The HTA has announced the appointment of Chris Pateman as the chair of the association. In this new role Chris will assist the HTA Board in coordinating the activities of the HTA Executive and their teams at Horticulture House, ensuring that the strategic objectives of the Association are being achieved.

In addition, the chair will represent the HTA at a senior level to Government and other stakeholders.

Chris was formerly the CEO of the Federation of Communication Services (FCS), a position he held for the last 5 years. In this role Chris had the ultimate responsibility for representing FCS members’ interests to policy-makers and regulators, and for developing the Federation as the authoritative voice on all issues which bear upon business-grade voice and data connectivity.

Chris spent more than 30 years serving the business to business sector, prior to joining FCS in 2012. A former business journalist, he spent five years in business development with a national buying group and invoice factoring hub before joining the Builders Merchants Federation as managing director in 2007. In this role he managed both a national trade association and a market-leading training business.

Commenting on the appointment HTA President Adam Taylor said, “We are delighted that Chris will be joining us as chair of the association. With such a wealth of experience of representing member interests’ in his previous roles we very much look forward to his input on behalf of the horticultural industry.”

Chris Pateman comments, “Exploring the role with the HTA executive and board, I was hugely impressed, not by only the sheer extent of the HTA’s activities and the wealth of opportunities which await (or threaten) the sector, but with the resourcefulness, passion and determination with which the board is preparing to meet them. 

"The Association is re-shaping quite boldly to serve its members even better in the future.  I’m thrilled at the prospect of being a catalyst in that process.”

After four weeks of trading the GTN Bestsellers All Products Sales index has surpassed the previous November record level set in 2014 by 2%. 

Garden centre product sales for the month are 3% up year on year with Christmas and plant sales the major contributors.

As seen in the line graph above the peaks of the past four years have all been beaten and we still have the two busiest Christmas weeks to come.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year: week 47

• Garden Products Top 50 – down 14%
• Growing Media Top 50 – down 4%
• Wild Bird Care Products Top 50 – down 6%
• Christmas Products Top 50 – up 23%
• All Plants index – up 14%
• All Items index – up 2%

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

Plant sales show no sign of declining after another week of double-digit growth. 

After four November sales weeks the GTN Bestsellers All Plant Sales Index is riding high at 21.2% up year on year. 

• Cyclamen continue at the top with sales up 53% on the same week last year.
• False Cypress, Chamaecyparis, is the highest chart climber, up 30 places to No 18.
• Lucky Bamboo, Dracaena, is the new entry to the Top 50 this week.

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

The front of Webbs of Wychbold was badly damaged when ramraiders tried to drive a car into the building on Tuesday night. Nothing was stolen in the attempted raid.

The Bromsgrove Advertiser reported that the thieves failed in their attempt to steal a cash machine at around 11.30pm.

A red Toyota car, which was later discovered to be stolen, was said to be used in the ramraid. It was joined by two other vehicles - a dark-coloured saloon car and Vauxhall Astra van - and three men entered the shop.

Once inside, three suspects targeted the cash machine, but were unsuccessful and made off from the scene.

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "Police would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has seen any suspicious activity earlier in the day.

"Please call West Mercia Police on 101, quoting 845s of November 28.”

The garden centre's main doors have been replaced with temporary doors and visitors were being asked to use an alternative door.

Picture: Bromsgrove Advertiser

Leading wholesaler Stax Trade Centres has finalised a deal that will see them become official distributors for leading consumer garden brands Flymo and McCulloch.

The landmark deal will add further value and depth to Stax’s ever growing garden portfolio and offer their independent retail customers access to an enhanced offering of garden power tools.

The deal seals an end to what has been a very busy year for Stax’s garden buying department with a number of high profile deals announced already.

Via parent company Husqvarna Group, Flymo will provide a wide range of market leading electric grass cutting power tools, a household brand name that will resonate well with consumers and retailers. McCulloch specialise in petrol and battery products, including lawn mowers, robotic mowers, ride-on mowers and chainsaws, all of which will be available to Stax customers.

Gary Fisher, Key Account Manager Consumer Brands at Husqvarna Group, said: “We are thrilled that we will be working with Stax in this new partnership. The company is one of the leaders in the distribution of garden products to independent retailers and trade professionals with a huge wealth of experience in knowing what trade customers want.

