Davids Nurseries near Worcester has become the Home & Garden Group’s fifth outlet.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, was completed on 1 October following the decision by owners David and Sarah Beauchamp last year to retire.

Home & Garden Group, who also operate centres at Kettering, Bedford, Oakham and Uttoxeter, announced earlier this year that they were on the acquisition trail, targeting a total of up to 10 centres with strong core gardening offers.

The group’s parent company is Bedfordshire grower Chessum Roses.

Home & Garden have installed Eddie Reid as manager at Worcester. “We are not changing much at the moment apart from putting in a couple of concessions,” he told GTN Xtra.

The existing staff are staying on, including veteran gardening expert Reg Moule, well known as a speaker, broadcaster and demonstrator.

Davids are past winners of the small garden centre category in GTN’s Greatest Awards (pictured below receiving their award).

With Christmas only 10 weeks away, 141 Wyevale Garden Centres are this week launching their Christmas ranges, with 2.5 million gifts, home and outdoor decorations hitting the shelves in anticipation of the 12 million customers nationwide expected between now and the big day.

The largest garden centre group in the UK, Wyevale Garden Centres (previously The Garden Centre Group, having announced its return to its heritage brand this summer), has doubled its Christmas assortment this year to make the most of festive footfall and sales.

Reflecting its intention to cater for different tastes and shoppers across the UK market, category price points range from: 49p for novelty children’s stocking fillers to £99.99 for a dramatic silver antler candelabra in gifting; £1.99 for an eye-catching Christmas tree bauble to £399 for a magical 6’6’’ Normandy fir featuring 600 sparkling LED lights in indoor decorations; and £29.99 for a snow-dusted pine cone wreath adorned with a silvery deer’s head to £3,699 for the limited edition Crystal tree in outdoor decorations. Approximately 10% of the Christmas Shop ranges are exclusive and 50% are brand new to Wyevale Garden Centres this year. 

Along with the rest of the nation, Wyevale Garden Centres has seen a growing trend in recent years for extravagant outdoor Christmas lighting – previously an American tradition – which has now become a phenomenon in our own neighbourhoods. This has prompted the retailer to strengthen its outdoor lighting and garden decorations offer more than ever this year. Brits have always had their own quirky take on the outdoor lightshow, but Wyevale Garden Centres has observed a demand for more natural-looking installations over all-singing, all-dancing novelty pyrotechnics. In particular, penguins and polar bears are out of favour this year as native wicker and acrylic animals – foxes, rabbits, deer – reclaim their place in British gardens.

The retailer is also staging hundreds of events nationwide to further position its Centres as a must-visit shopping destination for this Christmas and ensure family shoppers are catered for with an unrivalled programme of festive fun. Thousands of tickets will this month go on sale nationwide for Ice Skating, Winter Wonderlands, Magical Santa’s Grottos and Breakfast or Tea with Father Christmas. For adults who crave a crafty hit, floristry and wreath-making classes are on the menu and the recently revamped restaurants will be serving warming winter recipes to keep shoppers fighting fit and well-fuelled throughout the frosty Christmas shopping season.

Sarah Fuller, Marketing Director, Wyevale Garden Centres, comments: “We think shopping for Christmas should always be enjoyable. At Wyevale Garden Centres, we want to give our customers a little extra bit of Christmas wonder when they visit us – not least through our magical transformation of the centres into winter wonderlands. This year we have scheduled our most exciting festive events programme to date and offer a relaxed shopping environment – away from the queues of the high street and expensive parking. Our overall shopper experience is better than ever before with nearly 8,000 Christmas ranges set to be showcased through spectacular displays across all our centres.

 “Gifting and outdoor decoration are big growth areas for us this year with real and replica trees a major footfall driver. The trend for outdoor decorations is set to hit an all-time high this year, so we have bought in 28 different types of door wreath, 300 different types of outdoor lights and our range for the first time extends to our stunning £3,699 Crystal outdoor tree for customers who want to make a more dramatic statement in their garden!”

