Wyevale Garden Centres have announced the sale of two more centres in two separate transactions. Springfield Garden Centre in Essex is being sold to Longacres Garden Centres and Par Garden Centre in Cornwall to Maidenhead Aquatics, following its purchase of Dummer Garden Centre in June 2019.

Both centres will continue to be run as garden centres. The sales are expected to complete during August and September respectively.

Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Wyevale garden Centres, said: “We are pleased to announce the sale of two more centres; one to a respected garden centre operator and one to an experienced concession partner. I would like to take the opportunity to thank our colleagues at Springfield and Par Garden Centres who have worked so hard for us over the years, and wish them all the best under new ownership.”

Nigel Long, Managing Director of Longacres Garden Centres, said: “We are delighted to expand the Longacres group through the acquisition of the Wyevale Garden Centre’s Springfield centre in Chelmsford. Longacres is a multi-generation, family-run business and we are looking forward to bringing our fifth site and new team members on board.”

David Lawrence, Managing Director of Maidenhead Aquatics said: “Maidenhead Aquatics are pleased to have acquired Par Garden Centre. We intend to run the centre as a traditional horticultural garden centre and very much look forward to welcoming and working with the existing team.”

Following the completion of this and other previously announced sales, Wyevale Garden Centres will trade 32 garden centres, listed below, plus 6 centres trading under license. These include 30 restaurants and 117 concessions with 114 partners.

The 32 Wyevale Garden Centres still to be sold are:

• Bournville
  Braintree
  Bridgemere
  Brockworth
  Carmarthen
  Cheltenham
  Chilton
  Chipperfield
  Crawley
  Findon
  Harrow
  Hitchin
  John Brown
  Lewes
  Ongar
  Osterley
  Paddock Wood
  Playhatch
  Potters Bar
  Pulborough
  Ramsgate
  Rayleigh
  Sprowston
  Stanway
  Stevenage
  Swindon Hay Lane
  Syon Park
  Thatcham
  Tring
  Upminster
  Wimborne
  Winnersh

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre has been named Garden Centre of the Year in the destination garden centre category of the GCA’s Wales and West regional awards, while and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (pictured below with GCA inspector Michael Cole, front row right) won the garden centre category for smaller centres.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, said: “Our Wales & West regional awards meeting was a huge success and we'd like to thank all those who attended. It was great to hear our GCA inspector, Michael Cole's feedback from his inspections on the centres and now our members can take this vital information back with them to their centres and make any changes needed.

“A big thank you must also go to Castle Gardens, who were fantastic hosts for the evening. We now have a bit of a break until our Scotland and Northern Ireland regional awards meeting, which will take place on August 29 at Klondyke Mortonhall.”

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre were also the winners of the Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre, the IFSE Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant (DGC) and the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (DGC).

Mike Lind, Managing Director of Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the Best Destination Garden Centre in Wales and the West of England by the GCA.

"We won a total of four awards in our annual area awards presentation. A big thank you to our amazing team for their hard work, creativity and dedication and to our loyal customers for their ongoing support of Somerset's leading family business."

The Old Railway Line Garden Centre has now won the Garden Centre of the Year title for eight years in a row.

It was also awarded the Barton Grange Trophy for Creativity and Innovation, Best Customer Service Award, the Environment and Community Award, the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (GC), the IFSE Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant (GC), the Outdoor Living Award for Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC).

Director Mark Cleary said: "We are delighted to have been awarded Garden Centre of the Year in Wales and the West for the eighth year in a row. It's a true testament to our amazing, creative and hard-working team who work tirelessly to both maintain and improve our standards.

"Our ethos is based around creating the best customer experience possible so to be recognised by the GCA for our efforts alongside the customer service award, is brilliant.

"All shop departments and our Railway Restaurant were credited with an award each too, which demonstrates consistency throughout the business. We have a fantastic team who work together to create somewhere for our loyal customers to visit and enjoy.

"We are immensely proud of the team's achievements at this year's GCA regional awards and look forward to the national results in January, which marks the start of our 30th year in business celebrations."

Huw Lewis, general manager at The Old Railway Line Garden Centre and Wales & West area chairman, organised the regional awards meeting.

"Our Wales and West annual regional awards evening was a great success, hosted by Castle Gardens, Sherborne. The meeting was very well attended and was a fantastic showcase of excellent standards throughout the region.

"A big thank you to our hosts and to Michael Cole for an entertaining presentation of highlights from this year's judging, which provided excellent examples of good practice and inspiration for all in attendance. Thank you to all who made the effort to attend and congratulations to all the winners."

Michael Cole said: "The garden centres in the Wales & West region have gone from strength to strength and all the staff members have worked incredibly hard to make their centres a shining example to others. I am thrilled to say the inspection scores have increased on last year, showing that all the hard work has certainly paid off.”

The full results for the Wales & West region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

• Garden Centre of the Year: Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre (DGC) and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC)

• Best Customer Service: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

• Environment and Community Award: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

• Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

• The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre

• ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre (DGC) and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC)

• GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Endsleigh Garden Centre (DGC) and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC)

• Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre (DGC) and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC)

• Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Cadbury Garden Centre (DGC) and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC)

Follow the links below to results from the other GCA Regions.

Variety retailer B&M, which has more than 600 UK outlets, is believed to be considering a garden centre format for the former Homebase store on the outskirts of Ipswich.

The company operates other stores in the town, including one on the Ransomes Euro Retail Park. At the time of closing this edition, B&M had not responded to GTN Xtra’s enquiry about the proposal or future plans for the Ransomes site.

Notices have appeared on the former Homebase premises announcing the company’s plans for an 11-week fitting out programme. B&M is also reported to have applied for a drinks licence for its discounted wine and beer sales.

The group is known to be keen to open a garden centre in Ipswich following successful gardening sales at its others in the region.

B&M, whose mantra is ‘top branded products at sensational prices’, regards gardening as a key category for its value offering and operates a number of garden centres within its portfolio of outlets that criss-cross the UK from Aberdeen to Penzance. Gardening was a significant element in the Homebase mix.

Pet Industry marketing expert Peter Johnson has joined Smart Garden Products to head up its newly-created Pet Division that will launch at Glee under the brand name of Zöon brand. Pronounced ‘Zow-On’, it is the Greek word for ‘Pet’.

 “When the company offered me this role, I was delighted to accept.” Peter said.  “I am really looking forward to working with Paris Natar, Jonathan Stobart and their amazing team to bring this exciting new project to market. Smart are the natural choice to launch such an innovative and much-needed new pet brand, with their industry-leading service, stock levels and total commitment to customer care.”

Paris Natar commented: “We are thrilled to have Peter on board given his extensive retail, product and pet industry expertise. Pet care as a sector has proved to be uniquely resilient and complements our core gardening businesses perfectly. There is a clear market opportunity within the pet market for Smart and we sincerely hope that our retail partners will like what they see when we unveil it all to them at Glee.”

Growing media is a godsend for garden retailers. Regardless of fashions or trends, come rain or shine, consumers will always need compost to fill seed trays, window boxes and hanging baskets – and the steady income stream from sales keeps tills ringing throughout much of the year.

It is therefore hard to imagine that a subject as gentle as compost could be the source of such controversy. In fact, few topics (apart from Brexit) have the potential to divide the nation as the contents of a bag of compost, and it all boils down to whether it’s peat-based or peat-free.

To many in the garden industry, peat is the ultimate growing medium: light, moisture-retentive and easily compressed. Few argue that peat is unbeatable for raising healthy plants. But to those with an environmental leaning, peat is the stuff of nightmares. Greens, and the UK’s growing band of eco-conscious consumers, have long argued that peat bogs should remain undisturbed as wildlife habitats. According to a report by the IUCN Peatland Programme, called What’s so special about peatlands, the UK’s peat bogs store more than three billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – preventing this climate changing gas from contributing to global warming.

This May, Britain’s most influential horticulturist, BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don, tweeted: “I have said this a thousand times but it’s worth repeating: If you are a gardener or nursery do not use peat. Ever. If you are a garden centre – stop selling peat products right now!” And Monty isn’t alone in his demand. The government set the UK retail industry a ‘voluntary target’ to be peat-free by 2020 – and this deadline is almost certain to be missed. With Brits spending £435million on bagged compost per year, according to the Horticultural Trades Association, is a peat-free future a realistic proposition?

The UK Growing Media Association (GMA) is a specialist group of the HTA made up of manufacturers and suppliers covering 90% of UK growing media sales. It claims to be committed to reducing the amount of peat used in growing media. GMA chairman, Neil Bragg, says: “For the last 30 years, work has been going on to develop various peat additives or materials to substitute for complete reliance on peat. All the growing media manufacturers have investigated and continue to develop new and novel materials. The work has developed many materials and mixes, including the use of barks, wood fibres and coir to develop stand alone and composite mixes of ingredients.”

However, the UK retail market is still saturated with peat. GMA research this year found that “quite a few companies are producing composts with very high (90-100%) peat, while others are much lower at around 50%”. The GMA states: “Much of this is driven by retail demands and associated price points attached to substrate mixes. Manufacturers respond to demands from various sectors.”

So, how close to peat-free is the UK retail market? A 2015 report called ‘Tracking peat usage in growing media production’ showed that just 9% of the volume sold to retail was peat-free growing media. Fast forward to 2019 and that figure is estimated to be up to 17% - a far cry from the target of being peat-free by 2020.

The HTA is aware that action is needed. HTA Director or Policy and Communications, James Clark, said: “The Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media is due to be launched later in the year. This scheme is about assessment against eight criteria for all materials, to identify where there are areas which need to be addressed. It might be water use for processing materials or the pollution risk associated with processing. In Europe, there is still a focus on individual materials such as peat rather than the approach adopted in the UK where all possible sources of material would be assessed against the criteria. There is no point reducing the use of material A if substitute B has other issues. The GMA is test-auditing the scheme to assess materials with an aim to launch later this year.”

Evergreen Garden Care has market-leading composts in its portfolio, with Miracle-Gro and Levington rated as the number one and number two brands in the UK, according to GfK (September 2018). We asked Evergreen if it would be peat-free by 2020. A spokeswoman said “The Natural Environment White Paper issued in June 2011 set out the government’s ambition to end peat use by 2030 with a 2020 target for retail by means of a voluntary partnership. DEFRA partnered with industry to develop the Responsible Sourcing Scheme and significant progress has been made. However, we are not there yet. There are industry-wide barriers to progress and we continue to research new materials to replace peat.”

At Glee, the industry’s leading trade show (NEC Birmingham, 10th -12th September), Evergreen will launch a new growing media strategy. The spokeswoman adds: “It’s based on our new vision for growing media, called ‘The foundation for rooting your green oasis’. Our aim is to add value back to a category that has been heavily commoditised over the past years. Our new growing media portfolio will include significant new product development.”

Evergreen insists it has already made strides to cut peat use: “We are working on improving the responsible sourcing profile of our compost mixes year-on-year. We offer peat-free and peat-reduced growing media options, with sustainable materials such as wood fibre, green compost, barks and organic alternatives used in place of peat. We work closely with the industry and government forums towards peat reduction.”

Garden industry pundit Peter Seabrook, one of the few to speak of the merits of peat, questioned the 2020 peat-free target. Peter, who is gardening editor of The Sun and a former BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, said: “I don’t understand much of what is being said today about the use of peat in compost. It’s the most effective natural material that we have. It can be compressed, so transport costs go down, while less plastic is required to wrap it.”

Peter believes that the UK compost industry should move towards an approach taken in Finland, where sphagnum moss peat is grown commercially. He adds: “In a raised bog, it grows much quicker than anyone would have you believe. I’ve seen with my own eyes how fast sphagnum moss regrows on a cut-away bog when water levels are correct. Why is this side of the argument never discussed?”

