After the success of last years GTN Sustainability Directory, which has been referred to both on-line and the printed version all year, the GTN team are now compiling the second GTN Sustainability Directory to be published in December 2020. 

The Directory will provide an updated guide for garden centre buyers and staff to the sustainability initiatives of garden centre suppliers thereby helping with buying decisions for 2021.

Suppliers to garden centres will be able to take a FREE Sustainability Listing in the directory and there will also be opportunities for advertising and advertorial content to emphasise your sustainability activities.

To take advantage of this FREE Sustainability Listing companies should use this link or send an e-mail to alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk by Monday 7th December 2020 at 5:00pm

For information about advertising and advertorial opportunities please call Alan Burdon on 01733 775700.

Deadline for submissions: Monday December 7^th 2020

They’re back, all be it in a virtual form.  GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards are back for 2020 to celebrate all that’s great about garden centres at Christmas through the pages of GTN and the GTN Xtra e-mail newsletter.

It's simple to take part, all you have to do is start taking photos of your displays and ideas now, send an e-mail to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk, or look out for the November issue of GTN which will be published next week, for the full entry details of each category and pledge a small donation to Greenfingers Charity to help create more gardens at Children's Hospices during 2021.

Here are the categories for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2020

• The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team
• The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team
• The Greatest Festive Food Hall Team
• The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team (for sales of BBQ’s, firepits, furniture etc)
• The Greatest Christmas Pets Team
• The Greatest Christmas Community or Charity Initiative
• The Greatest Social Media Christmas Marketing Idea
• The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Video
• The Greatest Winter Garden Care Sales Team
• The Greatest Covid Safe Christmas Display Team
• The Greatest Christmas Supplier (as voted for by garden centres)
• The Greatest Group Garden Centre Christmas Team
• The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team
• The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team
• The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team

We all love to see other centres displays and ideas, especially at Christmas, and as Lockdown 2 and travel restrictions make that difficult what better way to provide a solution for everyone than inviting garden centres to submit their own photos and videos as part of GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards.

• Launch date:  GTN Xtra 16^th November and GTN’s November print issue
• Publication of photo’s and videos as they come in during December in GTN Xtra and GTN’s December issue.  Closing date for entries will be Monday December 14^th.
• Results announced:  GTN Xtra 24^th January 2021 and as part of GTN’s January issue which includes our first ever Christmas Products Directory.

We’ve created a list of categories which we feel reflect Christmas trading for 2020 and we have a team of expert judges on standby to plough through all of the entries and hold video meetings with short listed teams before making their final decisions about the winners.

There are opportunities for suppliers to also be involved in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards by offering stock for Christmas 2021 as prizes for the winners.  Please contact alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk for more details.

So, what are you waiting for, get snapping and send an e-mail today to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk to get your entry registered.

As you'll see below in GTN Xtra we've already had one photo tour to publish, from Barton Grange, and at the weekend we received this Christmas video from the team at the Old Railway Line Garden Centre

Growing media volume sales were up by 60% again last week. As a result the GTN Bestsellers Growing Media index now sits at +2.9% vs last year and that’s with zero sales being recorded during the seven weeks of Lockdown 1.

Since the start of September, using Growing Media sales as a barometer, there has been 63% more growing activity going on. That’s almost two-thirds more gardening activity this Autumn. Just think what that could lead to in the Spring…

Highlights of the week were:

• Strulch Organic Straw Mulch 100 litres is the highest climber in the GTN Growing Media chart, up 24 places to No 19.
• Westland Rose Planting Compost was the highest re-entry at No 30.
• Growth Technology Citrus Focus Repotting Mix 8 litres doubled its sales to re-enter the Top 50 at No 47.

See the full GTN Bestsellers Top 50 charts, compiled from garden centre Epos data every week, with a years subscription to the printed newsletter for only £145.00 using this link.

We’re halfway through Lockdown 2 and despite fewer people being allowed in garden centres, volume sales jumped last week by 20% to set a new record in sales volumes terms for the third week of November.

And it wasn’t just Christmas sales that were up significantly year on year. Growing media sales were up by 60% on the same week last year, plant sales up by 33% and Christmas up by 43%.

As with the period after re-opening in May, transaction values are up whilst footfall is down and with the two traditional peak Christmas weekends to come, garden centres across the country are now planning extra measures to manage entries to car parks and queuing to enter centres. 

Whilst there have been some reports in the media about complaints related to queues and parking on roads outside garden centres we’ve not heard of any serious problems that haven’t been managed well by the garden centre teams.

Let’s hope it stays that way. If you have a Christmas Social Distancing idea you’d like to share with other centres please e-mail it to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk and we’ll include it in GTN Xtra. 

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year: week 47

• Garden Products Top 50 – down 20%
• Growing Media Top 50 – up 60%
• Veg 2 Gro Top 50 – down 13%
• Wild Bird & Wildlife Care Top 50 – down 24%
• Christmas Top 50 – up 43%

GTN Bestsellers All Sales volumes compared to the same week last year: week 47

• All Plants with Barcode index – up 33% 
• All Items with Barcode index – up 16%

See the full GTN Bestsellers Top 50 charts, compiled from garden centre Epos data every week, with a years subscription to the printed newsletter for only £145.00 using this link.

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