Centre manager Keith Taylor at Bridgemere, the largest Wyevale Garden Centre and Nursery, says: “We are noticing more than ever that our customers are coming to Wyevale Garden Centres for the all-round experience. They don’t just want to nip in and nip out with a new bedding plant, they want to meet friends in the restaurant or join in one of our in-centre activities. This is even more prevalent at Christmas when we transform our centres with magical displays and special VIP customer events.”

Milestone Garden & Leisure at Newtown St Boswells in Roxburghshire has applied for planning permission to build nine new retail units and a gym.

The plan, which also allows for parking capacity for 88 cars, is part of £2.5 million expansion plan which they say will create around 40 jobs.

Milestone have also submitted plans to Scottish Borders Council for 40 houses, including seven affordable homes, they hope to build on an adjacent site.

Both applications are scheduled to be dealt over the next few months.

Fiskars UK  have announced two key appointments designed to strengthen the marketing team. Kerry Murfin takes the role of trade marketing director and James Karanicolas becomes trade marketing manager.

MD John Grayson said the appointments would help to take Fiskars UK to the next significant stage of its growth plan.

Kerry Murfin joins from Newell Rubbermaid, where she spent seven years as senior manager leading trade marketing throughout the EMEA region for the Dymo, Sharpie, Parker, Irwin and Rubbermaid brands across key retailers Staples, Office Depot and Amazon. A BA (Hons) marketing graduate and CIM chartered marketer, Kerry has more than 15 years' marketing experience at UK and EMEA level.

As trade marketing manager, James Karanicolas will focus on driving category growth within key DIY, garden centre and builders' merchants. He joins from Fiskars Australia, where he had four years leading trade marketing initiatives and was instrumental in growing market share.

Analysis of the total sales volumes for growing media products appearing in the weekly GTN Bestsellers Top 50 chart shows that the last six weeks have seen the most core gardening activity over the past six years.  

Sales volumes this September and October to date are 28% up on the same period last year and even 15% up on 2011 Autumn sales, the last year we all remember as being a great gardening season prior to 2014.

Undoubtedly the weather has been a great contributor to this record sales performance, but isn’t it reassuring to know that when the weather is in on our side, really core gardening activity is still a favourite pastime – with all the related purchases?

Growing media sales are our best indicator of core gardening activity and we can see from the Epos data supplied to GTN Bestsellers that plant and bulb sales are also running at high levels.

What we now need is a dose of colder weather to get everyone into the Christmas spirit and then we can see overall sales volumes drive on to the peak of the year at the end of November.

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

• Garden Products – down 22%
• Xmas Products  – down 10%
• Growing Media – up 1%
• All items index – down 10%

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

It has been under development for a number of months, and its eye-catching new design kept a closely guarded secret. Now Town & Country’s new website is live, bringing a sleek and stylish new look to www.townandco.com, with a host of additional features, striking imagery and informative copy. 

The new design brings a fresh, contemporary feel – with stunning new photography across all product categories – and improved navigation makes it easy to browse the comprehensive range of gardening gloves, footwear, garden accessories, clocks and weather stations.  All content can be easily viewed from desktops, laptops and smartphones. 

It includes all the latest information on new products, promotions and special offers and provides ideas and inspiration to guide consumers to make the right choice of products and to quickly and easily find the nearest stockist for the products they are interested in. 

Visitors to the site can now search for products by task, colour, material or size and will have the opportunity to post a review.

The Social Hub section on the home page allows users to engage with Town & Country via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, as well as keeping up to date with the latest news, tips and advice via the regular Blog entries.

For further information, contact Town & Country on 01530 830990, email info@townandco.com or visit the trade website.

It’s that time of the year again. As you complete your Christmas Displays and start selling your Christmas events (or sell out if you’ve had them on-line already) now is the moment to nominate your teams in The Greatest Christmas Awards.

The Greatest Awards team of experts will be out on the road twice this Christmas season, once at the start of November to visit Christmas Display teams and then again in December to meet the teams behind The Greatest Santa events of the year.

Here are the categories you need to nominate your teams for:

• The Greatest Christmas Display Team – awards for small centre, mid sized centre, destination centre and a centre that is part of a group.
• The Greatest Grotto Team – regional and national awards for small and large centre teams.
• The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – for exceptional BBQ sales in the run up to Christmas.
• The Greatest Miniature Christmas Display Team – for teams excelling at displays and sales of miniature Christmas scenes and even the new craze of Fairy Gardening.
• The Greatest Catering with Santa Team – for teams that create those truly memorable meals with Santa.
• The Greatest Festive Plant Sales Team – for plant teams who enter into the festive spirit and maximise sales of plants and trees while centre footfall is at it’s highest.

There will also be the chance for your customers to vote for your total garden centre team as The Greatest Garden Centre at Christmas 2014.  Just send your nominations and register for the public voting by e-mail to trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk.

The Greatest Christmas Awards will be presented at The Greatest Christmas Party, sponsored by Premier Decorations, on Sunday 11th January in The Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.  Watch this space for ticket details.

Keynote speaker Andrew MacMillan )right), who spent 28 years with the John Lewis Partnership, offered insights into how JL have developed a branded customer experience.

“It needs to be a great place to work and a great place to shop” he said. “You need to start inside and then work out as the customer experience becomes an extension of the staff experience. Using freedom within a framework, staff are encouraged to ‘do what they think is right’ and each branch has the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary to help a customer once a month. These random acts of kindness are shared internally and celebrated – helping them to become part of everyday activity.”

Briers MD Jackie Eades (left) shared with HTA delegates how she had re-branded and brought high street fashion trends into garden retail. She used eye tracker and EFSA research to find out more about customer’s shopping behaviour and the latest retail trends, before revamped the Briers brand strategy to create six new ranges including Function and Fun (children’s range) and Function and Tradition (Historic Royal Palaces Collection).

Simple steps to talking to customers in a fresh way were provided by William Sinclair marketing director Simon McCardle. Using HTA consumer segmentation research he focussed on the ‘newbies’ (time and cash poor 28-40 year olds for whom the garden is low on their priority list). They want a lovely garden to enjoy, relax and play in but they see gardening as outdoor housework, with the lawnmower the equivalent of the Hoover. They need ‘fool-proof’ products that can’t fail along with an easy to shop experience, inspiration along with reassurance, knowledge and value.

This provided a neat link to Love the Plot You’ve Got, the industry wide campaign which starts in 2015, aimed at the same audience. Project manager David Arnold (top, left) said the proposed roadshow would take garden inspiration out to non-garden events across the country.

Collaboration and cooperation for the good of the horticulture industry was a key theme at this week’s HTA Garden Futures Conference in London.

In his opening address HTA president Stan Green encouraged delegates to be imaginative and proactive in promoting and shouting about the huge benefits of horticulture so that more attention is paid to the industry. ‘We can achieve much more and are better together’ he said.

Later, HTA head of horticulture Raoul Curtis-Machin and Sarah Cathcart, head of education and learning at the RHS, revealed that fewer than 50% of careers tutors can even define ‘horticulture’, and demonstrated how the joint Grow initiative is working to attract young people into a career in horticulture, which has been included in the school curriculum since September 2014. A short film aimed at 11-14 year olds reflects the diversity of the industry is designed to help spread the word.

TV Gardener David Domoney spoke of ‘Growing Gardeners’ and looked at the opportunities for sparking interest in the outdoor world for children and adults alike. Posing the question ‘Can gardening improve people’s lives?’ he demonstrated how through campaigns like Cultivation Street, gardening can make a real difference.

John Shaw, HR director at Homebase and garden designer Adam Frost spoke about inspiring future gardening talent through the Homebase Garden Academy, which this year has seen 1300 applications for the 20 places on offer.

The Academy offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to kick start a career in horticulture through qualifications and experience. As John Shaw explained “How do we relate to the next generation of consumers if we don’t have the next generation of experts in store?” Homebase stores with garden academy students outperformed others, as the students shared their knowledge and inspired their colleagues and customers, he said.

HTA market information manager David Denny told HTA conference delegates that declining levels of home ownership and volatile weather events were just two of the challenges aheads. Smaller factors include the need to create positive first impressions, avoiding too much product choice and making greater use of tactile displays.

Surviving in an online world was the topic of discussion for Tim West from the Big Green Bookshop, a London based independent store, who was interviewed on stage by GTN’s Trevor Pfeiffer. Tim’s bookshop, which has no café, no online sales and no product discounts, uses social media and community events to draw people in – with great success. ‘Focus on what you can provide that an online retailer can’t’, he summised – a great inspiration for independent retailers.

‘If you want to sell more plants, sell better coffee’ was the top tip from Haskins Garden Centres CEO and GCA president elect Julian Winfield, re-cycling a quote from former garden centre owner Ken Allen. Plants, he said, are very much at the centre of their offer but they have seen huge growth in their non-gardening categories over the last 18 years. December is now their biggest sales month, despite no Christmas grotto. “It is all about providing an enjoyable shopping experience’, Julian said.

Lucy Adams, who was the BBC’s HR director through challenging times that included the move from London to Salford, the exit of four DGs and the Savile crisis. She highlighted the authentic approach that certain leaders took which made a difference to their teams. ‘Be visible, show humility and humanity and use stories rather than powerpoints’, she said. It is the simple things that really make a difference in keeping teams happy and engaged.

Respected soil scientist and growing media expert Neil Bragg has been awarded the HTA Pearson Memorial Medal for his outstanding  commitment to the horticultural industry.

Neil, who recently stepped down as chairman of the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) after six years, is a director of Bulrush Horticulture. He oversaw the HDC’s re-location from Kent to Stoneleigh, a move that reduced costs and allowed more funds to be spent directly on research projects. “The challenging role at HDC required much skill to bring together a new regime and it was Neil’s  clear strategic thinking that mapped a way through the difficulties to real success,” said the HTA citation.

He started work for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and, after obtaining a masters degree, transferred to ADAS, where he became part of the National Horticulture  Specialist Group. In 1991 he joined Bulrush. He has chaired the Bedding & Pot Plant Association and the Growing Media Association. Previously a Director of Stockbridge Technology Centre, he has a passion for  research and development and is currently also a director of the Horticultural Innovation Partnership.

HTA vice-president Adam Wigglesworth (above, left), who presented Neil with his medal at the HTA Garden Futures dinner held at the Royal Institute of British Architects this week, said the award recognised the huge amount of work Neil does for the industry.

“As chair of the HDC he has played a vital  role in helping to raise the profile of the need for horticultural research and development with government. A very honest and forthright speaker, he has lobbied tirelessly on behalf of the industry. He is also an ardent campanologist (bell ringer)!”

The Pearson Memorial Medal for outstanding service to the garden industry has been awarded by the HTA on an annual basis since it was instigated in 1930 in memory of the HTA’s  first General Secretary, Charles Pearson.

Garden Futures 2014 was sponsored by Hozelock, Scotts Miracle-Gro and William Sinclair.

Trade buyers who make an appointment to visit Minster’s refurbished showroom at Southwell, Notts, have been offered significant discounts for goods collected and paid for on the day.

They’re promising customers “a fun discount with a twist”, with up to 40% off the cost of the order, subject to conditions. The 'twist' involves throwing dice...,

The promotion will run until close of business Tuesday 23 December

“To take part in the promotion you must come to the showroom, by appointment only, and pay for the goods that are taken away on a cash and carry basis,” customers have been told.

www.minsterstylishliving.com

William Sinclair Horticulture has announced the launch, with a £1m TV campaign, of the new Growing Success GrowQube - an easy to carry, easy to use deep container with a unique compost mix which in trials has produced a 50% greater tomato yield than plants raised in conventional growbags.

The new GrowQube from Growing Success offers beginners the promise of more juicy, tasty tomatoes with minimal effort – in an easy to manage 6kg carry-home pack with integral handle which will appeal to anyone who is deterred at the point of sale by the weight and bulk of a conventional growbag.

Containing a brand new and unique blend of ingredients, GrowQube has been specially formulated to produce an exceptional crop of perfect tomatoes, chillies or peppers with less frequent watering and feeding. Based on exhaustive testing of 300 plants the GrowQube is claimed to deliver foolproof results whether growing outdoors or under glass.

In Sinclair’s trials, GrowQube-grown tomato plants produced over 50% more fruit than the same variety grown in conventional growing bags.

Unlike the ubiquitous low profile growing bag, the GrowQube, at 24 x 24 x 24cm, allows plant roots to develop fully for greater strength and more efficient moisture and nutrient uptake*.

Manufacturer, William Sinclair Horticulture claims to have developed the ideal container growing mix comprising a blend of its own finest grade Scottish peat; its proprietary new SuperFyba® made from composted wood; coir; and a professional grade balanced cocktail of primary nutrients and essential trace elements.

As an added bonus, 25% of the blend is premium Sinclair Vermiculite, the natural mica mineral which expands in a furnace to produce a very high surface area with 96% pore volume wherein air and water is stored and taken up by the plant roots as and when needed. This professional growing medium also retains heat to insulate against damaging temperature fluctuations and holds onto a reservoir of nutrients while slowly releasing its own magnesium, iron and potassium to improve fruit quality and flavour.

Also included is Celcote, a cellulose water-absorbing coating which locks onto compost fibres and promotes moisture absorption without blocking the air spaces. It reduces the need for irrigation by a quarter.

The new GrowQube packs featuring eye-catching new Growing Success branding will be delivered to retailers in January with an RRP of £4.99 inc VAT.

Consumer demand will be stimulated by a heavyweight marketing spend including a £1m TV campaign airing from early March through to the May Bank Holiday plus supporting tactical digital and social media campaigns, national press advertising, PR and attractive in-store POS and merchandising solutions for both the GrowQube® and its rebranded companion product, Growing Success Universal Plant Food.

Sinclair Marketing Director, Simon McArdle said: “The GrowQube is the first of many new products in the pipeline from our new state-of-the-art growing media facility at Ellesmere Port and whilst I’m confident that it will bring innovation and sales growth to this category, what we are really focused upon is bringing new growers into the category and helping them achieve success.

“By empowering anyone to grow tomatoes like an expert without being one, it embodies everything that the Growing Success brand stands for – and we have spared no expense in creating a premium product which will deliver the promised results to the consumer without effort or knowledge.

“Together with the new Universal Plant Food and Universal Compost, the compact Growing Success range stands out as the logical ultra-easy entry point for new gardeners and we see it growing the market exponentially.”

For trade enquiries, call 01522 780300 or visit the William Sinclair online trade area at www.william-sinclair.co.uk/gardening/trade. E-mail enquiries may be sent to info@william-sinclair.co.uk.

Greenfingers Trustee and CEO of The HTA, Carol Paris is looking for “Santa’s Helpers” to join her in the 2014 Santa Run to raise money for Greenfingers.

Keen runner Carol told GTN Xtra “What a great idea to link into the Santa theme that will be generating so much business for garden centres, but this time to raise money for our industry charity.”

The Santa Run 2014 takes place at Victoria Park in London on Sunday 7^th December and Carol is looking for at least 9 other members of the garden industry to join her in the Greenfingers Santa Run team.  The run has options of 5k or 10k.