Peat-free suppliers, however, are reporting brisk trade. Dalefoot Composts, a supplier of Soil Association-approved peat-free composts, says demand for sustainable growing media is on the up. The company’s wool composts are certified for organic growing and claim to require 50% less watering. According to Dalefoot Composts, Director, Simon Bland, sales are up by 27% year-on-year, as a strategy of social media and shows attendance spreads the peat-free message. Simon says: “The so-called 2020 voluntary peat ban was never going to happen, because the industry is controlled by people who dig-up bogs. Peat bogs worldwide lock-up more carbon than rainforests. Word is spreading that good quality peat-free growing media is available.”

Melcourt Industries’ peat-free brand Sylvagrow is also reporting a successful season. Melcourt spokesman, Norman Maitland said: “Sales of SylvaGrow and SylvaGrow with added John Innes, Organic and Ericaceous have more than doubled this year. We launched a Sylvagrow planter for organic growing and sales exceeded expectations.” Norman remains confident in the sustainable growing media category. He explains: “As more retailers understand our offer, more are signing up. I deal with queries from gardeners addressed to the Melcourt website, and there is growing awareness of the peat issue, fed by articles in RHS publications and campaigning by the RSPB.”

Norman says it is “regrettable” that the industry won’t be peat-free by 2020, but is pressing ahead with expansion plans. He adds: “At Glee we’re launching a variant of SylvaGrow that has been formulated for tubs and hanging baskets. This will appeal to gardeners with limited space such as a balcony. The new product will be known as SylvaGrow Tub and Basket.”

Campaign group Friends of the Earth (FoE) admits peat extraction will now continue in the UK post 2020. It is calling on the government to “impose an outright ban”. FoE Senior Nature Campaigner, Paul de Zylva, is also pressing the garden retail trade for a wider uptake of existing peat-free growing media, arguing that “consumers are being denied the right to choose to buy excellent, truly peat-free composts that exist because these are rarely stocked by retailers”.

Whatever compost retail buyers are looking to order, Glee will be the focal point for the latest innovation in growing media. Glee Event Director, Matthew Mein, said: “The industry has made huge strides in reducing peat content and the compost category is ripe for growth, with a plethora of launches set for this year’s show. Whether you’re looking for peat-reduced or peat-free growing media, the latest compost formulations will be showcased at the NEC, providing the ultimate platform for brands to demonstrate the potential of quality growing media for the UK retail market.”

Special ribbon cutting events have been held at Notcutts Ashton Park Garden Centre in Manchester and Notcutts Victoria Garden Centre in Pontefract to celebrate the opening of two new display gardens, designed to inspire local gardeners with imaginative planting and landscaping ideas for their own outdoor spaces.

Caroline Notcutt, vice-chairman and great-granddaughter of Notcutts founder Roger Crompton Notcutt, cut the ribbon to officially open the new gardens at Notcutts Victoria and Notcutts Ashton Park, alongside local dignitaries, businesses, customers, and Notcutts colleagues.

Above: the garden opening at Notcutts Victoria Garden Centre at Pontefract.

The Notcutts Garden is a permanent display at both garden centres, providing ideas and inspiration for garden design and brightening borders all year round. Tranquillity is the theme of both gardens, which incorporate a large water feature, elegant pergola and a shaded seating area.

There are more than 300 plants of 30 different varieties featured in the gardens, including arum lilies and foxgloves in calming white and pastel pink shades. Dicksonia antarctica tree ferns produce masses of luscious dark-green fronds, while Betula alba birch trees make an impact with a majestic silver bark in winter. Rhododendron, azalea and a mix of hardy perennials add a vibrant burst of colour. Both gardens were designed and built by Notcutts' head of visual merchandising Marco de Jongh and plant buyer Stuart Andrews.

Caroline Notcutt said: “The gardens celebrate the best of what we do at Notcutts - with over 120 years' horticultural experience and 50 Gold medals won at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, we're pleased to bring our expertise in planting and garden design to our customers in Yorkshire and Manchester."

Kath Mitchell, general manager at Ashton Park, said: “We are very proud to unveil our glorious garden, which is a fantastic addition to the garden centre. I hope it will inspire customers with new and creative ideas to create a garden which is perfect for them."

James Wrycraft, GENERAL Manager at Victoria, said: “Thank you to all who joined us for our special garden opening event. It is now my pleasure to be able to nurture and grow the Notcutts Garden for all to enjoy and I hope it will become a key part of our local community."

Many of Notcutts' 18 garden centres have a special display garden.

SAP Nurseries, one of Ireland's oldest and largest nurseries, has extended its production facilities by 5,600 sq.m. of polytunnels and greenhouse production.

Historically well-known in the Irish and UK markets for its large trees, The company has in recent years focused production on plants for the garden retail market, enabling SAP to become a premier supplier of garden centre plants to multiple retailers throughout Ireland.

With increased production capacity, the nursery is now looking to supply garden centres in the UK and in conjunction with UK sales agent Bob Haward has developed a range of small pot grown trees for garden centre sales.

MD John Flanagan, who has been running SAP Nurseries for 15 years said: “Typically ornamental trees for sale on a garden centre are difficult for customers to transport home and this can be a barrier to purchasing a tree. Our new and exciting range of trees grown in a 5-litre pot are easy to carry home, simple to manage and the retail price point makes them affordable for a wider range of consumers.”

 The SAP concept of Easy Fit, Carry Home and Plant Today trees was tested and trialled by Haward in the UK market in 2018. Haward says: “Many of my retail customers have been asking me where they could buy a small, carry-home type tree that would easily fit into a normal car and be retailed at a sensible price point and so I am delighted now to be able to work with SAP to help fill this demand.”

 As a result of early interest from selected customers, the range of Easy Fit trees, which currently includes 25 top-selling varieties, will be broadened significantly for 2020. The three-year old trees will range in height from 1.20m to  1.75m and will include full colour labels and bar codes.  Recognising that there is still demand amongst the public for a mid-sized tree, Flanagan has also pre-selected a range of best-selling ornamental trees in a 10-litre pot including ornamental half standards and fruit trees for the UK market. 

