Westland Horticulture says it’s ‘business as normal’ following its acquisition of one Europe’s leading consumer garden product firms.

Westland Horticulture has acquired Gardman Group and has immediately taken them out of administration. The purchase includes all trading assets, stock, infrastructure and Gardman brands, which include Cole and Bright, Grow It, Moulton Mill and Gardman Wild bird care.

This acquisition will bring much needed stability for our customers and to the Gardman business. The immediate focus will be to work with all customers to provide as much continuity as possible and ensure a smooth transition over the coming weeks.

The purchase of Gardman provides the opportunity to put a greater focus on core gardening by joining together the product strengths in Westland and Crest with those of Gardman. The growth of wildlife, the increased interest in the outdoor space and the opportunity to re-energise propagation and growing were factors in purchasing the business.

Edward Conroy, Managing Director at Westland, said: “We have always believed that Gardman is an important part of the gardening landscape, and we are committed to maintaining this for the long term.

“Gardman is fundamentally a strong business with good products. Our focus is to work together with all customers to make the transition simple and clear to all. It is imperative that in the coming days we keep our lines of communication open with customers and stakeholders alike. Westland is focused on delivering a strong future for Gardman categories which can only thrive from being part of the Westland family. For now, it’s very much business as usual for all concerned.”

For more information about Westland please visit www.gardenhealth.com.

Sky News published a story last week indicating that Gardman had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in order to buy itself breathing space as it attempted to negotiate an emergency sale with prospective buyers.

The story added that Rutland, who suffered the collapse of Maplin earlier this year, had already received a number of "credible" bids and that the turnaround investor was confident of securing a deal that would avert Gardman's collapse.

Sky News understoodds that a deal needed to be concluded sometime this week to avoid that fate, although it was unclear when they reported on Thursday whether any sale would be on a solvent basis or through a pre-pack administration.

Read the full Sky News story here.

GTN Xtra also understands that suppliers to Gardman have also been told last week that the Directors put in place a statutory moratorium to protect the business whilst they are seeking to achieve their desired outcome which is a sale of the business.

As a result Gardman are not paying any outstanding supplier balances for a period of 10 working days beginning on October 3rd.

After this year of highs. lows, fires, snow, heatwaves and buinesses sales, Wednesday October 17th could bring yet another twist to the UK garden retailing landscape for 2018.

The owner of a Norfolk garden centre this week started a four year jail sentence for stealing almost half a million pounds from his elderly mother.

Gary Woodley, of Norwich Road, Aylsham, stole £480,000 from 89-year-old Kathleen Woodley to pay off loans and fund his lifestyle between 2013 and 2016.

Norwich Crown Court heard how the 66-year-old, who owns Aylsham Garden Centre, is now “likely” to lose his business as a result of his actions.

Sentencing Woodley on Thursday, Judge Katharine Moore said he had not shown a “shred of remorse” for what happened.

Woodley, along with his brother, became a power of attorney for his mother’s property and financial affairs in 2013 after she was moved into a care home.

But the court heard how Woodley’s brother raised concerns and invoked his power of attorney in February 2016 after significant withdrawals were taken from the victim’s bank accounts over a number of years.

Police were informed and Woodley was arrested on September 15, 2016. 

He was charged on December 19, 2016 with one count of fraud by abuse of position and one count of theft

His mother, Mrs Woodley died during the investigation on March 24, 2017.

Woodley pleaded guilty at a previous hearing at Norwich Crown Court to fraud by abuse of position and theft.

Judge Moore said Woodley used £250,000 to pay down loans secured to his own property.

She said £159,000 from the sale of his mother’s bungalow was used to pay off a mortgage on the garden centre.

Full story can be read on the Norwich Evening News website by clicking here

Picture: Norfolk Police

Christmas 2018 has opened with a bang again, just behind last year in terms of Top 50 volume sales, but well ahead of the previous three festive seasons.

This week sees our first GTN Bestsellers Christmas Products chart and now is the key to delivering early impulse sales. Over half of the Top 50 lines are new to the chart and it’s the same story in the Top 10 too.

And interest in Christmas hasn’t deterred people from buying core gardening lines. The Bestsellers Garden Products, Growing Media and Wild Bird Care charts all show volume sales increases – up on the same week last year.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 40)

• Garden Products - up 6%
• Growing Media - up 5%
• Veg-2-Gro - down 16%
• Wild Bird Care - up 6%
• All Plants Index - down 6%
• All Items Index - down 6%

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Westland Horticulture were voted Gardening Supplier of the Year by Choice Marketing members and presented with their award at the Choice Marketing Group Annual Conference Dinner last week.

Widdop (above) were voted as Giftware Supplier of the Year and Farplants (below) were Plant Supplier of the Year.

The Choice Marketing Group Conference, Exhibition and Annual Dinner were held at Hinkley Island and attended by owners, managers and buyers from all 30 Choice Marketing Group members together with over 100 suppliers.

Closing the conference, Choice Marketing CEO, Michelle de Lavis-Trafford, said the event was the most successful yet and that the group would be looking to add new members in the coming year.

The Windsor Observer has reported that the expected closure within weeks of Squires Garden Centre in Windsor has reopened controversy over the Royal Borough's plan to allow houses to be built on or around the Green Belt area where the business is based.

Squires announced at the start of the year it would close the centre, blaming Green Belt planning constraints that had restricted its ability to expand.

This week Cllr Ed Wilson, Conservative councillor for Clewer South ward on the Royal Borough expressed regret to the Windsor Observer about the closure.

He said: "Having lived in this area for more than 25 years I have always known a garden centre on this site. It’s a great shame that Squires are going especially for their staff and suppliers.

"Squires cafe is used as a meeting place for many residents. Dedworth needs more community facilities with or without our garden centres."

A statement from Sarah Squire, deputy chairman of Squire’s Garden Centres, this week removed any lingering hope the centre would stay on its present site.

She said: “Many of the team have already found alternative employment in the local area. Some have chosen to engage in further study or travel. We are obviously keen for our colleagues to stay with Squire’s where possible at our other centres and we are in constant touch as opportunities arise.”

For the full Windsor Observer story click here

Following the acquisition of Kelkay in February, AMES UK has announced the creation of a new executive management team for the UK and Ireland that will drive the growth and development of the group. Incorporating La Hacienda which was acquired in late 2017, AMES UK will continue to be led by Managing Director, Antony Harker.

“It’s our intention to maintain the individual characteristics and particular strengths of the businesses in the group. There are also great opportunities for growth and development thanks to the global strengths of The AMES Companies. So it makes sense to create a joined up senior management team who are able to drive the AMES UK agenda."

Richard Slade, previously a Divisional Director at Kelkay becomes Group Operations Director with responsibility for AMES UK business operations, whilst Richard Pyrah becomes AMES Group Sales Director. Sarah Winn who joined Kelkay in 2017 is appointed Group Marketing Director.

 “These appointments are the next step in the creation of our new and exciting AMES UK strategy. We are at the early ‘blueprint’ stage with lots more developments to come in the coming months.  I expect to be making announcements about other key roles in the senior management team over the next few weeks.”

Niall Nugent remains Sales & Marketing Director for the AMES True Temper business in Ireland and also reports into Antony Harker.

The senior team will have responsibility for driving the growth and development of AMES UK including the potential expansion into a number of new product categories where the group has existing leading brands across USA and Australia.

Pictured, from left to right: Richard Slade, Antony Harker, Richard Pyrah and Sarah Winn.

GIMA’s autumn/ winter programme of Knowledge Exchange Workshops has recently kicked off with its Sales Development & Territory Planning Workshop, which was incredibly well received by attendees. Four more sessions remain, with interested parties urged to book their place now to avoid missing out.  