If you’d like to run with Carol and be a part of the Greenfingers Santa Run Team, please contact Carol via: carol.paris@the-hta.org.uk

More details about the Santa Run can be found at:  http://www.doitforcharity.com/difc-santa-run-2014.aspx

According to the Santa Run website:  No previous experience is required for this event and with a bit of training the 5km or 10km distances should easily be within your capabilities. The spirit of the event is 'taking part' not 'winning' so you can run, jog or walk - you decide!

An opportunity for an experienced Plantarea Manager to join our business has arisen. You will be responsible for the overall sales and success of the outside plants department. This position requires excellent plant knowledge, along with good plant purchasing skills and the ability to maintain stock to high standards of retailing.

You will be a manager who is confident to lead and inspire a team of staff to achieve high standards. Good horticultural knowledge and excellent management qualities are essential. Excellent package available to the successful candidate. The role involves weekend work.

CV’s can be submitted in the strictest confidence to aileen@brechincastlecentre.co.uk

My client is a large independent garden centre with an award winning pedigree.

This vacancy will be working alongside the centre management team and will have direct responsibility for the product range of this department. I am looking for an ambitious individual who wants to have a sense of ownership over the retail area. 

Retail experience is a must and garden centre retail experience is preferred.

Applicants must have experience of staff management, with a minimum of 1-2 years experience, and be able to lead and inspire a team of up to 13 staff.

They must also have proven buying experience and an ability to successfully negotiate with suppliers.

They must operate with good standards of merchandising and presentation, coupled with an element of creativity. 

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV, quoting reference #6609 to info@morepeople.co.uk

The ideal candidate will have 3 years experience at management level, able to manage, motivate and develop a team of staff. 

Excellent cross department experience would be beneficial as there will be multiple areas covered by this role. 

Man management skills along with proven retail skills are key and experience of managing people must be evidenced in your experience. Delivery of training and staff appraisals will be required.

Although not essential, it is desirable that the appointed person will have a good understanding of garden centre retailing, will be a good team leader who is able to prioritise tasks in line with seasonal changes and deliver excellent customer sales and service.

Excellent package available to the successful candidate. The role involves weekend work.

CV’s can be submitted in the strictest confidence to aileen@brechincastlecentre.co.uk

Our Client is grower of quality Nursery Stock destined for the major multiples and garden centre chains. They are currently seeking a driven and experienced Nursery Site Manager who can assist in the culture of quality stock. 

The ideal person will possess:

Knowledge and training within a horticultural discipline preferably from a commercial production background 

Excellent record of managing and supervising staff

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including good IT skills

A strong team builder and player with initiative, drive and enthusiasm who can progress within the company. 

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV quoting reference #6666 to info@morepeople.co.uk

I am currently looking for an experienced garden centre management candidate to join the team of a large independent garden centre. 

This position will sit underneath the centre manager alongside another assistant manager and will be part of the senior leadership team of the site. 

Excellent cross department experience would be beneficial as there will be multiple areas covered by this role. IT and Horticultural experience would be ideal. 

Man management skills are key and experience managing teams must be evidenced in your experience.

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV, quoting reference #6658 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Our client is an exciting e-commerce business who source and supply a range wonderful garden products and plants to a discerning mail-order audience across the UK.

They wish to appoint a dynamic E-commerce Manager- Ideally a person with some plant knowledge and good e-commerce experience to run their e-mail marketing, social media and to provide horticultural content to our website.

Someone with fabulous communication skills, real entrepreneurial characteristics, creative flare, drive and with plenty of get up and go!  

Please call Dianne Saunders on 07929 013910 or apply with your CV quoting reference 6653 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Twelve regional winners of the annual Ruxley Rose planteria comp-etition were announced by the Garden Centre Association this week.

GCA chief executive Iain Wylie congratulated the winners on the high standard of their outdoor plant areas this year.