Flanagan who has been a long time exporter of garden plants to the UK market, said: “We are very confident that both our 5-litre Easy Fit trees and our 10-litre trees are just what the market needs as I have seen this gap in the market for many years. As a result of our confidence in the UK market we will also be introducing a range of HOT Spot displays of promotional shrubs and herbaceous in 2020.”

 Commenting on the nurdsery’s recent success at the HTA National Plant Show, Haward said: “We had fantastic interest at the show from garden retailers with orders being placed… and so I amm confident this this range really will fill a gap on plant areas.”

A distinctive new greenhouse with contemporary styling and offered in a choice of 11 colours has been attracting plaudits from agents and customers of Bolton-based Elite Greenhouses this season.

The pent-roof Edge comes in 4ft, 6ft and 8ft widths and can be supplied in any lengths to suit.  The heavy-duty Titan bar used for the framework makes it one of the strongest greenhouses in UK, while the 11 powder-coated finishes, which includes mocha, navy and olive (pictured), give the model huge potential as a garden feature.

The new Elite website features ‘how to’ videos, and easy-to-find information on models, agent locations, seasonal blogs and promotions (currently including free digital thermometers).

Greenhouse packages that include all users need to start enjoying their greenhouse have proved popular and now represent more than half the company’s greenhouses sold, thanks to a significant saving.

Elite Greenhouses, a family-owned manufacturing business since it started in 1953 and run by a dedicated and knowledgeable team, offers the widest range of greenhouse models available in the UK.

New enquiries from potential agents are always welcome.

For more information, visit the website or email them, quoting GDN19.

Timber garden products manufacturer Zest 4 Leisure is opening a new photographic studio at its Saltney site to increase its focus on marketing support for garden trade customers.

The studio will be used year-round to produce product and animated assembly videos that garden centres can embed into their own websites. Zest has already produced 50 videos including short product lifestyle pieces and 'how to'-style animations to make it easier to build Zest's timber garden products in conjunction with the standard instructions. You can view the videos here. <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQF3IQ4IcTSrl5edRB1B-hgxq97cFadSY>.

The new facility means Zest can also supply digital product images in lifestyle settings with models (and the occasional dog), many of which will feature on PoS, brochures, modular merchandisers and header boards.

Steve Morgan, Zest 4 Leisure's MD, said: “This new approach will mean that we have a comprehensive digital library of product shots available so that we can supply a diverse range of high quality marketing materials to our customers at no cost to them.

"New images and videos will also be used on social media platforms to target consumers and raise awareness of the Zest 4 Leisure brand in order to boost sales.” 

The videos and studio are the latest in a series of strategic investments made by Zest in 2018 and 2019, including new and improved warehousing and a new logistics partnership with P&O Ferrymasters designed to further improve nationwide deliveries.

Steve added: “Our aim is to be a supplier of choice, delivering quality timber garden products with excellent customer service and these investments will help us achieve that goal.”

Leeds-based garden designer and TV presenter Katie Rushworth is returning to Tong Garden Centre to deliver a gardening masterclass in September.

The ITV ‘Love Your Garden’ presenter will share the design approach for the renovation project in her own garden, plus expert tips, garden hacks and takeaway ideas.

Tong Garden Centre's marketing manager Jo Dales is looking forward to welcoming Katie back to Tong: “Katie's passionate about creating gardens that people can replicate at home and her natural warmth enthuses people to have a go and grow. Katie's previous masterclass here at Tong was a sell-out, so we're really looking forward to this one.”

Tickets for the talk with cream tea included will cost £15.

Katie recently revealed her new show garden at Tong that has doubled in size to highlight new ideas for planting hot colours and lush foliage in creative combinations as well as inspiring ways to style an outdoor space.

Hundreds of schoolchildren have been taking part in Squire’s Garden Centres “Grow Your Own Chips” competition.

Back in March Squire’s staff showed them how to plant their own pots of potatoes and care for them. In July the children came back to get their potatoes weighed, and see who had grown the most.

After the weigh-in, the potatoes were turned into chips in Squire’s Café Bar and served up to the delighted youngsters.

Left: Children from The Royal Kent School with their potatoes at Squire’s in Cobham.

More than 20 new plants chosen for their significant added value compared to existing products will be on display at Groen-Direkt’s upcoming Autumn Fair (21-23 August).

Organisers say all are available in sufficient numbers for a successful market launch. Visitors will be invited to vote for their favourite, with the winner announced on 23 August.

Among them are:

• Acanthus ‘White Water’ (pictured left), a hardy perennial. With hand-shaped leaves, white in the spring, becoming spotted, with flower spikes of white/pink.

Vaccinium angustifolium 'Berrybux' (pictured right), a compact blueberry that looks similar to box but with delicious berries.

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Ian Wright (55) has joined Wyevale Nurseries as commercial sales director, heading up three sales teams across all product and market sectors.

He was previously sales manager at Boningale Nurseries in Albrighton, selling trees and shrubs to the amenity market. He handled a number of key accounts and managed a team of five sales executives and four administrative staff.

He has worked for various nurseries during his career, including Grangemore Plants, Hallmark Plants, Johnsons of Whixley, Robin Tacchi Plants, Deepdale Trees Limited, J A Jones Nurseries and Tacchi’s Nurseries.

Ian studied horticulture at Askham Bryan College and has a HND in landscape and horticultural technology.

In his spare time, Ian enjoys watching football, playing cricket, looking after his allotment and ballroom dancing.

Wyevale Nurseries MD Andy Johnson said: “Ian comes to us with extensive experience in the amenity sector, which is so important to us, given our extensive market-leading operations in trees, transplants and premium containers.

“His appointment will significantly strengthen us on that side of the business during the next phase of development. It will also allow me to spend more time working with our retail team ensuring we stay at the forefront of garden centre supply as new and exciting opportunities emerge on that side of the business too.”