“Stax runs an impressive six warehouse branches across the UK and we’re confident their support will help us meet our company targets as we look forward to welcoming a host of innovative new products in 2018.”

Simon Wright, Purchasing Director at Stax, added: “It’s another fantastic deal that we’re excited to share with our customers. Flymo and McCulloch are both fantastic brands that we know our retail partners’ customers will love. Our garden portfolio has gone from strength to strength in 2017 and this addition will really prove our commitment to providing top quality brands.”

Stax has six nationwide branches, each of which is up to 100,000 square feet in size, from which they supply over 50,000 businesses and hold more than 45,000 lines of home improvement and garden products.

The Flymo and McCulloch product ranges are available from the Stax branches in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester right now.

Only a German minister’s decision to break his government’s voting protocol tipped the balance in favour of the five-year licence extension for glyphosate usage approved by the EC last week.

Conservative agriculture minister Christian Schmidt backed the extension, which had been opposed by the SPD, the junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s caretaker government alongside Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), of which Mr Schmidt is a member.

Mrs Merkel rebuked Mr Schmidt for the move. “This did not comply with the instructions worked out by the federal government,” she said. “I expect that such an incident will not be repeated.”

It is usual practice for Germany to abstain in EU votes if ministers from different parties disagree on a policy. Schmidt’s decision has strained relations between the two camps before exploratory talks on renewing their alliance.

Defending his decision, Schmidt said the EC would have probably decided on a longer extension if the vote had been indecisive once again. “I took the decision on my own,” Schmidt told German public television. “It falls under my responsibility.”

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron of France, which had argued for a three-year extension for glyphosate and a rapid phasing out of the weedkiller,  said he would take measures to ban the product as soon as an alternative was available and at the latest within three years.

Following a fantastic Garden Re-Leaf Day this year, Greenfingers Charity has announced 2018’s event will take place on Friday 16th March and with some new exciting events planned for next year promises to be even bigger than this year.

The Garden Re-Leaf Day Walk will take place once again and is now open for entries. Starting and finishing at Wyevale’s World's End Garden Centre, Buckinghamshire, there will once again be two routes available this year; a gentle 10 mile walk or a more challenging 20 mile route through the Chilterns.

The popular Plantathon will return with Greenfingers Charity calling for garden retailers across the country to pot up as many plants as possible within a 12 hour time frame. Sponsored to plant from dawn to dusk, many garden centre teams have had brilliant fun with this challenge, going on to upsell their pots with a donation from each going to the charity.

If walking or hosting a Plantathon aren’t for you, there are loads of other ways you can get involved. From holding a quiz night, virtual in-store challenge or making a donation from every cuppa sold in the café. However you choose to support Garden Re-Leaf Day, it really is a great FUN way to increase footfall and at the same time engage with customers, motivate your team and raise your profile both locally and in the garden industry press, what better way to start the gardening season!

Linda Petrons, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Greenfingers said; “In 2017, a staggering £100,000 was raised, and with your support, we are hoping 2018 will be even bigger. Whether you are a retailer, supplier or lover of all things gardening we encourage you to get involved with our Garden Re-Leaf Day events or organise your own event or promotions to raise vital funds to help make a difference to children and families who spend time in hospices.”

You can sign up to take part in Garden Re-Leaf day by visiting the Greenfingers Charity website www.greenfingerscharity.org.uk/gardenreleaf

If you want to find out more about how to get involved in Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day 2018, whether by putting on events in your garden centre, through sponsored solo activities or simply by donating - contact the Greenfingers office on 01494 674749 or email Linda@greenfngerscharity.org.uk.

The Royal Horticultural Society is reviewing its Perfect for Pollinators labelling initiative in the light of research that showed plants in garden centres contained pesticides that could harm pollinating insects.

An RHS statement said: “We care passionately about a healthy future for our bees and other pollinators, which is why we created the 'Perfect for Pollinators' logo – to help people select the best plants to support these important insects.

“However, we have been reviewing this initiative following a study of UK garden centre plants, which revealed that some plants carrying the pollinator friendly label contained traces of pesticides.”