The twelve will now be judged nationally by Roger Crookes and the top two announced at the GCA conference in January, are:

South Thames area:

Destinaton garden centre (DGC) – Coolings, Kent;  Garden centre (GC) Newbridge Nurseries, West Sussex

Wales and the West:

DGC –  Trelawney@Wadebridge, Cornwall; GC –  The Old Railway Line Garden Centre, Powys

North Thames:

DGC – Perrywood Garden Centre, Essex; GC – Meadow Croft Garden Centre, Essex

Midlands:

DGC – Planters at Tamworth, Staffordshire ; GC – St Peters Garden Centre, Worcestershire

North East:

DGC – Armitages Pennine, West Yorkshire; GC – Cowell’s Garden Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (pictured, in 2011)

North West:

DGC – Bents Garden & Home, Cheshire; GC – Fron Goch Garden Centre, Caernarfon.

The Ruxley Rose competition is regarded as one of the industry’s most prestigious awards. Each centre is inspected twice, in spring and early autumn, with 50 per cent of the overall mark applied on each visit.

Tong Garden Centre has served an eviction notice on the owner of the ‘Dinosaur Discovery’ attraction set up on an adjacent woodland site just a few months ago.

The notice alleges that Christian Cristobal breached the terms of his contract with Tong by selling tickets online and witholding the receipts. He was told he had until 4pm yesterday (Friday 17 October) to vacate the site

Mr Cristobal in turn claims Tong have not passed on his share of receipts for tickets told by the garden centre between April and July.

Mr Cristobal is contracted to pay Tong £416 a month for the use of the site.

When contacted by GTN Xtra yesterday, Tong said they were unable to comment in the absence of managing director Ron Harker, who was in meetings.

Where dinosaurs thrive…See separate story

In the light of the closure of the dinosaur theme park at Tong Garden Centre in Yorkshire, we asked David Wilson of Hetland Garden Centre in Dumfries how their ‘Dino Park’ attraction has fared this year.

“It has had an incredible year again, with just under 30,000 visitors. This may seem strange when you look at the books, because our sales and footfall are down by 17%, but we viewed the first year as a honeymoon period. We managed to capture the imagination of the local press who got behind the Dino Park a month prior to it opening and with all the hype and free publicity, the second season was always going to be a challenge – as also was working an attraction that has no protection against the weather.

“We have also realised that as with all attractions, we need to keep adding to it on a yearly basis to keep the local community interested and to keep getting repeat visits. A tree house will be opened in an extension to the Dino Park for the start of the 2015 season and plans are being drawn for an undercover family attraction with separate catering alongside the Dino park, to open in 2017.

“Our catering is slightly down this year – about 5% – but is still 15% up on 2012. Again, we’re very pleased considering the Dino Park is 17% down. The Tea Room could have been more heavily affected than it has.

“We have maintained staffing at a high level with only customer service in mind. It has reaped the benefits in ther attraction’s customer satisfaction score, which is very noticeable on our Facebook page and Trip Advisor ratings. We have also taken great care with the exhibits, atmosphere, signage, the education aspect and, finally, fun for children and adults.

“This Christmas we will be converting the Dino mine into an ice cave for Santa and making the Dino Den into ‘Mrs Clause’s Cabin’. We will install a snow machine, remove some dinosaurs and make a different route in through a woodland of pine trees. This will mean employing an extra 13 part-time staff to run it.” 

Forest Garden is to install facilities that will double output from its mid-Wales sawmill in response to the unprecedented fence panel demand following last winter’s storms.

Forest’s is the only UK fencing manufacturer with its own sawmills and says its fully integrated operation has enabled customers to significantly grow market share in a year of huge fencing demand.

The investment, at Sennybridge, has also increased timber treatment capacity, with an extra pressure treatment plant to add to existing facilities at the group’s Lockerbie and M&M Timber sites.

