In This Issue
Joules acquires digitally led retailer Garden Trading
Petition to get Garden Centres in Scotland and Wales open again as soon as possible gains momentum, but they still need our help
The green shoots of recovery
From Seeds to Suet, Honeyfield’s continue to innovate
Looking forward to better weather
Join the Twinkly revolution at new UK showroom
New Board Members and Future Chairman confirmed at GCA AGM
100% responsible ‘Food Range’ released by Cotswold Granaries
Plant sales more than double
Join Korbond at Spring Fair 2021, this week!
Pearson Memorial medal awarded to Adam Wigglesworth of Aylett Nurseries
Risk to Scottish horticulture growing each day
One million steps for Garden Re-Leaf 2021
AMES UK invest more than £1m in infrastructure and people in response to increasing market demand
The national interest in houseplants is sky-rocketing
GTN's Christmas Special Issue - read on-line here
Gardening expert Richard Jackson challenges Britain to get ready, steady, grow!
Mental health body is garden centre's charity of the year
Dobbies bids to tackle food waste with Magic Bag
Venturing outdoors for mind, body and soul
Altons BBQ World, Aylett Nurseries, Barton Grange, Baytree, Busy Bee, Groves, Pengelly, Pughs, The Old Railway Line and Squires Badshot Lea are the winners of GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards
Christmas Future Trends at Glee's Festive Focus Day
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Pots of potential for container gardening
Garden businesses wilt under Brexit trade rules
Working together for better plant health
Cold weather boost for Wild Bird Care
Onions dominate Veg-2-Gro sales
Uplift in demand causes Greenregis mail order business to move
Introducing ‘The Real Soil Company’ – the new name in high-quality, results-driven topsoil
Gift card sales surge over UK’s first Covid Christmas
The best of last week's
Sign online petition to get Welsh centres re-opened
Moving on up… slowly
Greenfingers Charity welcomes Guy Topping as Trustee
RHS awards key outdoor pots license to Woodlodge
Jeno Floral - pick of the Christmas Bestsellers
Great roofing products for the garden make-over boom
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Barton Grange Christmas 2020 - Exclusive GTN Xtra Photo Tour
Squires Badshot Lea - Christmas 2020
Perrywood at Christmas 2020 - with correct photo gallery now...
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
All the latest news from the world of pet products
Lily's Kitchen launches limited edition Valentine's Day dog tin
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Risk to Scottish horticulture growing each day
As closures remain in place HTA calls for Scottish government re-think

 

Scottish ornamental horticulture growers are experiencing a sense of de-ja-vu as, once again, they face the very real possibility of significant financial damage and the loss of thousands of young plants as a result of the continued closure of garden centres in Scotland.

 

Classified ‘non-essential retail’, Scottish garden centres have been closed since 26 December. Tomorrow the Scottish Government will review lockdown measures and with the industry’s busiest time just around the corner, the Horticultural Trades Association is calling on them to re-assess this classification. Without a change, they say, the economic impact will be difficult to survive.

 

“We recognise the enormous effort that the Scottish government is making to tackling Covid and appreciate that public health must be a priority, but it is both necessary and possible to safely reopen garden centres in the first wave of relaxations,” said James Barnes, HTA Chairman.

 

“Our grower members need a route to market, people need access to activities they can safely enjoy as they stay home and our retailers can provide that with shopping environments naturally suited to operating with first-class social distancing measures in place.”

 

Pentland Plants near Edinburgh is a family business that has been supplying Scottish retailers for decades. Right now, their glasshouses are filled with tens of thousands of young plants, including Primroses, Ranunculus and Senetti, destined for sale across the nation, but with Mother’s Day on Sunday 14 March and no prospect yet of much of her customer base being open to the public, owner Carolyn Spray is beginning to get nervous.

 

“I'm really concerned we are back in this situation and that once again there’s a risk our route to market will be cut off by the ongoing closure of garden centres in Scotland,” she said. “Last year was bad – the stress was horrendous - but we managed to recover thanks to the re-opening of garden centres in May.

 

“The gardening season is about to get going - we’ve got Mother’s Day coming up and an early Easter this year. If those combine with another spell of good weather and we’re still locked down, there’s a huge risk that the between the plug plants we send all over the UK and the finished plants we sell to garden retailers here in Scotland, there is over £2 million at stake if orders are cancelled and garden centres cannot open properly for the spring season.”

 

Ahead of the review on tomorrow (Tuesday) the HTA has outlined the need for certainty and an agreed timescale for reopening to Scottish Ministers. In a dossier of evidence collated from its own industry data and from Scottish members themselves, it outlines the delicate balance of a supply chain where growers of perishable plants must be able to plan ahead. Without this, they risk either wasting thousands of plants or being unable to meet demand.

 

It also highlights the benefits of allowing garden centres to begin trading as soon as possible, pointing out that opening ahead of the main Spring season will allow footfall to be spread out over a longer period of time, making for a safer shopping environment. Garden centres also enable people to benefit from the positive effect of gardening on their mental and physical wellbeing and provide rural communities with access to local stores selling items such as pet food and winter fuel.

 

James Barnes concluded: “The HTA has had some positive discussions with the Scottish Government about re-opening, but our members need concrete dates to help them plan ahead and avoid terrible waste and damaging losses and to give retailers time to plan the safest possible re-opening by implementing our update Safe Trading Protocol. We call on Ministers to carefully consider the plight of Scottish horticultural businesses and take action on their behalf, soon.”

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