RHS Retail Director, Damian Powell, took GTN's Trevor Pfeiffer on a guided tour of the new plant centre and retail areas at RHS Wisley last month.

With 70% extra display space across the shop and the plant centre stocks have been increased stocks to fill the new plant area.  That includes 30 metres of Ferns which are in great demand.

Read the full interview with Damian Powell in the August Issue of GTN, out this week.

Environmentally-friendly plant care brand ecofective has confirmed it will showcase the latest generation of its natural feed, weed and pest control products at Glee in Septermber.

Ecofective® says strong demand in 2019 have been driven by consumers seeking effective ‘green’ alternatives to conventional fertilisers and pesticides. The retail ban on metaldehyde-based slug pellets has strengthened the market for natural slug controls, with the company poised to showcase its new ecofective® Slug Killer – supplied in a recycled container and containing FERRIMAX® bait.

Head of sales Nigel Thompson says the fashion for grow-your own continues to gather pace, while rising numbers of organic and vegan gardeners are demanding effective plant care products that are kind to the environment and to wildlife. “Ecofective® will build on this growth at Glee 2019,” he said.

Created by leading plant technology firm Sipcam, the ecofective® Child & Pet Safe range uses pioneering formulations, developed for professional growers and adapted for retail, that are safe to use around beneficial insects, including bees.

Glee will provide a platform to showcase the company’s RHS-endorsed Garden Care range, includings RHS Weedkiller, RHS Moss Killer, RHS Bug and Mildew Control, RHS Path, Patio and Decking Cleaner and RHS Slug Killer.

ecofective team will be on stand 8E70 at Glee.

Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC) has just announced the sale of six more centres to Blue Diamond.

This follows the sale of eight centres to the garden centre operator in July 2018 and one in August 2018.

The acquisition of this portfolio increases the presence of the Blue Diamond brand to 36 centres and includes the following sites: Blooms Worcester, Canterbury Chartham, Hereford, Lower Morden, Rake and Tunbridge Wells. All sites will continue to operate as garden centres and the sales are expected to complete mid-September.

These acquisitions mean Blue Diamond now jump above Wyevale in terms of number of sites owned.

Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer of WGC said: Alan and the team’s decision to take on six more sites is testament to both the strength of our garden centres and the level of trust and confidence that has developed between the WGC and Blue Diamond teams through this sale process. I would like to say a big thank you to colleagues across these six centres for their passion, expertise and hard work and wish them the very best for the future under new ownership.”

Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond, said: “I went back to Wyevale Garden Centres to look for only a couple more centres and came out with six! Geographically all the centres are a perfect fit and enable us to deliver our full Blue Diamond proposition. We look forward to working with our new colleagues across the centres and welcoming them into the Blue Diamond family. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Anthony and the team at Wyevale Garden Centres who during all acquisitions have been supportive, thoughtful and professional throughout.”

Following the completion of this and other previously announced sales, WGC will trade 34 garden centres plus 6 centres trading under license.

Of the 34 still to be sold, eight are Freehold sites: Chilton, Chipperfield, Hitchin, John Brown, Lewes, Par, Pulborough and Winnersh.

And 26 are Leasehold centres: Blooms Cheltenham, Blooms Swindon, Bournville, Braintree, Bridgemere, Brockworth, Carmarthen, Crawley, Elm Court, Findon, Harrow, Ongar, Osterley, Paddock Wood, Potters Bar, Ramsgate, Rayleigh, Springfield, Sprowston, Stanway, Stevenage, Syon Park, Thatcham, Tring, Upminster and Wimborne.

Blue Diamond CE Alan Roper has revealed more details of the significant rises in footfall and cash profit at the eight outlets acquired from Wyevale Garden Centres during the past year.

Roper told BBC Radio 4’s ‘You & Yours’ programme in June that turnovers at the former Wyevales had risen between 35% and 60% since joining Blue Diamond.

The latest figures he has now shared with GTN Xtra show that customer numbers across those stores in the first two weeks of July were 48% up overall on the same period last year, while cash profits rose by 92%.

Leading the way was the Bicester Avenue store, with a 92% customer numbers increase and 142% cash profits lift.

The weakest performance from the former Wyevale cluster was Sanders Garden World in Somerset, which saw customers numbers in the fortnight rise by only 22% and cash profits by 46%. A few miles further up the M5, Cadbury enjoyed a 64% lift in customer numbers and 122% in cash profits.

Figures at the rest of the Blue Diamond Group’s centres look tame by comparison – a mere 15% more customers and 17% extra cash profit over the same 14 days in 2018!

The GCA Westland Rising Stars program for 2019 is nearing the stage where the ten winners who will present at GCA Conference in January will be chosen.

Last month they met for the third time and made presentations about their projects which were chosen from: 

• Indoor - A growing trend (Houseplant sales up 15% YOY, Westland indoors sales up 47% YOY, Houseplants are everywhere on social media)
  Lawncare - An Opportunity to grow (only 1 in 5 gardeners feed their lawn, yet the lawn is the foundational and heart of the garden)
  Growing - Massive category, massive opportunity (78% of gardeners grow in pots, 24% grow tomatoes - we can help them maximise their success)
  Wild Bird - A year round opportunity, May is actually the highest sales month due to GC traffic (People are motivated to feed because they want to see the birds and they want to help them)

Previously the twenty Rising Stars, listed below, have received training from GCA Inspector Gordon Emslie and the Westland marketing team.  Rising Stars organiser Jo Wilkinson said: "Remember this year there is no overall winner, we want to celebrate the successes of all the participants, giving the opportunity for the top 10 to make presentations at the GCA conference in January. The final 10 participants will come back for a 4th round of training in November, where we will focus in presentation skills and preparation for the conference.

"Gordon will be calling each of the participants during the next few days to give feedback on their presentations and advise if they are through the final stage."