Led by Cedar Associates, the Sales Development & Territory Planning Workshop received positive feedback from delegates, with praise being received for the approachable and informative content, and relevance of topics covered.

The next workshop (30th October), led by Paul brown Training Limited, will be ‘Intermediate+ Microsoft Excel’ – a special one-day skills focused event for those that regularly work with complex excel spreadsheets.  Users will learn how to manipulate complex data sets, as well as new ways to present data to better identify trends and monitor costs.  Working with Sparklines and Pivot Tables will complete the day’s training. 

‘Presentation Skills’ is the title of the third workshop (31st October) and will focus on the different ways to make presenting a more enjoyable and less nerve-wracking experience — whether it’s a one-person pitch, showing slides in a meeting or giving a talk to hundreds of delegates at a conference.

The lifeblood of any businesses finance can often be perceived as a dry topic, however the ‘Finance for Non-Finance Managers’ (21st November) session will look to present it in a fun and interactive way. The workshop will help anyone without a finance background to become more confident and comfortable with financial reporting and data.

The final session – ‘Key Account Management’ (12th December) – will help delegates to differentiate between ‘Account Management’ and ‘Key or Strategic Account Management’. The workshop will encourage attendees to utilise a range of skills to maintain and develop relationships with customers to expand revenues and the worth of the accounts they manage, whilst also working on ways to retain and defend the accounts from competitors.”

All GIMA Knowledge Exchange Workshops will take place at Horticulture House, Didcot, OX11 0RN.

Vicky Nuttall, GIMA director said: “We’ve certainly kicked off this series of Knowledge Exchange Workshops in style! The support of Cedar Associates and Paul Brown Training Limited is invaluable, and we thank them for taking the time to lead these sessions. Thanks also to those that attended our first workshop and for their useful feedback. We will use this to help shape the remaining four sessions, ensuring they deliver valuable, hard working and tangle takeaway content.”

Further information about Knowledge Exchange workshops can be found at www.gima.org.uk. Open to both members and non-members, GIMA is urging interested parties to secure their place now as space is limited. Bookings can be made for individual workshops (GIMA Members: £195 + VAT / Non-members: £225 + VAT) or as a suite of two or more workshops (GIMA Members: £175 + VAT / Non-members: £205 + VAT).

Thompson & Morgan has won another international award for its innovative Sunflower SunBelievable ‘Brown Eyed Girl’. Initial trials of the long-flowering sunflower in Japan have proven hugely successful prior to its launch in the early summer of 2019.

The plant was well received at the horticultural industry show, Flower Trial Japan 2018, held recently in the prefecture of Yamanshi and Nagano, and was placed second in the Outstanding Performance Award category.

Thompson & Morgan’s Head of Horticulture, Paul Masters, commented: “We’re thrilled to hear that SunBelievable ’Brown Eyed Girl’ has won another international award. It is very encouraging to know that interest in the plant is spreading around the world!  We’re looking forward to a successful launch of SunBelievable ’Brown Eyed Girl’ in Japan next year.”

Following its success at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May, Thompson & Morgan’s sunflower, SunBelievable ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ has won an array of awards and accolades. Proving hugely popular in the US, the new sunflower was awarded the Retailers’ Choice Award at the FARWEST Show in Portland, Oregon, as well as the 2018 American Horticultural Retailers’ Choice Award at Cultivate Ohio.

In the UK, at the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) National Plant Show, SunBelievable took gold in the annuals category, as well as the Best in Category (Annuals) and the Visitor Voted Best in Category (Annuals). The sunflower, which in trials, has produced over 1000 blooms in the course of a season, also won the 2018 Four Oaks Trade Show ‘Best Plant Introduction Bedding or Pot Plant’.

‘Today’s youth, tomorrow’s future’ was chosen as central theme to this year’s Home Garden Conference that took place in the Enkhuizen area of The Netherlands.

