It’s just three weeks until the gardening industry bursts into combined promotional activity by celebrating Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day on Friday 17th March 2017.

The event was created to start the gardening season with a huge bang so that garden centres, growers, suppliers and trade associations could all benefit from the combined publicity efforts and to benefit our favourite gardening charity.

In 2016 Greenfingers Charity benefited by more than £140,000 - the most successful Garden Re-Leaf Day ever. This year Garden Re-Leaf is set to break that record again thanks to a great variety of FUNdraising ideas.

There are lots of ways to get involved so take a read through the stories in this e-mail newsletter to whet your appetite.

Last year, Hillview Studley, Alton's, Squire’s, Blue Diamond Fryers (above) and Klondyke Byrkley Park Garden Centres created amazing publicity and raised loads of money using 24 Hour Plant-athon promotions.

Bob Hewitt, Chairman, Klondyke Group “Having taken part in the 24 hour Plant-athon in 2016, I urge garden retailers and suppliers to get involved in this huge opportunity to connect with staff and customers whilst raising significant funds for Greenfingers Charity.”

This year Bob Hewitt and teams across three Klondyke Group’s centres will be planting,; Alan Roper’s Blue Diamond team at Trentham Garden Centre, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs will be planting through the night again; a relay team from Scotsdales Garden Centre, Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire; Andy Bunker and his team at Alton Garden Centre; Boyd’s teams across the Hillview centres and Orchard Park in Dorset are the latest to sign up, with more expected to follow between now and the 17th March.  But time is running out! 

So how about you? You can invite your customers, colleagues and friends to support you as you and your staff continuously plant up pots for 24 hours? Your local media will love the story and your customers will love buying your spring planted pots for charity.

If your garden centre is looking to register for Garden Re-Leaf Day, contact Linda at Greenfingers as soon as possible, by email linda@greenfingerscharity.org.uk or by calling the Greenfingers office on 01494 674749.

Feeling fit?  Then take part in Greenfingers Charity’s Garden Re-Leaf Day Walk which this year is being held in Cambridge thanks to the sponsorship of Scotsdales Garden Centre. 

More than 85 industry friends have already signed up to the 20-mile walk, including Garden Re-Leaf Day founder, Boyd Douglas Davies who is dusting down his walking shoes. 

Boyd will be joined by Greenfingers Ambassadors Trevor Pfeiffer, Simon Quinton Smith, and Vicky Nuttall, along with teams from Scotsdales, Glee, Briers, Westland, Cadix, Elho, SBM Life Sciences, Mr Fothergill’s, Kelkay, Gardman, Glee, Great British Cards, Deco-Pak and many others walking the 20 mile challenge.

The 20 mile route runs between Scotsdales garden centres at Horningsea to the north of Cambridge via the cambridgeshire fens (that means flat!) and the River Cam via the centre of Cambridge passing through Jesus College and the famous Botanical Gardens to Scotsdales at Great Shelford in the south of the city.  (Buses, kindly provided by a local company, will take the walkers to the start from the Great Shelford centre so you don't have to worry about getting back to your car at the end.)

Thanks to LOFA, walkers (and runners!) will be able to enjoy a barbecue at the finish point.

An extra to this year’s Industry walk is that Heidi Towse from Frosts Garden Centres will be rowing the distance on a static machine at Scotsdales. Will Heidi reach the finish line before the walkers?  Would anyone like to challenge her

The walk is a great opportunity to see the sites of Cambridge, network with industry friends and at the same time raise money for Greenfingers Charity. 

To register for the event complete the form using this link and get your walking shoes ready for action in three weeks time.

Here's some pictures from the last two Great Garden Re-Leaf Day 20 mile walks

Here's a selection of other events being planned for Garden Re-Leaf Day:



Alan Down, owner of Cleeve Nurseries, Bristol, will be opening the gates to his private collection of Hellebores to small groups of gardeners on Garden Re-Leaf Day to raise funds for Greenfingers Charity. As a regular broadcaster on Radio West and BBC Radio Bristol, plus writer of a regular page in the Western Daily Press, Alan is sure to be able to drum up enough interest to keep busy all day with small groups being shown round every 15 minutes. Thanks Alan - very much appreciated!