The RHS says it cannot monitor the way in which each individual plant is grown all garden centres. “We are a charity and cannot possibly police how hundreds of thousands of plants are grown within the horticultural trade, in the UK and across Europe, before the point of sale. We are, therefore, considering the future of the logo and whether we should withdraw it from the market.”

“We need more time to continue to explore options for the 'Perfect for Pollinators' logo to make the best decision for our precious bees and other pollinators. We want to continue to promote the planting of flowering plants for bees and other pollinators and are working towards the best route to do this practically.”

The Garden Organic organisation, on its website, recommends the following top ten plants as helpful to pollinators and other beneficial insects:

Buddleja

Comfrey

Cowslip

Common poppy

Cornflower

Fennel

Foxglove

Forget-me-not

Greater knapweed

Ivy

Lavender.

They mention that certain weeds – such as thistle and dandelion – are also helpful - - the latter providing an important source of nectar early in the year for insects.

Torwood Garden Centre scored a trio of successes at the Falkirk Herald business awards dinner last week.

The garden centre was awarded Best Independent Business, Best for Tourism and Outstanding Achievement of the Year with judges commenting on the centre's strong family heritage, longevity and ongoing contribution to the local community. 

"This year we have been celebrating 75 years of family business with a year of events around not just our own but other aspects of local history," said Jamie Stevenson.

"The support of our staff has been fantastic, many of them having been with us for more than 10 years and for two individuals it has been 25 years making them very much a part of the family. 

"I know my grandparents will be incredibly proud to see the business doing so well and it is fantastic to be able to give them and all of the staff the recognition they deserve for their ongoing efforts and hard work."

August 2017 saw the expansion of E.P. Barrus’s presence in the garden sector with the acquisition of the gardening gloves and footwear company, Town & Country.

The brand joined the company’s extensive line-up of leading garden machinery and tool brands including Cub Cadet, Lawnflite, Agri-Fab, WOLF-Garten, Wilkinson Sword and Energizer. In the three months subsequently, new stock has already been made available, and the business transition has completed seamlessly.

For over 30 years, Town & Country has focused on bringing innovation to the gardening sector, with a range of gloves and footwear that combines quality, functionality and style, with a price tag that represents exceptional value for money, and E.P. Barrus has ensured that this reputation continues and grows.

As part of the acquisition, the Town & Country sales team brought with it over half a century of expertise in selling gardening gloves and accessories. This combined longevity of service shows stability within the company and an unrivalled experience and knowledge of the sector.

This year’s GLEE saw the launch of the new Captivating Colours range, which injects a dash of colour into a selection of the ranges. One of the collections to have received the ‘Captivating Colours’ treatment is the Bamboo Glove. This is the stylish choice for the environmentally conscious gardener.

Also part of the ‘Captivating Colours’ collection is the Ultimax Glove, a multi-feature glove designed to offer an extremely close fit, unequalled dexterity and exceptional durability.

Other new products this year include the Bosworth and Bradgate striped boots in a selection of attractive colours, eye-catching patterned Cloggies and new secateurs and secateurs holders, all of which expand the collection considerably.

A number of these new products, including the Bosworth Boots and Cloggies have already been recognised as best buy items and, in the coming months and years the brand will continue to be supported and grown by E. P. Barrus.

“We are meeting the needs of gardeners by bringing premium brands together to offer a portfolio of high quality, innovative products,” commented Tim Hart, Director of Sales & Marketing, E. P. Barrus Ltd.

“Town & Country, like all our brands, will be fully supported by our operational expertise which enables us to offer excellent distribution service levels, and we will continue to build and develop the brand into the future.”

To view the entire range, please visit www.townandco.com

Haskins Garden Centre in Southampton has partnered with Southampton Children’s Hospital to spread festive cheer for those spending Christmas in the ward.

The garden centre has delivered 75 reindeers to the ward to help support poorly children this Christmas. It is hoped that these toys will bring a smile to their faces over the festive period.

Alasdair Urquhart, marketing coordinator at Haskins, commented: “It was a privilege to visit the staff at Southampton Children’s Hospital to deliver the reindeers. They were a fantastic team and it’s great knowing that the reindeer will really make a difference to the kids who find themselves in the unfortunate position of spending Christmas in hospital.”

Jane Gould from Southampton Children’s Hospital Charity, commented: “A huge thank you to Haskins for donating these reindeer. A hospital is not a place where you would want to be as a child over the Christmas period so thanks to Haskins’ generous donation, each child will now be able to receive a reindeer. It’s easy to underestimate the joy a brand new cuddly toy will bring a child.”

Haskins Garden Centre West End is located in Mansbridge Road, Southampton. Visit www.haskins.co.uk for more information.

Santa arrived at Squire’s Long Ditton in a horse and carriage.

Santa swapped his traditional sleigh for various quirky forms of transport when he arrived at Squire’s Garden Centres last weekend! He arrived on a Double Decker Bus, Horse & Carriage, Christmas Float, in Squire’s Heritage Van, an American Classic Car, and even in Lightening McQueen from the Disney film Cars! He came to greet crowds of excited children, and to open his Christmas Grotto.

Come and meet Santa in his magical grotto at Squire’s Garden Centres this Christmas. As well as seeing your child’s face light up with joy and excitement when they see Santa and receive a gift, you’ll also get a warm glow as you’ll be benefitting a local charity.

At Squire’s in Cobham, Hersham, Long Ditton, Reigate, Windsor and West Horsley entry to the grotto is free, and you can donate as much as you like to the local charities that Squire’s support.

Entry to Santa’s grotto at Squire’s in Crawley, Milford and Twickenham is £5, and £1 will be given directly to the local charity that they are raising money for: The Olive Tree Cancer Support Centre, The Samson Centre for MS and Richmond Carers Centre.

Santa’s grotto is open every Saturday 10.30am-4pm and every Sunday 10.30am-3.30pm from now until Christmas Eve, as well as the week leading up to Christmas at many Squire’s centres. There’s no need to book, simply turn up on the day - but don’t come between 1-2pm as Santa will be feeding his reindeer!

For full opening times see www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk.

Santa arrived at Squire’s Windsor in “Lightening McQueen”, and on a Routemaster Bus at Squire’s Twickenham.

Santa arrived at Squire’s Crawley in Squire’s heritage van, and on a horse & cart at Squire’s West Horsley.

Santa arrived at Squire’s Milford on a double decker bus, and met lots of children at Squire’s Cobham.

Following on from Bents and Castle Gardens being announced as the national winners of the 2017 Garden Centre Association’s annual Christmas competition as reported in GTN Xtra two weeks ago the winners from each of the GCA areas have now been announced.

The area winners in the South Thames area were Ransoms Garden Centre and Castle Gardens. In Wales and West Whitehall Garden Centre – Lacock and Whitehall – Whitchurch were chosen.

In North Thames, the area winners were Perrywood Garden Centre (pictured above) and Sunshine Garden Centre while Brigg Garden Centre and Fairways – Ashbourne were selected in the Midlands area.

Bents Garden and Home and Fron Goch Garden Centre (see picture gallery below) were selected in the North West and in the North East, Tong Garden Centre and Whiteleys Garden Centre were chosen.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, said: “Each year the standard of entries into our Christmas competition just gets better and better.

“Entrants in the Destination Garden Centre category were visited and judged by Liz Hutson and entrants in the Garden Centrecategory were visited and judged by Alyson Haywood, so area and national winners could be determined. It was a tough choice as the displays were so impressive but we’d like to congratulate Bents Garden and Home in Warrington, who won in the DGC category, and Castle Gardens in Dorset who scooped the top prize in the GC section of the awards.”

The garden centres were judged on the innovation, inspiration and excitement created from the way their Christmas products are displayed. The range of products available, accessibility, how easy it is for customers to find and select products and ‘wow factor’ were also taken into consideration in an assessment of the overall commercial proposition.

Liz Hutson, who judged the DGC category, said: “Displays have become more and more professional over the years, with some of the best I have seen in this year’s Christmas competition. There is just nothing that compares outside of the garden centre industry.”

The national winners will be given their awards during the GCA’s annual conference at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon between January 21 and 24, 2018.

The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide.

Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

For further information, please call the GCA on 01244 952170. Alternatively, please visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociation or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of Christmas at Fron Goch below:

Lighting lines brightened the doldrums of garden product sales last week in the GTN Bestsellers chart.

This week’s sales of the 16 lighting lines in the Top 50 were 27% up on last week.

However, there is still some way to go to match last November’s garden lighting sales with volumes down 19% year on year.

This week’s highlights are:

• Smart’s Eureka! Zone Multi-Light Grey is the star of the show, moving up to No 1.
• Gardman Ice Orb Light Mini, packs of 2, are the highest re-entry at No 12.
• The Smart Garden Beacon Mast Light is the highest new entry, in at No 23.

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

November’s growing media sales volumes have outperformed last year for the weeks 44 to 47.

GTN’s Growing Media Top 50 volumes are up by 1.3% on the same weeks last year. 

Small bags of growing media are the big movers, both of houseplant composts and multipurpose composts – there must be a lot of winter container planting going on.

This week’s highlights are:

• Westland Gro-Sure All Purpose Compost, 25 litres, is the highest climber, up 27 places to No 9.
• Growth Technology Houseplant Focus Repotting Mix re-entered at No 35 after doubling sales.
• Westland Cacti & Succulent Potting Mix sales grew by 150% to be a new entry at No 42.

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

Chocolate coins top the GTN Christmas Chart this week as tills ring to record levels and smash the record peak Christmas Top 50 sales volume in garden centres. 

This week’s Top 50 volume was 2% over the previous record week set in week 48 last year. 

After all those till transactions we see a change at the top as bags of chocolate coins topple personalised angels off the top of the Christmas tree after seven consecutive weeks at No 1.

This week’s other highlights in the Christmas chart are:

• Mulberry Studios Festive Friends Deer Hanging Decorations climb 17 places to No 8. This is the latest personalised Christmas line to star in the chart.
• Festive’s Luxury Holographic Thick Tinsel, 2 metres, is the highest re-entry at No 18.
• Traditional picks for tree and room decoration are still popular. 
• This week a Luxury Velvet Holly pick from Davies Products is a new entry at No 44.

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

Sixty Dutch companies of the ornamental horticulture sector will come together on the BIZZ Holland stand at the next Internationale Pflanzenmesse (IPM) in Germany (Hall 12, Stand no. 12A20). The event will take place in Essen from 23 to 26 January 2018.

Hall 12 is traditionally the Dutch hall for nursery stock products. For the sixth year, BIZZ Communications is organising the BIZZ Holland stand in this hall. Look & Feel, which was successfully introduced last year, will be continued at IPM 2018.

The stand has been completely adapted to the new entry of Hall 12.The design, based on pallets, has a natural look and enables the fresh and clear layout of the 60 stands.

An impression of the stand and the layout can be found on the BIZZ Communications website.

Participants

The 60 participants exhibit a nice reflection of what is on offer at Dutch nursery stock industry.

From starting material and semi-grown products to visually attractive products, and from avenue trees, perennials, conifers and roses to ornamental shrubs.

The participants come from the nursery stock regions of Boskoop, Opheusden, Venlo and Zundert, among others. The companies will be presenting their current range of garden plants and trees for 2018.

Plantarium new style

The international nursery trade fair, Plantarium, has a prominent presence on the BIZZ Holland stand. Plantarium will present the theme for the 36th edition of the trade fair, which will take place from Wednesday 22 until Friday 24 August 2018 in Boskoop/Hazerswoude.

In addition to information about participation and visiting Plantarium, information about the new set-up of the novelty showcases will also be available.

Together with the KVBC (the Royal Association of Boskoop Cultures), Plantarium is examining the possibilities of holding novelty showcases in February (spring), June (summer) and August (autumn).

Holding multiple showcases would enable more plants to get a higher score and to benefit from the brand name Plantarium.

The annual Party for Perennial, which will take place on Thursday 18 January 2018, is a popular fixture in the New Year calendar for the horticulture trade and an event not to be missed.

This time it will have a more informal feel, with tickets costing just £25, but still promises plenty of fun and chance for networking.

Launching Perennial’s annual HortAid fundraising campaign, the evening is a great opportunity to come together with colleagues and friends while raising money for the only charity dedicated to helping everyone across the industry in times of need.

It takes place in the Flamingo Room at O’Neills in London’s West End and tickets include a glass of bubbly on arrival, as well as delicious food and live music until late.

There is an exciting line up of raffle prizes to be won, including lunch and a private garden tour at Rosemary Verey’s garden at Barnsley House; a spa day at the Spread Eagle Hotel in Midhurst; and a package that includes lunch at the Ivy Soho Brasserie and two West End theatre tickets.

Anita Bates, Perennial’s Director of Marketing and Development comments: “The Party for Perennial offers a chance to get together for a fun night during a slower time in the horticultural season, but it is also an important event for Perennial in terms of fundraising.

"Following feedback from previous events, we have decided to make it slightly more informal, with a lower ticket price and more of a focus on allowing people to catch up with friends.

"We will soon be announcing details of a black tie event later in the year, for those who enjoy more formal occasions. Don’t miss out on joining us and your colleagues from across the trade for what promises to be an excellent evening.”

All money raised through ticket sales and the raffle will help support all UK horticulturists and their families, who come to Perennial for help. 

As the only charity that helps individuals working in and retired from all sectors of the horticulture industry, Perennial is a lifeline for people that have nowhere else to turn.

Many thanks to the Party sponsors for making the event possible, in particular headline sponsor London Stone, as well as the HTA, the Landscape Show, Bulrush Horticulture and Bulldog Tools, and Horticulture Week as media partner.

Party for Perennial 2018
Thursday 18th January, 7.30pm – 12 midnight
Ticket price: £25
For more information and to book tickets visit: perennial.org.uk/events/party-for-perennial-2018/

The new CEO of Bunnings and Homebase parent company Wesfarmers has confessed to shareholders that the company had made a mistake by changing the Homebase management team and product ranges too quickly when it took over the UK chain last year.

Bunnings' UK and Ireland (BUKI) has reported losses of Aus$89 million (£50 million) in 2017, compared to Homebase earnings of $52 (£29.7 million) in 2015, with sales falling 17.5% in the September quarter. Analysts estimate that sales have gone backwards by 20% since the Homebase acquisition.

Scott (pictured right) said he expected the losses to increase through 2018 as trading remained challenging for Homebase during the continuing conversion of stores to the Bunnings format.

However, sales in the most-recently converted stores were doing well and he was considering accelerating the conversion, although he wanted to see how the new-format stores traded during the “dark months” of the British winter before investing more capital.

 “Our focus is on strengthening the management team to support the transformation and instilling stronger execution across the business. The establishment of Bunnings in the UK will take time and we will be disciplined with how we invest further capital,” he said.

The the parent company has said it recognises the UK market will be a difficult nut to crack in the current financial climate.

Scott is resisting pressure from investors to spin off Bunnings, which generates 30% of group earnings but is estimated to be worth $23 billion (£13 billion), or almost half of Wesfarmers' $48 billion (£27.3 billion) market value

But he conceded that Bunnings' expansion into the UK and Ireland through the $700 million (£360 million) acquisition of Homebase in January 2016 had been disappointing, and a change in tack was needed to restore sales growth and profits.

"Clearly it's not performing as well as we would like," he said.

Scott warned that losses would increase this year as trading deteriorated at Homebase stores and costs were increasing.

While he believed the Bunnings format would eventually resonate with British customers, he confessed that Bunnings had erred by removing most of Homebase's existing management team and changing its offer, including the product range and prices, too quickly.

“We relied too heavily on the Bunnings team and we exited virtually all the local team," he said.

“In hindsight, the team probably moved too quickly to change Homebase and made a lot of changes to clean out a lot of the concessions and clean the stores up with a view towards converting to Bunnings,” Mr Scott said. “But unfortunately we didn't replace those concessions with product and offers that were compelling enough to get customers in the door."

Wesfarmers has strengthened the BUKI management team over the past few months, appointing former B&Q operations director Damian McGloughlin, as COO and former Officeworks chief operating officer David Haydon(left), who has also held senior roles at B&Q and Wickes,  as Homebase's managing director. There are also new merchants and regional managers.

 “It really resonates with customers, and community engagement is very strong, and that gives us confidence the Bunnings offer will resonate in the UK and will be profitable in the UK,” Scott said. “The challenge is that the faster we convert the stores, the more disruption we cause and the more challenging the short-term performance will be.”

British MEP Anthea McIntyre has welcomed a last minute reprieve for glyphosate after it was belatedly granted a fresh licence for continued use across the European Union.

The decision to grant the herbicide a licence for a further five years was reached today (Mon) by the EU Commission's Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, comprising representatives of the 28 member states, after a series of meetings this year failed reach consensus. The approval comes just a few days before the current licence expires on December 15, which left many farmers fearing a sudden ban with drastic effects.

Miss McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, said: "The scaremongering and indecision over this product had left farmers and growers fearing they were staring over a cliff edge, so this will be greeted with enormous relief."

www.euronews.com reports that Germany swung the vote, coming off the fence after abstaining in previous meetings to oppose its key EU partner France, which wanted a shorter licence extension.

The Miss McIntyre, member of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, said: "It should never have taken this long to renew the licence and it should have been renewed for a full 15 years but the last minute reprieve and the licence for five years is welcome.

"A *de facto *ban on glyphosate would have been a shocking and unscientific backward step.

"Farmers would have had to fall back on mechanical weed control. That would mean 25 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions and a significant impact on farm bird life - including skylarks, partridge, lapwing. 

"For a zero Improvement in public health and safety, we would have been worsening food security, soil quality, biodiversity and climate change."

No, your eyes are not deceiving you – the first snow of the winter hasn’t fallen on low ground yet. But this eye-catching display at Brookfields Garden Centre, north of Nottingham, is certainly making an impact.

These pictures were sent to us by garden centre trainer and consultant Ian Boardman, who was suitably impressed with the display and wanted to find out more about it.

So Ian approached Julie Dachey, Marketing Manager at Brookfields, who told him the story behind the display.

"The film industry experts Snow Business have many techniques in their armoury for creating amazing effects,” said Julie.

“Their portfolio includes 'The Chronicles of Narnia', 'Quantum of Solace', Harry Potter and most Christmas advertising on TV featuring snow. So we are truly in the hands of experts.

“The day the snow falls at Brookfields has become a trigger for Christmas spirit with our customers. The response has been really rewarding this year with many customers going out of their way to compliment us on the display which supports our decision to invest in this major aspect of our Visual Merchandising concept every year.

“We also run a real effect snow fall machine during busy weekends which adds to the festive feel and offers another dimension to our Grotto experience."

If you can match Brookfields’ amazing winter display let us know.

Ian Boardman is Director of Ibbis (UK) Limited, the garden centre growth and profit specialist. www.ibbis.co.uk

This year sees more garden centres opening their Grottos for Santa Paws events, particularly on weekdays early in the season and GTN Xtra's Trevor and Karen Pfeiffer took their Doodles to see Santa at Frosts Woburn Sands to test the experience.

And we can report it was all we expected and more.  At Frosts we got a full on "doggy" version of their grotto experience and the welcoming, friendly and patient elves made it all the more enjoyable.  Meeting the yeti, and gift of a Petface pudding, finding biscuits and making a bag full to take away, then a photo with Santa himself and a reindeer toy as a present for each doodle.  A great time was had by all!

From a retailing point of view it was great to see pet products merchandised at the photo checkout.  "We don't normally have product here when children come through the grotto but pet owners love the opportunity to pick up and extra gift item for their pet," explained the head Elf.

As this issue of GTN Xtra goes to press we know that Santa Paws grotto events are taking at:

Frosts Millets Farm
Frosts Woburn Sands
Garden King, Swadlincote
Gordon Rigg, Rochdale
Groves, Bridport
Kershaw’s, Brighouse
Notcutts Wheatcroft
Planters Tamworth
Squire’s Badshot Lea
Squire’s Long Ditton
Squire’s Stanmore
Squire’s Washington
Squire’s West Horsley

If you have a Santa Paws event planned please let us know: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

See our gallery of pictures from Frosts Santa Paws and their Christmas displays.

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 2015 as well as 2016 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 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.

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 £100m.

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 buy on-line using the button below:

For further enquires please call 07973 504214.

Smiemans Projecten has announced that its work on the new restaurant of Groves Nurseries is almost done with the roof now finished.

A spokesperson for Smiemans Projecten said: "At the moment the facades are being glazed. Completion will be before the end of this year.

"This restaurant with the name 'Ivy House' is a HighLight arched greenhouse that is 8.5 metres high at the ridge of the roof."