Referring to both the future consumers of our products and the employees of our industry, this year’s event focused on how to convince youngsters to love plants and to consider a career in horticulture.

Approximately 75 international professionals attended the event.

The future generations love green!

Young children are very much open to seed, plants and gardening in general. Chris Collins, U.K. gardening broadcaster, showed how he successfully familiarises British school children with growing their own vegetables. Together with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, this experience might turn them into hobby gardeners themselves when grown up.

Scott Mozingo, Business Development Manager at Burpee U., told the conference that youngsters love plants and greenery in general. As social buying is becoming increasingly important for millennials, creating a gardening tribe or community on Facebook and Instagram will help companies to keep in touch with this generation.

In addition to the consumers of tomorrow, the conference also looked at future employees. Erwin Cardol, former manager of Seed Valley, explained how this initiative helps to stimulate local youth to start a career in horticulture. With targeted communication campaigns and youth initiation programmes, Seed Valley considerably contributed to increasing the enrolment of students in Plant Studies at Wageningen University.

Seed package range at Sluis Garden

Enkhuizen, cradle of the seed industry

In addition, the programme included a whistle-stop tour to four locations in the Enkhuizen area related to home gardening.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, ABZ Seed specialises in breeding strawberries from seed. Director Gé Bentvelsen gave a short overview of the company’s history and showed the latest breeding successes in the show garden.

Sluis Garden showed its three different seed package filling machines and displayed its wide flower and vegetable seed package assortment.

At this location, Prudac also offered a tasting of its latest tomato and pepper varieties.

PanAmerican Seed had laid out the current Fleuroselect trial which tests new breeding versus existing varieties in the market. Successful varieties achieve either Gold Medal or Approved Novelty status.

Finally, the tour also stopped at the brand new Sow to Grow Experience, a local initiative honouring the history and current activity scope of ornamental breeding.

ABZ owner Gé Bentvelsen and part of the delegates in the ABZ show garden.

Richard Pyrah, AMES UK Group Sales Director has announced the creation of a new sales structure designed to support the planned growth strategy for the business. In recent months, the acquisitions, firstly of La Hacienda, Kelkay and more recently Anchor Fast ,have resulted in an overlapping network of sales representatives.

So, to streamline the organisation and ensure efficient and effective communications, the team has been restructured to create a single unified sales team dedicated to garden centres. This 22 strong team will represent all the brands – Kelkay, including Easy Fountain and Borderstone, as well as La Hacienda and Woodshaw – providing a single and efficient point of contact for all garden centres.

Richard said “At AMES UK, we have some ambitious plans for the future including the introduction of several new major categories. The creation of a single garden centre sales agency team is going to be critical for efficient communications and will ensure we continue to provide an excellent service to our customers”

Richard also announced the promotion of Al Sheppard (above left) to the role of Sales Director with responsibility for developing the garden centre channel for all the AMES UK businesses and the recent appointment of Scott McCabe (above right) has also joined the garden centre team.

“Al has been driving garden centre sales alongside me for the last three years, and with over 30 years of experience in the industry, he brings a wealth of expertise to our growing business. The addition of Scott to the team will help to further increase our presence in the channel and continue to strengthen customer relationships.”

For more information on The AMES Companies go to http://global.ames.com

To find out more about Kelkay  go to www.kelkay.com or e-mail the general enquiries office on salesenquiries@kelkay.co.uk or call to speak to us on 01405 869333

Kelkay The Old Airfield, Heck & Pollington Lane, Pollington, East Yorkshire, DN14 0BA

To find out more about La Hacienda go to www.lahacienda.co.uk or call to speak to us on 01285 762060

La Hacienda Ltd., Hangar 27, Site C, Aston Down Airfield, Nr. Stroud, GL6 8HR

The garden centre group, Haskins, is celebrating after a successful launch of its Christmas department across all four of its centres.

Customers can browse a variety of gifts, with plenty suitable for green-fingered adults, as well as plenty to choose from for beginner gardeners. There’s also a wide range of decorations available.

