required more than 50 firefighters, 10 pumping and two aerial appliances along with other specialist vehicles, to tackle it during the early hours of this morning.”
It will be some time yet before investigators can gain access to the building however, police have launched an arson investigation and would like to speak to anyone who may have information about the fire or who may have witnessed anyone acting suspiciously near to the warehouse late last night.
Anyone in the area affected by smoke from the fire is advised to close doors and windows as a precautionary measure.
Witnesses or anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Gardman CEO, Pete Utting spoke to GTN Xtra earlier this morning about the fire at their Daventry warehouse which broke out last night.
"All of the people on the night shift have been accounted for but we can not gain access to the site yet. When I left at 6:00am the fire was still burning." Speaking from the Peterborough head office Pete was devastated after a week when their pick rate had exceeded the 100,000 mark for the first time in their efforts to catch up on delivery problems from earlier in the year. "Staff are very shaken here. We are setting up crisis management teams but until we can gain access to the site we have no idea as to the extent of the damage."
As soon as we receive any further information from Gardman or the fire service we will publish more updates.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue @northantsfire tweeted overnight: 23:41 Currently in attendance at serious High Bay Warehouse fire, 10 pumps, 2 aerials and 2 High Volume Pumps in attendance, Parsons Rd,
Then at 4:25am they added: More than 50 firefighters are in attendance at a warehouse fire in Daventry. Fire crews were called the unit in Parsons Road, Drayton Fields Industrial Estate just before midnight on Sunday, March 11.
At 10:59 AM, today they have tweeted: Incident Daventry - Firefighting operations are still continuing using High Volume Pumps and Aerial appliances, assistance is being given to @northantsfire by @OxonFireRescue & @WarksFireRescue
Rafal, @Rafal05836236 who was working on the night shift has tweeted some video footage of the fire: https://twitter.com/Rafal05836236
BBC News reported on the fire that broke out last night at Gardman's Daventry warehouse and distribution facility.
According to the BBC website the fire broke out at 23:41 GMT on Sunday. They go on to report that firefighters are still at the scene and police said at this time there are not believed to be any casualties.
GTN Xtra has learned today that the Home & Garden Group, which own nine garden centres, has gone into administration. The news came from several sources...
Rutland Garden Centre is part of the Home & Garden Group.
GTN Xtra has learned today that the Home & Garden Group, which own nine garden centres, has gone into administration. The news came from several sources.
The Home & Garden Group consists of the following centres:
Rutland Garden Centre, Oakham
Leighton Buzzard Garden Centre, Bedfordshire
Willington Home and Garden
Ise Garden Centre, Kettering
Stansted Park Garden Centre, Rowlands Castle
David's Nurseries, Worcester
Shopwhyke Garden Centre, Chichester
Plowmans Garden Centre, Bournemouth
Floralands Garden Centre, Nottingham
GTN Xtra will update you with further information when it becomes available.
Drone footage from Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue, filmed on Monday, shows the extent of the fire at the Gardman warehouse in Daventry and the company have issued a statement saying: "the fire has destroyed both the stock and the building"...
Drone footage from Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue, filmed on Monday, shows the extent of the fire at the Gardman warehouse and the company have issued a statement saying: "...the fire has destroyed both the stock and the building".
Shortly after midnight on 12th March a major fire broke out at the Gardman warehouse in Daventry.
As communicated yesterday, thankfully there were no casualties and the emergency services remain on site as they continue to investigate. Northamptonshire Police have confirmed they have arrested a man on suspicion of arson connected with the fire.
Whilst we do not yet have full access to the site, our initial assessment is that the damage sustained by the fire has destroyed both the stock and the building. We are now working tirelessly on a business recovery plan to restore our supply position and help our customers.
According to the Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue website this afternoon (Tuesday) the man previously arrested on suspicion of arson has been released on bail pending further enquiries.
Gloucestershire garden centre Trioscape is fighting a proposal by Severn Trent Water to close a 2.6k section of the main road outside for five months...
Gloucestershire garden centre Trioscape is fighting a proposal by Severn Trent Water to close a 2.6k section of the main road outside for five months.
Seven Trent says safety is paramount during work to replace a water pipe and it will be putting up ‘businesses open as usual’ signs.
However, Trioscape manager Will Ormand says he has “grave fears” that the work, due to start in February, will have a massive long-term impact on the garden centre, which recently completed a major investment in its gift area and restaurant.
He said that although previous road works nearby had seriously affected the business, it had only only been for a maximum of a month at a time.
“The last time was for fibre broadband, which we understood. This is for five months,” he added. “We are very fearful because the closure notice will come in our busiest time of year and will mean us missing all the bank holidays, which are the bread and butter for garden centres like ours.
“Customers are put off by road works and once they change their trends, we will struggle to get them back. This road closure will not only have a devastating effect on our local businesses but also the thousands of people who use this road on their daily commute.”
He has been told the garden centre will be entitled to compensation but does not believe it will cover the losses and it could have a long term impact.
Residents face a 50-minute detour during the disruption. Hundreds have signed a petition launched in protest.
Severn Trent’s Gareth Mead said: “We don’t take the decision to close roads lightly but it’s vital to keep our teams, pedestrians and road users safe.
“We’re very aware of the concerns of local people and businesses about the closure but we’ll be putting out very clear signage highlighting that businesses remain open as normal, and school buses will be allowed through for drop off and pick up like normal.
“The really important thing here is that we’re investing £3 million in the area to make sure our customers have a reliable water supply in the future, while also significantly reducing the likelihood of leaks and bursts.”
Defra has announced a ban on the outdoor use of metaldehyde slug pellets in a range of crops and gardens from Spring 2020...
Defra has announced a ban on the outdoor use of metaldehyde slug pellets in a range of crops and gardens from Spring 2020.
The decision follows advice from the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that metaldehyde poses an unacceptable risk to birds and mammals.
Defra is encouraging the use of alternative active ingredients like ferric phosphate – and other ways to mitigate the impact of slugs and snails through through soil preparation (e.g. sowing seed deeper to prevent slugs from reaching them).
The outdoor use of metaldehyde will be phased out over 18 months to give growers time to adjust to other methods. It will be legal to sell metaldehyde products for outdoor use for the next six months, with use of the products then allowed for a further 12 months.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he recognised the significant effort put in by the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group to encourage growers and gardeners to use the pesticide responsibly by. “However, the advice is clear that the risks to wildlife are simply too great – and we must all play our part in helping to protect the environment.”
The new restrictions are also designed to reduce the possibility of contaminating drinking water sources.
The popular garden centre based in Crawley has announced plans for a £15 million redevelopment, with a revamped centre due to open in spring 2020. The work is expected to create up to 70 new jobs...
The popular garden centre based in Crawley has announced plans for redevelopment, with a revamped centre due to open in spring 2020.
Up to 70 new jobs created
Expansion of centre footprint by 20 per cent
£15m investment
Haskins acquired the Snowhill site in 2003 and has worked hard to maintain its position as one of the best garden centres in the area. Due to a number of ageing buildings on site, pre-dating Haskins’ ownership, the leading garden centre group recognised the need to redevelop and modernise the centre.
Julian Winfield, chief executive of Haskins Garden Centres, commented: “We have worked closely with the local authority and our neighbours over a number of years to achieve the permission to develop the site.
“We are absolutely delighted to be on track with the £15m redevelopment programme. Whilst it is a long-term investment, we’re confident that it will secure the garden centre for our customers for many years and be a good investment for our business.”
Once the redevelopment is complete, customers will benefit from a consolidated garden centre, with all goods and services located in one contemporary high quality building. The enhanced customer restaurant will seat 440 and offer an outdoor terrace. The restaurant will be able to provide customers with a better range of meals, snacks and drinks.
Additional improvements include a new large covered outdoor sales area, as well as a revamped car park with 346 parking spaces.
Haskins in Snowhill will continue trading as normal until the end of 2018 and then a temporary centre will open on site on Friday March 1 2019. The main centre will re-open for business in spring 2020.
The developers are currently in the first phase, creating the new car park and entrance and establishing a temporary centre to continue trading.
