Last week we asked garden centres how they and their teams were after the quietest Easter ever and as the story has been so well read we thought this week we should ask suppliers how they are faring with the crisis. Here are the responses received so far, starting with compost and gardening essential suppliers through to giftware suppliers.  Feedback from Garden Leisure suppliers are in the story.... 

Simon McArdle, Westland: “Garden centres will have plenty of opportunities when they get to re-open. There will still be 25 million households trapped at home and many of them will be starting a brand-new relationship with their garden.

“If they didn’t realise it before, what an asset their garden is now?

“We’re hearing that many garden centres are tooling up for click and collect, if they are not one of the “Bunker and Cowells” brigade that have already rolled up their sleeves and got on with business, and many are also spreading their shops out to take up restaurant space and out into the planteria to allow for greater social distancing when they can re-open.

“We are working on a host of initiatives to help with trade when it re-starts, mainly based on “mission” shopping, so watch this space.  When we know exactly what retailers will and will not be able to do, we will be ready and raring to help.

“Westland are open.  We’ve been shipping and manufacturing throughout and we have good stocks of identified lines we know will be in high demand.  We’ve also been supporting retailers with images and information for their on-line shops for delivery services or click and collect.   Our website: gardenhealth.com has been changed so that the home page drives consumers to local retailers who are offering local deliveries.

“Across the Westland and Gardman Crest ranges we are uniquely positioned to complete all the garden tasks, sending one delivery to garden centres with all the products your customers need.”

Mark Portman, Evergreen Garden Care: “Yes, we are open for business and have high levels of stock for the season ahead. Last week, demand was high and our customer service team took a lot of orders. As a result, we are increasing our production and adding an extra shift, anticipating that garden centres will re-open around the middle of May. Demand in Europe has been very high when they have re-opened garden centres and DIY stores, and so we will be ready for whenever this happens in the UK, as the climate is ever-changing.

 “Our Ipswich research station is still operating, and all three UK manufacturing plants are still running along with our French factory too. We’ve changed the way that we’re operating at our sites with temperature checks when staff come on site and we are not allowing 3rd party visitors, apart from lorry drivers.  All of our warehouses are still operating with safety as our top priority.

“The landscape is moving quickly, and demand is remarkably strong. Independent garden centres have been super creative and entrepreneurial. I think the season will be longer than usual.

“As a team we are learning how to do things virtually, keeping everyone connected with video calls, virtual coffee mornings, drop in lunchtime sessions using Google Hang Out and we dial in at the end of the week to have a drink together.

“I would like to say a big thank you to our manufacturing, warehouse and customer service teams who have all done a tremendous job keeping things going in difficult circumstances.”

Steve Harper: The Greener Gardening Company: “It's been an interesting journey over the past few weeks.  In the first week of April I would have predicted we would have lost 80% of our business but as retailers adapt I would suggest now maybe less than 30%.

“Those retailers that are trading have in some cases found ways to massively overtrade, I have garden centres now delivering only, up 200% plus on last April on Compost sales (not as a whole).

“We have only furloughed a relatively small amount of the team and we keep in contact with a weekly video call. Indeed I have a daily wellbeing call with my whole team given we're so disparate which the furloughed guys can dial into whenever they like but I insist they call in at least weekly so we can make sure they're ok. It's good to see the home haircuts appearing

“I think we're in a good place to step up as an when things start to return to normal, the struggle may be to ramp haulage back up quickly but I'm sure we'll have some notice to prepare.

“I know some garden centres have started relaying their centres so they can create a supermarket type flow. It seems to me as much as we want and need garden centres to open, some of them will have to radically change their flow to make sure it's safe but currently if they're planning they at least have the time to do that. I for one can't wait to get some plants!”

Andy Chalmers, Melcourt: “After 6 month's of wet, gloomy weather, the clocks going forward, an ideal date for Easter, everyone is 'up for gardening' . . . then this happens!

“There is massive 'pent up demand'. Melcourt does not have an e-shop, but we sell our garden centre products through traditional outlets (garden centres and builders' merchants) or businesses with e-shops. Any business with a 'home delivery service' is quids in at the moment.

“When we eventually get the 'all clear', most people will not go on an expensive overseas holiday but will probably stay local. I would expect the gardening season to be extended, as we will have no interruptions such as Wimbledon tennis, European Cup Football or 2020 Olympics.

“As long as 'all of the ducks are in a row', i.e. raw materials, packing, pallets, transport and staff, we are able to continue to supply our customers.

“Business is just like a normal year, at this time for us. There is a continuing and increasing demand for quality 100% peat-free products, particularly Melcourt's. Retail price is not the issue. I want it now!

“But take care to get paid. Cash flow could be an issue.”

Paris Natar, Smart Garden: "The best Spring and Easter weather for a generation and most of our customers have been shut!

“Closing down Smart's operations has never been an option unless forced to do so, which, thankfully, has not happened. We believe in the importance of keeping our business going, the wheels turning. We have about 50 colleagues working at our Eureka warehouse, handling orders, mostly small top-ups from UK and European garden centres as well as from our mail order and e-commerce clients.

“Many garden centres decided they did not want to shut down and adapted to doing home deliveries. A very tough way of doing business but it has rescued a substantial part of their and our sales so, hats off to them!

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a big spike in demand from our mail order and e-commerce customers but volumes, relative to our normal April sales, have not been that great.

“Thanks to an extra server, sales and customer service colleagues, normally office-based, are working from home with reliable, speedy access to our system. Could this be the way of working in the future, even beyond the crisis? I doubt it because one of the best things about going to work is seeing friends and colleagues. They (and I) would miss the buzz!

“We are also taking this opportunity to tidy up and carry out a myriad of maintenance tasks that have eluded us in busier times...for example jet washing our car park at our Abingdon HO now that there are hardly any cars in it!

“When the restrictions are lifted and garden centres come back to life, we hope for but don't anticipate a huge surge in demand as much of the season will be gone, there will still be a lot of un-sold stock around and shoppers will continue to be a little nervous about going out. On the flip side, the season should extend beyond June as no one will be going abroad for their holidays. We will be ready for whatever comes as we will not be starting from scratch!

“The next few months are going to be critical for our industry. Retailers and their suppliers are totally inter-dependent and the only way of getting through this will be by working together for the common good."

Nick Davies, Gardman Crest: “We are open, picking and shipping in a managed and measured way. The warehouse has had to change the way it operates but we have a steady flow of orders coming in electronically. The orders tend to be for the essentials like grow your own and basic gardening requirements.

“Our sales office is working as normal, albeit from home.

“Based on the orders we’ve been getting I urge all garden centres to know which are their bestsellers for the time they are re-opening as for sure there will be big demand for them.”

James Hoad: Apta: “Apta remains open for business, with a skeleton staff running the office and warehouse. Although most of our staff are on furlough leave, and our merchandising service isn't operational, we've been delivering orders to customers that are still trading. It appears that more and more garden centres are getting their e-commerce up and running so we've seen an increase since Easter, although obviously nothing like what it should be.

“The Apta team is fine although with 90% on furlough leave we're all just itching to get back to normality.

“I really hope that common sense will prevail and enable garden centres to be among the first to reopen when lockdown restrictions are eased. Let's just hope the government are listening to Alan Titchmarsh and not Monty Don!”

David Nicholson, Elho: “We have remained fully open and are now increasing our logistics capacity. Monday was our highest order entry so far in the crisis which encompasses the whole of Europe. It brings a lot of encouragement to the full elho team to see the business increase and we hopefully start to see light at the end of the tunnel. During the crisis we have been supporting and delivering in full to all customers in the UK whom remain open and willing to place orders.

“elho have implemented the following:

- regular team touch point calls to look after the full teams wellbeing as we are spread across Europe

- elho strava group to share our exercise to stay healthy

- company online yoga/cardio boxing training for all employees

“We are ready and fully prepared to support all centres when they re-open. We are gearing up in logistics and have good stock in preparation for a sensational summer and amazing autumn.”

Tim Jeffries, Mr Fothergills and Darlac: “Unlike many garden centre suppliers we, at Mr Fothergills, have been able to continue trading at a reasonable level. Although sales are down to traditional outlets that have closed of course we have been working hard with our centres that are trading online or offering click & collect or delivery services. Seeds have still been in high demand as people cocoon at home and demand for grow your own is high.

“We have prioritised our retail business and have spent long hours providing images for new trading websites or copy platforms. Our Territory sales team is working from home, but not furloughed, as we want to maintain contact with our garden trade customers and provide the service they expect from us.