Real pot-grown trees will be available at Haskins from Monday October 29 and real cut trees will be available from Monday November 19. For customers that prefer artificial trees, these are also available.

Haskins anticipates welcoming over a million visitors to its four centres across a three month lead up to Christmas. Across all four centres, Christmas gifts, decorations and trees equate to 8.9 per cent of the overall yearly sales (excluding the restaurant).

Lisa Looker, brand director at Haskins, commented: “We have worked hard to ensure we remain on the map as a must-visit Christmas destination. We’ve received great feedback from customers who have visited us already for ‘early bird’ Christmas shopping and we look forward to welcoming plenty more as Christmas draws closer.”

A first for this year, customers can take a photo in Haskins’ ‘Selfie Throne’ and share on social media to get in the festive spirit.

Conna Powles, buying director at Haskins, commented: “We want customers to be able to shop depending on their preferred Christmas theme. We start working on Christmas in December the previous year, so we have had all year to perfect our themes for the festive season.”

Haskins is also taking bookings for festive Christmas lunches, which start from Monday December 3. With a choice between two or three courses, it’s ideal for a celebration with colleagues, family or friends.

Dean Ridley, head of retail operations at Haskins, commented: “Some might say it’s too early to open a Christmas department, but we’re finding that more and more people are enjoying visiting early and spreading the cost of Christmas over the course of a few months. Can you ever really have too much Christmas cheer?”

Haskins has centres in Ferndown in Dorset, West End in Southampton and Roundstone and Snowhill in West Sussex. For more information visit www.haskins.co.uk  

Johnsons of Whixley has laid the blueprint for managerial recruitment as it aims to continue its development as a business – by taking on new recruits.

Located between York and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, Johnsons is one of Europe’s largest horticultural suppliers to the commercial sector, and a family business with roots stretching back almost 100 years.

Johnsons continues to go from strength to strength after celebrating its most successful financial year at the end of September 2017, and is committed to investing in people as the business aims to underpin future progress by securing job succession at every level.

Johnsons recently interviewed for two Management Trainees, who each underwent a two-stage process. The opportunities were open to candidates inside and outside of the business.

The first stage was a presentation made to the senior management group on a horticultural topic that ignites their passion for the industry, while on the second day a formal interview was conducted by three members of the senior management group.

Following this process, Tom Watkins and George Metcalfe have become the first two trainees to participate in the two-year Management Trainee Programme, which Johnsons hopes will provide a vocational platform from which the business’s future leaders can emerge.

Both candidates studied for a foundation degree in Horticulture at Askham Bryan College, they have a real passion for plants, growing and developing themselves – an ideal combination for a career in Horticulture with Johnsons.  Tom, aged 21, is a keen amateur boxer and 26-year-old George loves bush craft and getting out into the wilderness.

Jonathan Whittemore, head of production and procurement at Johnsons of Whixley, said: “People are at the heart of what we do and in order for us to secure the long-term skills and management resource Johnsons requires, we have decided that now is an appropriate time to offer a traineeship programme.

“We were eager to engage with people who see production Horticulture as their future and who are prepared to get their hands dirty, and we’re delighted to have been able to recruit Tom and George to our new trainee programme at the culmination of that process.”

Tom and George officially began the programme last month which focuses on completing specific projects and participating in vocational learning to ultimately lead to a more in-depth understanding of how the industry, and Johnsons, operates.

The programme will also see Tom and George learn across all of Johnsons’ nurseries and on other UK and European nurseries. Additionally, all participants will study for an ILM management accreditation, or similar.

For further information about Johnsons’ Management Trainee Programme, contact Jonathan Whittemore on: jonathanw@nurserymen.co.uk

Award winning Tong Garden Centre has made its mark on a talented junior football team by sponsoring its kit for the next two seasons.

The centre has supported Rothwell Juniors Under-14s, who play in Division One of the Garforth League, with a smart new strip.