And at Millbrook Garden Centre, Gravesend, Kent are hosting a whole weekend of activities to raise funds for Greenfingers Charity. Their web site tells us some of their planned activities including a coffee and cake morning on Re-Leaf day and a bubbly evening reception plus interesting talk from horticulturist and plant hunter, Tom Hart-Dyke, described as the ‘new David Bellamy’.  Throughout Saturday staff will carry out planting demonstrations of containers and with a finishing raffle to end the 18th March.  Children’s face painting and craft activities will be available throughout Saturday and Sunday and visits to ‘Our Amazing Animal World’ will include a meet with Henry the hedgehog and Felipe the chameleon.

Tell us and Greenfingesr about your event and we will include it in these "Countdown to Garden Re-Leaf Day" newsletters and make sure it gets included on the Garden Re-Leaf Day website.  trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

DON’T FORGET TO TELL GREENFINGERS CHARITY YOUR PROMOTIONAL PLANS AND WE WILL HELP WITH YOUR PUBLICITY

To find out how you can get involved contact Greenfingers Charity by email: info@greenfingerscharity.org.uk or by calling the Fundraising Team on 01494 674749 

The sixth annual Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day take place nationally on the 17 March, with many events continuing throughout the weekend. The 24hr Plant-athon, which was a runaway success last year, is being rolled out to more garden centres, and the Garden Re-Leaf Walk boasts a huge uptake in registrations and aims to be both more inclusive and challenging.

Top 10 fundraising ideas

Over the past six years, a host of garden centre fundraising ideas has been launched, tried and tested.  Here are the top 10, with tips on how to make them a success in your garden centre…

24 hr Plant-athon

Alton Garden Centre, Blue Diamond, Hillview, Klondyke, and Hillier have already committed to the event for a second year running.  Orchard Park in Dorset is the latest to sign up, with more expected to follow between now and the 17 March.  But time is running out! If your garden centre is looking to register for Garden Re-Leaf Day, contact Linda at Greenfingers as soon as possible, via linda@greenfingerscharity.org.uk or by calling the Greenfingers office on 01494 674749.

General Knowledge Quiz

Independent garden centres with a loyal local following, such as Perrywood in Essex, have turned this into an annual evening long event, providing food and allowing participants to bring a bottle. The questions don’t have to be about gardening, and as it’s St Patrick’s Day you might want to make that your theme!  Drinking responsibly of course…!

Raffle

It’s a popular choice for a reason and that is that it raises a great deal of money, and can be done in conjunction with suppliers.  Last year,Monkton Elm in Taunton (pictured, below) experienced an increase in footfall and sales as a direct result of their raffle.  Shoppers bought tickets, and the winners returned to collect their prizes – resulting in further money spent in the café, and on plants and other items on the way out.

Bake or book sale

If you’ve got a café and a farm shop this is ideal – but even without either you can still put on a bake sale.  Or a book sale.  Or a mixture of the two! The more creative the better. Fairweather’s in Hampshire are keeping it on-brand - selling special green Garden Re-Leaf cakes throughout the weekend.

Sponsored cycle

Whether your staff members are fitness freaks or salad dodgers – a sponsored cycle is the perfect excuse for exercise!  You can set yourselves a challenge that links in with a theme – for example, Coolings cycled 220 miles to Buckingham palace last year to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. A great way to entertain and engage with your customers, who can sponsor and donate as they shop.

Create a display from trade promotions

Suppliers such as Gardman sold a range of products last year, with a Greenfingers Charity Tree Mat and Cole & Bright Solar Hanging Jars raising 50p from each item sold, as well as 20p from each Hanging Basket Coco Liner. This year, Deco-Pak has pledged to donate 5p from each small bag of their new play sand on orders placed in March.