Julian added: “Once the Snowhill redevelopment is finished, we will have four purpose-built garden centres which puts Haskins in a unique position. Most leading garden centre groups have centres of varying shapes and sizes, but having four similar sites helps us alleviate the complexities of management.”
Haskins is located in Snowhill Lane, Copthorne, West Sussex, RH10 3EY. For more information visit www.haskins.co.uk
Storm Deirdre may have had devastating effects on high street retail footfall but it didn’t stop garden centres selling as much in total as the snow of last year. Top line volume sales analysis from GTN Bestsellers shows that volume sales for last week were up by 12% on the same week last year and on a par with the week after Easter earlier this year.
Storm Deirdre may have had devastating effects on high street retail footfall but it didn’t stop garden centres selling as much in total as the snow of last year.
Top line volume sales analysis from GTN Bestsellers shows that volume sales for last week were up by 12% on the same week last year and on a par with the week after Easter earlier this year.
That means the GTN Bestsellers All Products Sales index will close the year on minus 2.6% vs 2017, an amazing turnaround from the position mid-April of being 16% down, even after Easter.
As you’ll see from this week’s chart pages it wasn’t Christmas that saved the day during the storm. Plants, garden products and growing media sales were all up significantly on last year.
Happy Christmas to all our readers and best wishes for a great Bestsellers year in 2019.
GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 50) Garden Products - up 25% Growing Media - up 46% Wild Bird Care - down 10% Christmas - down 1% All Plants Index - up 15% All Items Index - up 12%
‘Bents equals family and family equals Bents’; one of the main messages to come from recent customer focus groups held by Warrington based Bents Garden & Home and designed to gain a deeper understanding of its customer base and awareness of its popular be inspired privilege club...
‘Bents equals family and family equals Bents’; one of the main messages to come from recent customer focus groups held by Warrington based Bents Garden & Home and designed to gain a deeper understanding of its customer base and awareness of its popular be inspired privilege club.
The initiative comes as Bents marks the five-year anniversary of be inspired and the results will be used to guide future improvements as it moves into its sixth year.
A common phrase used by many in the groups was that Bents was ‘more than just a garden centre’ with it being likened to leading retailers including John Lewis, Selfridges and Marks & Spencer. Comparison was also drawn with Harrods, but with the caveat that ‘even then you wouldn’t feel as comfortable as you would in Bents.”
Says Matthew Bent, Managing Director at Bents Garden & Home: “The feedback from these sessions has been incredible. To be compared to such well known, leading retailers is fantastic but the messages that mean the most to us are the ones which relate to the friendliness and welcoming nature of our Centre and colleagues. Our colleagues are the ones who help create that special atmosphere which makes us what we are and it was great to see this acknowledged by our customers in such a passionate way.”
Another direct comment which reflected this feeling stated that “everyone is welcome and everyone is welcoming’ whilst ‘the friendliness, the courtesy, the smiles and the spirit’ was also widely acknowledged.
Bents used Poynton based Park Lane Research, who have worked with national retailers including Waitrose and Aldi and were happy to admit they had never received such positive and protective comments in when working in similar situations.
Park Lane Research were briefed to carry out a qualitative study comprising two group discussions and twenty in-depth telephone interviews. The groups were split by age, gender and use of their be inspired card, to include regular and occasional users as well as lapsed users, in order to gain a snap shop of current custom.
Results from the study will be used to guide future communication and improvements from a customer perspective both in store at Bents and it’s be inspired club.
Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts...
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 newsletter.
As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2016 as well as 2017 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 Garden Plants Bestsellers chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Christmas Products chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care 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.
Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.
GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.
Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.
Ivyline's two triple packs of Happiness Teacups have been a great success! The two sets of happiness teacups are perfect for herb & cacti planting, a huge trend at the moment, and come packaged in a full-colour box, great for in-store volume displays.
Defra is encouraging the use of alternative active ingredients like ferric phosphate – and other ways to mitigate the impact of slugs and snails through through soil preparation (e.g. sowing seed deeper to prevent slugs from reaching them).