Tong's plant buyer, Steve Smith, who arranged the sponsorship with marketing manager, Jo Dales said: "We are always enthusiastic about supporting the local community and it is a pleasure to help the youngsters who are taking part in sport in this way.

"They are a very talented group of young footballers and we're looking forward to seeing how they progress as a team. We hope that they enjoy wearing their new kit and wish them every success for this season."

No strangers to success, the team, many of who have played together since they were four years old, have won the league several times from the age of six, have been League Cup and District Cup winners and played in last season's District Cup Final at Leeds United's Elland Road Stadium. They have also won May Bank Holiday Football Festivals at Butlins Skegness and Phwllheli, Wales that earned them a place in the grand final at St Georges Park, the home of English football.

Coaches Mari de Laat and Darren Falk are very grateful to the team at Tong for their generous support. Mari said: "Rothwell Juniors is a F.A. Chartered Standard Club and is well-known in the South Leeds area in the world of football. It's important that the team's appearance matches the high standard of their football and this has been made possible thanks to Tong.

"On behalf of the boys and the parents, we'd like to say a big thank you to Tong Garden Centre for sponsoring our kit."

Things are getting a little bit spooky at Squire’s Garden Centres this October Half Term. From Monday, October 22, to Wednesday, October 31, children will be invited to paint a ceramic bat tealight holder or decorate a spooky ghost mobile to scare aware unwanted visitors.

The 'Create & Grow Spooky Half Term' event will also include a free pumpkin pursuit around the garden centres.

The event excludes Squire’s in Chertsey & Windsor.

www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk

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A third consecutive week of GTN Bestsellers Garden Product sales ahead of last year illustrates that after a burning hot summer gardeners are getting their lawns and borders back into good health and ready for next year.

Highlights were:

• Westland Lawn & Turf Dressing, 25 litres, saw a 50% sales increase and as a result jumped to the top of the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart.
• Woodlodge 3-inch Spang Pots were the highest placed new entry at No 5.
• Christmas sales are featuring in garden products too – Vivid Arts Plant Pals Robin On Stick are the highest re-entry this week at No 16.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

While total growing media sales dropped off during the first week of October, sales were ahead of last year for the fourth week since the start of September.

 
This year’s Autumn gardening activity rush has helped overall growing media sales get back to only 1.2% down year on year.  After the horrible start to the season in March and April that is a fantastic recovery.

Highlights were:

• Westland Multi Purpose Compost, 70 litres, climbed 24 places up the chart to No 5.
• Evergreen Garden Care Miracle-Gro All Purpose Compost, 56 litres, moved up 11 places to No 8.
• Westland The Gardener’s Soil Conditioner, 50 litres, was the highest re-entry of the week, back in at No 21.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

New is the order of the day when it comes to early Christmas Product sales. Half of the first GTN Bestsellers Christmas chart of the year are new products.

Highlights were:

• History & Heraldry Angel/Snowman Hanging Decoration is the No 1 Bestseller at the start of the sales period.
• Playwrite Gingerbread Man Swop Point Crayons are an instant hit at No 4.
• Armitages Cat Advent Calendar joins their Dog Advent Calendar in the chart. Dogs are at No 11, with the Cat Calendar a new entry at No 33.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Cyclamen sales, as recorded in the GTN Bestsellers EPOS data, reached a record high last week. 

Sales were 28% up on the last week of September and 7% up on last year’s peak sales week, which was also the first week of October.

Highlights were:

• Dianthus sales increased by over 200% to move them up 7 places to be the fifth bestseller.
• Bellis saes also shone through.  Up by 92% to jump 23 places in the chart.
• Ligustrum were the highest re-entry for the week, back in at No 37.
• All Plants volume sales change: Week on week DOWN 8.1%.  Year to date UP 8.4% on 2017

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Annabelle Padwick, founder of Life at No.27 and ambassador for the gardening charity Thrive, has been announced as the latest speaker at the HTA’s upcoming Marketing Forum on 17 October.