Open garden

Alan Down at Cleeve Nurseries is opening up his private Hellebore collection (click here) – why not organise something similar with a local garden writer or private landowner?

Wishing Tree

The premise is as simple as it is effective - place a potted tree within the main sales area, accessible enough so that children and adults can easily and safely add a note – or write a wish on the back of a star in the case of Whitehall’s in Bristol.  Customers will enjoy being able to express their wishes and will eagerly donate for the privilege.

Coffee mornings/afternoon tea

Cafés are usually busy whatever the weather, so holding a coffee morning can be a real winner, and works well in tandem with bake sales.   Last year Barton Grange in Preston sold afternoon cream teas, with £5 donated for each one sold.  This year Squire’s at Hensham are including an afternoon tea party as part of their weekend-long spring launch in aid of Greenfingers.

#Gluvies

More for awareness than fundraising – or can it be both?  Once you’ve taken a picture or a selfie of your team – or with your customers – you can post to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #gluvies and tagging @GardenReLeaf - or post galleries on Facebook tagging participants to spread the word.  But also the gloves themselves (Briers’ Greenfingers All Seasons Gardener gloves) can be sold in the same way as the famous red noses to raise funds; 35p from each (medium or large) pair is donated to the charity by Briers – who now also have a Greenfingers kids’ gardening kit to further raise funds. Last year the #gluvies hashtag reached 20,000 people on Twitter, but this year we’re aiming for twice that amount!

Last year, Greenfingers launched its ‘A Million Moments Appeal’, aiming to raise £1 million, over three years.  With the help of events such as Garden Re-Leaf Day, the charity is aiming to provide at least 5,000 children and their families that rely on hospices to enjoy spending precious time together outdoors.

After helping with support duties last year, Trevor and Karen Pfeiffer vowed to do The Great Garden Re-Leaf Day walk in full in 2017, so Labradoodles Olly & Floyd thought they’d better join in to pull them towards the finish as the miles clock up and their feet and legs are hurting.

Olly & Floyd are brother Labradoodles who love walking and getting dirty so they are really looking forward to the 20 mile walk from Scotsdales Garden Centre in Horningsea to Scotsdales Garden centre in Shelford Cambridge.

It’s a shame they won’t be able to walk through Jesus College garden or The Cambridge Botanic Gardens, but there is a special route around the outside of the gardens that Karen and Trevor can run around the to make sure we don’t lose any time.

We’re looking forward to meeting all the fellow walkers – both 2 legged and 4, and making lots of friends as we walk through Cambridge on March 17th.

Please sponsor us, or Trevor and Karen if you must, using our Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OllyandFloyd. 

We really do want to raise as much money as possible to help create another Greenfingers garden at a children’s hospice.  Then we can go and visit that too and meet some of the wonderful children, parents and carers who gain so much benefit from spending time outside in a Greenfingers garden, which has been magically designed and created to help them.

Woof woof.

Olly and Floyd

• Excellent skills with programs such as Excel and a head for numbers is a must.
• Experience working with EPOS would be advantageous.
• Retail knowledge is desirable.
• Demonstrable management skills are also required as the successful candidate will be managing a small team.

• •Lead and motivate the team to success
• Control costs on a daily basis to ensure the profitability of the store
• •Maintain the high standards expected of the centre
• Be able to deal with staff issues efficiently and compassionately
• • Increase profitability

• Good plant and garden product knowledge
• Be forward thinking and not scared to try new things
• Be target driven
• Have a good understanding of computers
• An enthusiastic and positive attitude
• Good customer service skills.
• Less than 6 points on their driving license and own a car as they will be expected to travel to trade shows and other events.
• Have worked in other garden retail environments and be able to bring new ideas to the business.

• Paid Monthly
• A Competitive Salary
• 32 days holidays
• Staff discount

• EXCELLENT PLANT KNOWLEDGE AND GOOD GARDENING EXPERIENCE
• GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS
• BE HELPFUL, POLITE & COURTEOUS

• MONDAY TO FRIDAY
• 8.30AM – 5.30PM (EVERY WEDNESDAY OFF)
• EVERY OTHER SATURDAY 8.30 – 5.30PM & SUNDAY 10.00 – 5.00PM
• AVERAGE 39 HOURS PER WEEK

Amenity Account Manager South | Home Counties (ref:DS9067)

Location: Hertfordshire
Salary: Excellent package
Date: 10 Feb
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent


Our client is a leading UK horticultural nursery stock producer who are seeking a dynamic, driven Account Manager for its Amenity division to expand its customer base within the landscape contractor, local authority and landscape architect's sectors in the UK.

For this role you will have a minimum of 5 years' B2B field sales experience within horticulture with strong commercial skills as well as financial and business acumen.

You will also have experience of selling into landscape contractors, local authorities and landscape architects, a knowledge of trees, as well as proven experience in securing new customers.

Outstanding customer service is required as is the ability to create and develop customer relationships. Excellent communication, IT skills, attention to detail and the ability to work on your own initiative and manage your time effectively is essential.

You will be able to demonstrate achievement in meeting and exceeding challenging sales targets through completing quotes and tenders and negotiation to achieve the required level of profitability.

This position is home based and you will ideally live in the Beds, Bucks, Herts area with easy access to the M1 to ensure accessibility to the customer base.

Reporting to the Sales Director, you will be part of a professional and ambitious team and will be required to attend meetings at head office on a regular basis.

The successful applicant can expect a competitive package including company pension, private health insurance and company car.

To apply for this role click here

Sales Support Advisor - Amenity (ref:DS9088)

• Ensuring quotes are issued within 24 hours of receipt of customer enquiry.
• Converting quotes to orders.
• Issuing pro-forma invoices for non-credit clients.
• Liaising with customers to ensure delivery information is correct.
• Managing the Order Book so that customer orders are delivered when requested.
• Following up quotes and orders advising Account Managers of status and actions required.
• Undertaking outbound marketing campaigns (telephone/email).
• Raising and processing invoices.

• Experience of outbound sales in a fast-moving customer services environment.
• A demonstrable achievement in improving customer service.
• The ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Excellent communication, negotiating, IT/computer and telephone skills.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent plant and horticultural knowledge.

To apply for this role click here

Garden Centre Manager | Kent (ref:DS9089)

• To manage the running of the centre enabling everyone to inspire, educate & equip customers.
• Constantly find ways of improving the centre & motivating your staff to achieve agreed company targets & objectives.
• To drive performance maximising commercial potential.
• To promote staff ownership & accountability to create a positive & enjoyable working environment.
• To ensure your centre runs within budget and achieves agreed targets.
• To ensure that the centre operates within current Health & Safety legislation.
• To contribute to the success of the Group as a whole.

• Ideally someone who has worked within the horticultural retail trade and understands the seasonal challenges that a business like this can face and can plan and organise staff and goods to respond to this.
• Great communication skills, a motivating and inspiring leader who can instil confidence in staff and get them to perform at their best.
• Someone who is a planner and can look ahead to insure that stock is available when needed, displays are always topical and can respond to the challenges of every season.
• A superb people person who has a passion for Garden Centres.

• Enrolment into company pension scheme within 3 months, 5% employer & employee contributions.
• Private Healthcare after 12 months premium paid by employer.
• Non - contributory health scheme after 12 months to cover osteopathy, dental, optical, access to consultants, and many more. Premium paid by employer, invoice settled by employee and subsequently reclaimed from insurance.
• 28 days holiday inclusive of 8 statutory days
• Employee discount after six months (20% garden centre, 50% café)
• Net profit bonus

To apply for this role click here

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 printed newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2014 as well as 2015 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £195.00 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.

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.