The twenty 2019 GCA Westland Rising Stars Delegates are:

Dominic O'Donnell, Ruxley Manor
Gemma Stace, Bents
Arif Khan, Perrywood
Josh Gilbert, Bosworths
Rachel Atkinson-Young, Stewarts Broomhill
Nathan Heywood, Bents
Michael Knight, Haskins Ferndown
Sarah Jane Toop, Haskins West End
Paul Birch, Planters Bretby
Charlie Watts, Squires Twickenham
Stuart Sullivan, Squires Badshot Lea
Bronwen Dains, Thurrock
James Townsend, Garsons Esher
Ben Lodge, Notcutts
Emma Lamb, Barton Grange
Rachel Wilkes, Webbs Wychbold
Jack Appleton, Webbs Wychbold
Naomi Smith, Poundbury
Adam Wallbank, St Peters
William Biehler-Wallis, Baytree

July overall garden centre sales are running ahead of the last three years, according to GTN Bestsellers All Product Sales Analysis. Plants are down on last year but growing activity is up and increased footfall is driving up non-gardening sales areas such as gifts and food.

As thoughts move to creating Christmas displays, activities to keep footfall high during the school holidays are the current focus. 

What new ideas have your team created to attract families into your centre over the coming weeks?  Please send us photos of your ideas: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Happy Summer Holidays!

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 28)
Garden Products - down 4%
Growing Media - up 18%
Wild Bird Care - down 3%
Veg-2-Gro - down 33%
All Plants Index - down 7%
All Items Index - up 21%

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

The Garden Centre Association unveiled its winners for the North Thames region during a presentation at Poplars Garden Centre on Monday. Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (above) won Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre category while Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (below) picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “The first of our regional awards meetings was a huge success and it was great to see so many of our members turn out.

“We’d like to thank the team at Poplars Garden Centre for hosting a fantastic event and to our inspector, Jane Lawler, for her crucial feedback from her inspections, which we know our members will take on board for the future.”

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant went to Poplars Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC). Poplars Garden Centre also received the Environment and Community Award.

David Little, Managing Director at Poplars Garden Centre, said: “Poplars are thrilled to have won two major awards at last night’s GCA area meeting. The award for best restaurant is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and attention to detail that our wonderful team of staff give our customers every single day.

“We are equally thrilled to win the Environment and Community Award. As a family business we are firmly entrenched in our local community and work particularly closely with our 13 local schools. To be recognised for our environmental work too is good for the planet and good for business. The standards on show last night were fantastic, the highest I’ve ever seen and every single member of North Thames should be very proud of their achievements this year – standards are on the up and as the GCA often says – better standards means better business.”

Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree also won the Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity.

Hannah Powell, Communications and HR Director at Perrywood Garden Centre, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have achieved such resounding success at the GCA regional awards last night. To be recognised once again by our trade association is testament to the continued hard work, passion and dedication of the entire team at Perrywood Tiptree.”

GCA Inspector Jane was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the North Thames areas.

She said: “It has been a privilege and a pleasure visiting the North Thames centres and I’ve met so many enthusiastic and knowledgeable people. It’s no wonder the garden centre category is bucking all the retail trends and continuing to grow. There’s something to interest and engage at every turn!”

The Area Chairwoman for North Thames was Sarah Squire, who organised the meeting.

She said: “It was great to see so many North Thames members at the meeting and to welcome representatives from some of our newest members. We are so grateful to Poplars for their very kind hospitality and generous buffet.

“Jane gave us a very comprehensive and enjoyable account of her inspections. This is such a great way for us all to learn from one another and inspires us to improve standards across the board. It is a truly significant benefit to being a GCA member.”

The full results for the North Thames region GCA area awards are as follows for the DGC and GC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Scotsdale Garden Centre

Environment and Community Award: Poplars Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Squires Garden Centre – Stanmore

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: Poplars Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Aylett Nurseries (DGC) and Sunshine Garden Centre (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Perrywood Garden Centre – Tiptree (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Altons Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Stanmore (GC)

The North East and North West regional GCA awards were presented at Bents Garden & Home yesterday (Tuesday). The North East’s Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre category was Tong Garden Centre (above left) and Cowell’s Garden Centre (above right) in the Garden Centre category. In the North West, Barton Grange Garden Centre (below left)) and Fron Goch Garden Centre (below right) received the accolade.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “It was great to see everyone in attendance at our second regional awards meeting and paying close attention to our inspector, Gordon Emslie’s feedback. Now is the optimum time for our members to take this feedback on board, relay it to the rest of their team and start making any changes needed.”

Barton Grange Garden Centre also won the Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service and the GIMA award for Best Garden Products Retailer (DGC) in the North West during the awards meeting.

Claire Bryce, Farm Shop Manager at Barton Grange Garden Centre, said: “Winning these awards at yesterday’s GCA area meeting is such a fantastic achievement, especially seeing how close the competition is. It’s an excellent boost for staff to see that all of their hard work this year so far has paid off. It truly shows our team’s dedication and determination to do the best they can.

“These meetings are always beneficial. It’s a great opportunity to see the developments centres are making. This helps us to keep on moving forward and upping our game.”

Fron Goch Garden Centre also won the Environment and Community Award, the ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant (GC), Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC) in the North West.

Justin Williams, Managing Director of Fron Goch Garden Centre, said: “We have a very happy a team here! We are very proud of all our team and their hard work. The GCA is a wonderful tool that enables our team to network, share and learn via the regional meetings, inspections and conference. We would not be as motivated and engaged without it and it adds a personal and family feeling as we get to know other owners and teams.”

Tong Garden Centre has now won Destination Garden Centre (DGC) in the North East three years running.

Mark Farnsworth, Managing Director of Tong Garden Centre, said: “We are delighted to win this award again, we took over the centre four years ago and have set about restoring its reputation as one of the best garden centres in the North East and to receive this award again is very satisfying. This award is testament to the hard work of the whole team here at Tong, they have worked tirelessly, and we are incredibly proud of all of them”.