Writer and presenter, Annabelle will share her personal story detailing how learning to grow her own produce completely transformed her confidence and outlook on life, and why she is now launching a non-profit social enterprise in 2019 which aims to change the lives of people of all ages who struggle with mental health illness.

Annabelle will also explain how brand and retailer marketing has the ability to change lives and impact on sales.

The HTA Marketing Forum takes place at Horticulture House in Oxfordshire on Wednesday 17 October and is aimed at all those delivering marketing activities across the garden industry.

Other topics being covered on the day include:

• Enhancing the shopper experience
• The art of visual merchandising
• Customer counting technology
• Hozleock’s Plant a Pot Campaign
• Creating a successful vlog
• The power of print
• Media Matters
• Using promotions effectively
• Engaging an online audience
• Success with Facebook advertising
• Farplants marketing case study

For more information  on the programme and to book your place visit www.hta.org.uk/marketingforum

For updates and information about the Life at No.27 initiative visit www.lifeatno27.com

The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) recently announced their partnership as the landscaping accrediting body for Home Solutions from John Lewis. This exclusive partnership will enable members the chance to design, build and maintain gardens for John Lewis customers.

Home Solutions began as a trial in the Milton Keynes area in 2017 and has since expanded in Bristol, Bath and Greater London. The APL are now helping to recruit new members to the service in London, Berkshire, Essex, Herefordshire and Kent.

Home Solutions reached out to The Association of Professional Landscapers to help find quality, experienced landscaping companies that have been accredited and receive on going inspections through the APL and Trustmark inspection process. 

John Cotter, go to market lead for Home Solutions, said of the partnership, "Home Solutions is a brand-new proposition from John Lewis which connects our customers with quality vetted trade professionals. When looking for the very best Landscapers, partnering with the Association of Professional Landscapers was a natural fit.”

APL Chairman, Rod Winrow, commented, “The opportunity to work in partnership with one of the best retailers in the UK is fantastic, it makes perfect sense when the organisations share similar values; To deliver landscaping excellence backed with superb customer service and professionalism.”

This partnership is exclusively for APL members, so If you are interested in applying for this or looking into membership of APL, contact Phil Tremayne atphil.tremayne@hta.org.uk or visit https://homesolutions.johnlewis.com/trades for more information.

After a tumultuous year Gardman is up for sale.

"On reflection the directors have decided the best way forward for Gardman is to sell the business and secure more funding," CEO Pete Utting told GTN Xtra on Friday.

"PWC have been appointed to run a process that will conclude within 2 weeks and I have already had discussions with a number of very interested parties."

2018 started for Gardman with their move to Daventry for warehousing and distribution which was problematical, then in March a fire completely wiped out the warehouse and over £20m stock. 

Rutland Partners completed a management buy out of the business led by Chairman Jonathan Halford in June 2015.

Below is the statement issued by Gardman on Friday:

Trade Press Release – 5th October 2018

In March 2018 Gardman suffered a devastating fire at its new Daventry warehouse.

With financial support from insurers, lending banks and shareholders, the business has made considerable progress over the last six month in rebuilding its market position. However, as a consequence of the fire, the business has been placed under significant financial and operational pressure.

The Directors have now decided to seek a new owner for the business to support the long term strategy and ambitions, and are in the process of liaising with potential buyers.

The directors see this as a positive step for the business and hope to conclude the process in the next two weeks.

We would also like to express our gratitude for all the support we have received during this recovery period.

Peter Utting
CEO

Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of a portfolio of five garden centres to Dobbies Garden Centres. 

The centres are: Gloucester; Heighley Gate; Huntingdon; Woodbridge and Woodlands.