Forest’s sales and marketing director John Gomersall said the investment was timely, as it enabled the group to ramp up production levels to increase stock holding of sawn timber material and finished product well in advance of winter. “This in turn enables us to make significant commitments to our customers in terms of the levels of stock we will hold on their behalf.”

He says Forest is confident it will meet its on-going commitment to provide the market’s best possible service and product offering.

Ball Colegrave managing director Sandy Shepherd has joined the board of the HTA board as a director.

MD Ball Colegrave since 2001, he previously held senior management positions at KinderGarden Plants, Jiffy and Lows of Dundee.

HTA chief executive Carol Paris said: “It is important that all the interests of our members are represented on the board and with the wealth of industry knowledge and experience that Sandy brings we look forward to his contribution.”

The other board members are Stan Green (President), David Norman (hon. treasurer), Carol Paris (CEO), Caroline Owen (past president), John Lord, Ian Ashton, Bob Hewitt, Mark Pearson and Richard Barnard.

Cash and carry outlet Greenline Plants, a joint venture between Wyevale Nurseries and Innocenti & Mangoni Piante, celebrates its sixth anniversary this month.

Wyevale Nurseries teamed up with the Italian nursery so it could offer a wider choice of plants. The venture, managed by experienced horticulturist Alan Standring (left) from the outset, provides a ‘one-stop shop’ at Earlswood in the West Midlands.

Adam Dunnett, sales and marketing director at Wyevale Nurseries, said: “The idea for the company came about as we wanted to make selecting and buying plants as easy as possible for professional horticulturalists. Working with another nursery has enabled us to increase our plant offering while still providing our customers with a one-stop-shop.”

Customers can use the ‘select and collect’ service to order by email, fax or phone. A ‘tag and reserve’ service enables them to reserve plants for later pick-up or delivery. Greenline will also try to source non-regular stock customers may require

The range of plants includes bamboos, herbaceous perennials, palms, roses, shrubs, topiary plus more more exotic and unusual  varieties.

The Earlswood centre also has a restaurant, a pot recycling facility and a private meeting room for customer’s use.

Scotts Evergreen Autumn (360 sqm bag) has risen to the top of the GTN Bestsellers Garden products chart, overtaking graden lighting and orchid drip feeders. 

It just goes to prove that gardeners are still eager to be active outdoors.

• Arthur Bowers earns the distinction of highest climber with Organic Chicken Manure Pellets and the highest new entry with Garotta compost maker.
• Lighting products are still selling well, however, and Gardman Solar Black Nickel Glass Marker Light is the highest re-entry.

History & Heraldry hold on to the top three spots in the GTN Bestsellers Christmas Products chart, headed by the popular Spinning Tree Decoration. 

• But LED canvas prints are still the big sellers with Premier Winter Snowy Canal Scene the highest new entry.
• Premier’s Fibre Optic Canvas Santa Scene is the hgihest climber, jumping 26 places.
• Halligan Raby Personalised Christmas Door Hanger is the highest re-entry.

The garden centre invited them to the site after Bromsgrove Council said the market would not be able to accommodate the market during a project to revamp the town’s High Street. 

Worcestershire Farmers’ Markets secretary Maureen Marklew told the Bromsgrove Standard: “The council told us when it started excavating the High Street that it could not accommodate us and Mr Webb was good enough to invite us to the garden centre and we haven’t looked back.

“The market has gone from strength to strength - we now have 17 stalls there and we are looking forward to seeing customers we used to see in Bromsgrove, along with welcoming new ones.”

An article on the Bromsgrove Standard website says local residents had complained that many stalls that were there before the High Street resurfacing began had not returned to their pitches.

The council’s economic development spokesman Cllr Mike Webb, said he hoped more traders would return and that the farmers market would take advantage of the High Street’s newly-created events area.

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra printed newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2012 as well as 2013 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 upto 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 Christmas Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers 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.