Wages increases in ornamental horticulture have again outripped those in garden retailing, the 2013 HTA wages survey has established.

Pay increases in nurseries are averaging 2.3%, compared with 1.6% for the garden retail sector and 1.5% for the national average provided by the Office of National Statistics. The HTA blame inflated increases governed by the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB), which has now been abolished

With the turnover of HTA grower members estimated at around £470 million, pay rises in line with the national average would have saved about £1 million in staff costs, based on HTA grower members only. Applied across the entire ornamental sector, the figure would be even higher, the association say.

Gary Scroby, HTA Policy Manager, said the results of the survey once again exposed the distortion in pay rates that the AWB had created. “We applaud the Coalition for abolishing it,” he added.

The report, based on a survey of 50 HTA grower members, prospective members and BOPP members, is a key tool that allows businesses to benchmark themselves within the sector. It includes key metrics such as average pay rates for different job roles, staff costs, sales turnover, level of pay increases and redundancies.