The Colegrave Seabrook Foundations' Smart Garden Products Student Scholarship scheme, now in its second year of operation, is so much more than just the financial support it gives to the winning students studying horticulture.

In addition to the money students receive to support their studies, the scholarship winners also have the opportunity to join the SGP Student Development Study Tour.

This intensive, two-day tour, packs in ‘behind the scenes’ visits to a variety of horticultural businesses who open their doors to the students. This year’s visits to give students experience of the complexities of business were:

• Smart Garden Products – students saw the supply chain and logistic challenges of seasonal products with details of NPD, trading right through to purchasing patterns of retailers of the ever increasing range of Smart Gardens product range, including Christmas.
• Taylors Bulbs – understanding the journey of a bulb right from harvesting in the fields to the packet ready for despatch to garden centre retailers, with all the stages of sourcing, growing, quality control and marketing.
• Bridge Farm Group – one of the largest growers producing plants primarily for the supermarket sector in state of the art purpose built facilities where programming and cost reduction are the key elements of the business. Delegates were also allowed an exclusive tour of the secure Bridge Farm Bioscience facilities where R&D on the extraction of essential oils and other elements from plants are being undertaken for pharmaceutical purposes
• Baytree Garden Centre – seeing retail horticulture and the diversity of product offering through the seasonality of product, while also the essential addition of concessions, on site catering and attractions such as the Owl Centre.
• Springfield Horticultural Society – Springfield Festival Gardens - the challenges faced by the team running an ornamental garden, open to the public, where funding and resources is always a challenge, greater than the weather ever is!

The tour culminated with the visit to the Eureka Building, Smart Gardens purpose built facility in Peterborough, where Category Manager, Adam Bowler, and Operations Support Manager Caroline Dewhirst explained to students their role in the business and how the importance of efficiency in all aspects of the business is a key part of their success in building the various brands they have and in driving volume sales for their customers.

Jonathan Stobart, Managing Director of Smart Garden and Sales Director James Parr also made presentation to students on details of the businesses success and future plans.

Jess Johnson, who has just completed her studies and is now Planteria Manager at Perrywood Sudbury said: “we have had a fascinating couple of days exploring behind the scenes of different horticultural businesses with such a warm welcome into the friendliest industry.”

Ross Dyke, who is studying for his BSc Sustainable Horticulture and Agri-Tech degree at Pershore College while working as a Crop Technician at Bonterre CIC near Holt Worcestershire said: “We have learnt so much, but the last few days have taught me that I am in the greatest industry in the world.”

A fuller report of the tour and the work of the Foundation and the supporting businesses will be published in the next edition of Garden Trade News, in the mean time have a look through our exclusive photo tour below: