In This Issue
“Let’s tell Defra how to do it. Let’s make sure the gardeners of the future are coming to us"
Water feature displays pay dividends for garden centre
Garden centre benefits from WinRetail system
April ends on a high but it's still an average sales month
April plant sales thrive, says GTN Bestsellers
New plants revealed for Helping Children Grow
Electric Rhubarb to light up RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Plantscape team become overnight BBC TV and radio stars
Thompson & Morgan announces Chelsea entries
Garden Centre Tour - Mahoney Garden Centre, Boston, USA
SBM’s Lowri Walker gets set to see the world from a bird’s eye view!
First commercially available ‘ocean plastic’ outdoor furniture range
Strong start to gardening season continues through March, according to HTA Market Update
Award-winning Hydrangea to feature in 2020 catalogue
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Notcutts Norwich
Cold winds shrink trade involvement in World Naked Gardening Day
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
LeisureGrow appoints new Head of Pet for Petface
2019 GIMA Awards judging panel confirmed
Garden product sales down in April
Growing Media sales bounce back
Wild Bird Care volumes perk up
Cucumber is the new delight
‘Colour Trends’ hits the spot at Florna Plants
New Key Account Manager at Tildenet
Yodel delivers record number of flowers for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day
DLC approves SGS for Testing and Certification of Horticultural Lighting
New Super Slice from Burgon & Ball
The best of last week's
Raglan bought back from Wyevale by previous owner
The Davies's buy back Raglan from Wyevale
Become a GARDENA ambassador store and watch sales grow
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Forest Lodge
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Hillier Botley
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Baytree of Hilgay
Garden Centre Photo Tour - Blue Diamond Bicester Avenue
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Leading associations to host inspirational Keynotes at Commercial Kitchen 2019
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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






Yodel delivers record number of flowers for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day
 

UK independent parcel carrier Yodel successfully delivered a record number of flowers on Valentine’s Day and the Mothering Sunday weekend, with deliveries up 11.4% from last year on average across the two events.

 

More than 120,000 bouquets were delivered on 14 February, but Mother’s Day remains the most popular event for flower giving with 395,000 bouquets delivered over the weekend. Customer satisfaction with Mother’s Day deliveries also increased by 6% compared to 2018.

 

This year might have seen record volumes of flower deliveries for Yodel, but the network also saw some touching ways that drivers went the extra mile to make recipients feel special. Yodel driver Mike Bunting from the Leamington Spa customer delivery depot made an extra 150-mile round trip on his own time from Oxford to Leicester to make sure a customer’s mother got her flowers on Mother’s Day after the wrong address was accidentally entered at the point of order. 

 

Meanwhile, Christian Ridal, from Yodel’s Health, Safety, Environment and Quality team, got involved in the client side of the operation at Arena Flowers on the Friday and then made Mother’s Day a special family affair by bringing his 85-year-old, flower-loving mum, Joan, to lend a helping hand at Yodel’s Leeds depot on the Sunday.

 

“It’s the second year that Mum has joined me. Seeing people’s faces light up when we delivered their bouquets was fantastic and she loved getting out on the road,” Christian commented. 

 

Based on the number of deliveries, mums on the south coast appear to be the most “loved” in the UK with the highest number of flowers being distributed from Southampton on Mother’s Day.

 

Yodel has specialist sort facilities for flowers and other delicate items, such as wine, and delivers on behalf of major floral retailers including Serenata Flowers, Arena Flowers and Euroflorist.

 

John Hackett, managing director at Arena Flowers, commented: "Mother’s Day is a challenging day for delivery drivers so we’re hugely grateful for Yodel’s support in helping us have such a successful year. Despite it being our biggest ever week we achieved some remarkable results. This would not have been possible without the outstanding performance from Yodel’s team on the ground.”

 

Paul Isaia, UK regional director at eFlorist, part of the Euroflorist group, added: "Yodel made a real difference for us this Mother's Day with a record amount of deliveries made during Mother's Day. The team at Yodel were extremely proactive and our delivery success rate % was the highest it has ever been. Yodel really helped us exceed our goals this year."

 

Andrew Peeler, CEO of Yodel, concluded: “Thanks to our specialist handling capabilities, we have seen a significant rise in the number of flowers, bouquets and plants that we deliver. The growth reflects the consumer trend for ordering bouquets and plants online and our tracking tools and proactive delivery confirmation provide senders with peace of mind about the delivery of their gift.

 

“Every delivery matters to us, but flowers often have a special sentimental significance which means it is even more important that we get the deliveries right on the first attempt.  Colleagues across the business play a role in planning for key dates and ensuring that the items are handled correctly and delivered on time, but it is down to our drivers to delight recipients on the doorstep and we have had some great feedback this year.”

 

For more information about Arena Flowers visit www.ArenaFlowers.com and for Euroflorist visit www.euroflorist.com

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