GCA Inspector Gordon Emslie was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the North East and North West areas.

He said: “It has been a real pleasure visiting the North East and North West regions this year where again the standard of garden centre retailing has been outstanding. All the centres visited deserve recognition for continuing to strive to provide the best experience for their customers year after year.

“The overall customer experience has been exceptional where year after year each centre continually raises their operational standards. I would like to congratulate all this year’s award winners.”

Members of the Garden Centre Association in the South Thames region are celebrating after picking up awards during a presentation evening at Haskins Garden Centre – Snowhill. 

The title of Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre  category went to Stewarts, Christchurch (above) and the Garden Centre category award went to Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (below).

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive at the GCA, said: “Our third regional awards meeting of the week was a great success and it was fantastic to see attendees all actively engaged in the presentations and taking down lots of notes to share with the rest of their teams.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our very worthy winners and give a big ‘thank you’ to Haskins Garden Centre – Snowhill for being wonderful hosts and Alyson Haywood for inspecting the centres earlier in the year and presenting her findings.”

Alyson inspected 50 garden centres in the region within a 12-week period.

She said: “As always it was a privilege to be able to visit and inspect so many brilliant garden centres in the GCA’s South Thames region. The retailing standards were as high as I had expected, and 30 centres received the ‘Highly Commended Award’. 

“It was encouraging to see so many centres developing their houseplant ranges. There were some outstanding coffee shops and restaurants and it was exciting to see so many centres generally starting to appeal to a wider customer base through ranges and service.”

This is the third year running that Squires Garden Centre – Hersham has picked up the Garden Centre of the Year (GC) award.

Squires Garden Centre – Woking picked up the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer and Squires Garden Centre – Badshot Lea was awarded the Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity.

Sarah Squire, Chairman at Squires Garden Centres, said: “I am thrilled that Squires in Hersham took the top spot in the Garden Centre category and that Squires in Woking and Badshot Lea came second in their categories, as well as winning other awards!

“Congratulations to Tim Spearman, Ed Ridgeon, Richard Wells and their teams. This is a fantastic recognition of all their hard work. These are truly brilliant achievements. The GCA inspections are such a great way for all garden centres to learn from one another and inspires us to improve standards across the board.”

Stewarts, Christchurch was also a joint winner of the Environment and Community Award on the night.

Terry Head, Retail and Marketing Director at Stewarts, Christchurch, said: “We are so pleased to once again win the South Thames award which recognises the consistent standards, professionalism and hard work by all the team. This also shows it’s not always about what you spend, it’s what you do to inspire your customers that counts. 

“Our determination to increase recycling and reduce our waste to landfill will make a real difference for generations to come for our loyal customer base.”

Gary Carvosso, Managing Director at Coolings Garden Centre and also Area Chairman for South Thames, organised the regional meeting.

He said: “We were hosted by a very enthusiastic Haskins team, with everyone having a tour beforehand of their new Snow Hill Garden Centre, which is now six months from opening. We had 90 retailers in attendance from the 50 garden centres audited this spring across central Southern England and the South East of the UK, for a very informative presentation by Alyson Haywood.

“The level of retail detail and well executed promotions among South Thames is both inspiring and helpfully challenging for us all.”

The next regional award meeting for the Wales & West area will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne in Dorset.

The Scotland and Northern Ireland area awards meeting will follow on Thursday, August 29 at Klondyke, Mortonhall with inspector Jane Lawler.

The full results for the South Thames region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: Stewarts, Christchurch (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Garsons Garden Centre – Esher 

Environment and Community Award: Joint winners Stewarts Garden Centre, Christchurch and Garsons Garden Centre – Esher    

The Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Innovation and Creativity: Squires Garden Centre – Badshot Lea 

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Poundbury Gardens

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: The Millbrook Garden Centre – Gravesend (DGC) and Knights Plant & Life – Godstone 

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Polhill Garden Centre – Sevenoaks (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Woking (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Garsons Garden Centre – Esher (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Ruxley Manor Garden Centre (DGC) and Squires Garden Centre – Hersham (GC) 

Staff from Garden Centre Association (GCA) member garden centres in the Midlands received awards during a presentation evening at East Bridgford Garden Centre last week (Thursday, July 18, 2019).

East Bridgford Garden Centre (above) was awarded Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (below) picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre (GC) category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “We’d like to say a huge ‘congratulations’ to all of our winners, they all thoroughly deserve the recognition and are a testament to us.

“We’d also like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to our inspector, Michael Cole, for visiting each centre and providing extensive feedback on what he found. The feedback really is invaluable to our members and one of the main benefits of our membership.”

Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne also won the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (GC), the Outdoor Living Award for Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC).

Steve Hodkinson, Garden Centre Manager at Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne, said: “It is truly an honour to receive this recognition. Our team always work tirelessly to not only achieve these awards, but to provide a memorable shopping experience for all our customers.”

William Blake, Director at St Peters Garden Centre was Area Chairman for the Midlands region and organised the meeting.

He said: “The Midlands area meeting was a fantastic success, hosted by Blue Diamond East Bridgford Garden Centre, which was great to see and was looking brilliant.

“We had a good turnout of more than 40 people from across the region and Michael Cole did an amazing job of keeping us entertained and showing us the highlights of the 2019 inspections. Thank you to all those who came along, and congratulations to all the winners.”

GCA Inspector Michael was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the Midlands areas.

He said: “I am pleased to say that the inspection scores for the GCA Midlands this year have increased on last year, demonstrating that garden centres in the area continue to go from strength to strength.”

The next regional award meeting for Wales & West will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne in Dorset.

The Scotland and Northern Ireland area awards meeting will follow on Thursday, August 29 at Klondyke, Mortonhall with inspector Jane Lawler.

The full results for the Midlands region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Webbs of Wychbold

Environment and Community Award: Baytree Nurseries & Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: East Bridgford Garden Centre

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Notcutts Garden Centre, Wheatcroft

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: St Peters Garden Centre (DGC) and Stratford Garden Centre (GC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Planters Garden Centre – Tamworth (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

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 2017 as well as 2018 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 Wild Bird Care chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro 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.