Roger Mclaughlan, Chief Executive of WGC, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of five of our largest centres to Dobbies, one of the UK’s biggest and most experienced garden centre operators. We would like to thank our great colleagues at these centres, who have been central to our turnaround in the past few years and wish them well for the next stage of their growth and development under Dobbies’ ownership.”

Graeme Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of Dobbies Garden Centres, said: “The acquisition of these five centres is in line with our strategic growth plan for Dobbies. We are looking forward to welcoming our new team members and to working with them to develop the centres over the years to come.”

The acquisition brings more than 400 team members to Dobbies and takes the garden centre retailer’s estate to 39 centres across the UK.

The five centres are all larger destination garden centres, similar in size to the nine centres sold to Blue Diamond in July. 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.

The sale is expected to complete in late October with the centres reopening as Dobbies soon after.

Anthony Jones, Chief Financial Officer of WGC, said: “Since the launch of the sale process in May we have already sold 23 centres and are currently evaluating a wide range of competitive offers from group buyers, regional operators and local entrepreneurs. We look forward to further positive discussions with all potential buyers.”

Darren Bond, Managing Director of Christie & Co, said: “Since the start of the WGC sale process, the opportunity to run one, a small group or a portfolio of garden centres has ignited interest within the sector and beyond. We are delighted to have supported the sale of these five centres to Dobbies, meaning we have now exchanged on 28 sites as part of the sale process.”

For more information about Wyevale Garden Centres visit www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk

The Bransford Webbs Plant Company has this week announced a change in the ownership of the company in order to ensure the security of the business for the future.

Will Tooby, the current chairman, whose father established the business, has been keen to secure the future of the company, whilst retaining an interest in a nursery he cares deeply about. By reducing his shareholding, he has taken a partial step away from the business, but remains Chairman of the Board of Directors. The shares have been taken up by a combination of Webbs Garden Centre, Adrian Marskell (Managing Director), Richard Colbourne (Financial Director) and Christine Chalmers (Production Director).

The Bransford Webbs Plant Company, established over 50 years ago, under the original name of Bransford Nurseries. Renamed Bransford Garden Plants in the early 1990s to better reflect the nature of the business, it became renowned across the industry for its new and innovative plants, ideas and promotions. Following a merger with Webbs Nurseries in 2005, The Bransford Webbs Plant Company has continued to go from strength to strength. A leading nursery in the UK, it supplies over 1.5 million plants to garden centres across the UK. The growing space currently covers over 9 hectares, consisting of glasshouses, polytunnels and outdoors beds.

“Through this positive move, Will is ensuring that there is a seamless change in the overall ownership of the company, and that a team he trusts continues to run and expand the business into the future, with confidence, whilst retaining all the values that are so important to him”, commented Adrian Marskell, Managing Director. “So although there has been a change, the message is very strongly, no change, business as usual”.

Pictured: the Board of Directors - from left to right: Ed Webb (Webbs Garden Centre), Christine Chalmers (Production Director), Richard Colbourne (Financial Director), Adrian Marskell (Managing Director), Will Tooby (Chairman).

Whilst garden centre total volume sales for September 2018 were 2% down on 2017, they were 2% up on the average for September over the previous seven years.

So, we didn’t quite get the Indian Summer peak we were hoping for but at only 2.8% down in total year on year a good run through to Christmas could still see total sales volumes reach parity on last year.

Next week we will publish our first Top 50 Christmas Products chart.  From the early sales data this week here are the instant Christmas Bestsellers as Christmas displays open:

1. History & Heraldry Angel Hanging Decoration
2. Suki Personalised Angel Ornament
3. Suki Personalised Snowman/Snowgirl Ornament
4. History & Heraldry Personalised Gift Box
5. Armitages Dog Advent Calendar

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year: week 39

• Garden Products Top 50 – up 12%
• Growing Media Top 50 – up 26%
• Veg 2 Gro Top 50 – up 19%
• Wild Bird Care Products Top 50 – up 8%
• All Plants index – up 12%
• All Items index – up 1%

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

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.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

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