Buy your subscription today and start receiving the GTN Bestsellers charts this week.

Will Stratton-Morris is the latest big industry name to join lunch!'s compelling new Coffee Shop Keynote Theatre line-up.  The UK CEO of Caffè Nero will take part in an exclusive Keynote interview at the UK's biggest annual trade show for the café, coffee shop and food-to-go sector (9-20 September, ExCeL London).

He'll be appearing in conversation on the show's opening day, sharing expertise and insights from the helm of the UK coffee giant (part of Caffè Nero Group/Italian Coffee Holdings, the largest independent coffee house group in Europe). At the last count, the fast-growing brand now operates 750 stores in the UK and more than 1,000 internationally (with more openings on the horizon).

Before joining Caffè Nero around two years ago, Stratton-Morris has held senior management and marketing roles at SSE retail, Intercontinental Hotel Group for UK and Ireland, Walt Disney, and British Airways, among others.

Head to lunch's Coffee Shop Keynote Theatre early (10.30am, 19 September) to find out more about what's driving Caffè Nero's growth. Seating is allocated on a first come basis - with standing room crowds expected.

Caffè Nero will be well-represented at this year's show.  You'll see its buying teams packing the aisles looking for the next big food-to-go innovations, while Hannah McKay, head of its food and beverages UK & Ireland, will be back on the Keynote stage following her popular speaker debut last year.

"It is a very exciting time for Caffè Nero, especially around food," says Ms McKay, who'll be divulging details of a key food project at the show (2.30pm, 20 September).

“To continue to succeed in an ever-competitive market, coffee shops need to ensure all aspects of their business offer a point of difference and are true to the vision of the brand," she says. “I will be talking about Caffè Nero's food journey to make sure the food is as good as the coffee.”

She highly recommends lunch!, describing it as a key date in the diary for the food-to-go and the coffee shop sector.

Josh Brown, head of coffee and commercial development at Harris + Hoole, will also be making a welcome return to the show.  Having previously spoken at lunch! 2017 (in the year following its acquisition by Caffè Nero), he'll be outlining what's new from the 40-strong speciality coffee shop chain.

Market insights

According to the latest Project Café 2019 UK report from Allegra World Coffee Portal[1], the UK coffee shop market has enjoyed '20 consecutive years of sales and outlet growth'.  It's now valued at £10.1bn, with an estimated 25,483 outlets.  Although it's not immune to Brexit uncertainty and economic pressures, the market has certainly proved itself to be one of the UK's most robust, with further growth forecast.

Coffee shop buyers, owners and managers looking for the inside track on what key trends/developments will be shaping the food-to-go market in the years ahead, will find plenty of juicy insights.

Gareth Nash, insight director at MCA and HIM, will be discussing 'The Rise of Coffee Shops' and their secrets of success.  Providing an in-depth look at how coffee shop operators are looking beyond the coffee cup to maintain competitive advantage (10.30am, 20 September).

Over in the show's two other Keynote Theatres, there will be market updates from The NPD Group & Springboard, IGD, Future of Foodservice, CGA and Kantar Worldpanel.  Each offering their unique take on - and the latest stats from - the eating out of home market (focusing on food-to-go outlets, retailers and coffee shops).  For example: Simon Stenning, founder of Future of Foodservice, aims to help FTG operators/retailers with their longer-term strategic planning with his overview of the market in 2030 (10.15am, 19 September).

Stenning explains: “"I want to provide lunch! visitors with a vision of the key drivers of change for the future of food to go, and an understanding of why the market will be different in ten years' time.

"If you think back ten years, there were so many brands and concepts that didn't exist, that have been created since then, and that tools, such as Apps, only just started arriving with the launch of the iPhone 12 years ago; on that basis we can expect to see many changes in the next ten years.  I will be outlining how our analogue industry will be moving into the digital world, how technology will play a part, both back of house and front of house.

"I will also be outlining the key consumer trends, such as 'Purpose', that will need to be met by suppliers and operators going forward."

In the shorter term (for the year ahead), his trends to watch include:

• The blurring of lines between Fast Food and FTG, putting pressure on traditional sandwich retailers to adjust their offers to meet changing consumer demands
• Consumer expectations that all purchases are delivered with a degree of ethical, environmental action, whether waste, packaging, resource utilisation, or giving back

Lively panel sessions

Visitors attending the show's ever-popular panel sessions will also benefit from expert strategies and ideas from a host of coffee shop leaders and influencers talking about everything from marketing and profitability to innovation, procurement, brand expansion, Brexit and CSR.

Confirmed panellists (to date) include:

• Growing Coffee Shops panel: Adnan Karim, UK managing director at Wayne's Coffee - one of Scandinavia's leading eco coffee shop chains, and Davide Pastorino, co-founder & CEO of Press Coffee & Co
• Sustainability in Coffee Shops panel: Ollie Rosevear, head of environment at Costa Coffee
• Doing Good is Good Business - featuring three owners of social enterprise coffee shops/kiosks (that employ homeless people or young offenders): Max Dubiel, founder of Redemption Roasters; Julius Ibrahim, founder of Second Shot Coffee; Cemal Ezel, CEO of Change Please and co-founder of Old Spike Roastery

Already announced speakers include Henry Ayers and Edward Parkes, founders of Gentleman Baristas, being interviewed by Chris Brazier, group event director of lunch!; and Anya Marco (dubbed 'The Coffee Queen'), who will be presenting her essential Social Media Tips for Coffee Shops (according to Allegra research[2], 45% of industry leaders consider social media to be the most effective form of marketing).

Free trade registration

More than 7,000 industry buyers are expected to attend the show, which will feature a record 400 exhibitors showcasing their latest NPD - from food and drink to packaging, technology and foodservice equipment.  To register free in advance, visit the website.