“Our office staff are mainly working from home and we have split shifts over 24 hours at the Kentford production and despatch operations to ensure we keep our staff safe by respecting the 2-metre rule and having adequate safety equipment on site. We have furloughed any staff on any grounds of age or vulnerability. Our staff have been amazing!

“Seed sales in our Australian business, where garden centres and Bunnings have remained open, are very strong and seed rationing has been imposed in some stores.

“At Darlac, the story is different with dramatically reduced sales. We have taken the decision to maintain staff numbers working so that we can supply a good service to any centre that is trading - albeit tools are further down the shopping list.

“We all hope garden centres will reopen in the first phase of easing of the lockdown and we will be in the best position to step up immediately, whether at Mr Fothergills or Darlac.”

Guy Jenkins, DLF Seeds: “DLF Seeds Ltd UK are open for business. While all my office colleagues are dispersed and working from home my colleagues in production and warehousing are at work and fully operative. For the record social distancing is in place throughout and we have made physical adjustments to our production and warehousing to ensure their safety. In early March we asked several warehouse colleagues to work from home in stock control, to return if other colleagues were unable to attend, to ensure continuity of supply.

“We continue to supply customers with Johnsons Lawn Seed and Neudorff products, direct to store, into wholesalers and for some customers via dropship deliveries. There is very high demand for Johnsons and Neudorff lines and end users are finding the retailers prepared to deliver, click and collect or in some cases, where they can, shop in store. To date our inbound supply chain has remained secure and delivering on time and out bound deliveries continue uninterrupted.

“We have Skype for business and Microsoft Teams so we have joint calls morning and afternoon. Throughout the day we are in touch and can share screens for work or sometimes just for our own gardening projects! End of the day on Friday we have a quiz and sometimes we have corona coffee breaks too, there's definitely an emphasis on time to catch up on non-work events, even if it's only for a minute or two.

“Hopefully garden centres will be allowed to start opening after the first May bank holiday and we are ready to supply the day this happens!”

Millie Ferns, Meadow View Stone: “We took the early decision to furlough all staff from our main operation, but with the exception of our accounts team, on 25th March following a massive drop in orders.

“We maintained skeleton staff at our Rye operation and during this period supplied a few customers who had managed to navigate a home delivery system

“During the last 7-10 days we have seen a significant demand for our products, which has led us to reopen the Meadow View main site with a small team of operatives this week.

“Direct shipment is now available for customers to promote, however many accounts have been taking full load orders and recording record sales of our products via their own home delivery system.

“My thoughts are that once the doors are allowed to open there will be a mass influx of customers wishing to support their local Garden Centre, and to get their hands on plants, compost and aggregates – all of which have been in massive demand but have been very hard to come by these last few weeks

“The weather leading up to, and following Easter; with glorious blue skies each morning, would have provided the best six week window of sales possibly on record, which is something very hard to tolerate and to try and assess if we will ever recoup.

“Our customers have been hugely supportive in paying their outstanding Pre-season’s and the ones that are struggling have been honest and willing to confirm a future payment date, so we are very optimistic that our customers will pull through this with our help and support.”

Jenny Douthwaite, Primeur: “We are very much 'open for business'. Our doormat ranges are continuing to be ordered, albeit in a reduced volume at the moment. We have not supplied any of our garden centre customers since lockdown, but we remain ready and able to help them with stock should they be looking at deliveries or collections.

“We have a number of colleagues furloughed at present and many others working from home. We are using lots of the communication routes to keep in touch including Whatsapp and Zoom so that we can still all feel part of the Primeur team! We believe regular updates with our colleagues is key to making them feel reassured and keeping the positivity going in these strange and unfamiliar times.

“Once the restrictions are lifted, we will be ready to ramp back up to full capacity within a few days. We were fortunate to have all our stock for the season in our warehouse ahead of lockdown which allows us to turn deliveries on quickly.”

Jackie Eades, Fallen Fruits: “After the initial moment of 'what now' on the 23rd when our bricks and mortar customers were given no option but to shut we focused on our online and Drop Ship retailers.

“By risk assessing the warehouse and implementing all the Covid-19 requirements we have been able to remain operational and we are keeping communication flowing to members of the team who are on furlough.

“Taking the positives from the situation we already had a thought through Drop Ship strategy with our specialist on line team but this fast forwarded evolution for our retailers and has made us focus on how to future proof not only through a change in consumer habits but also the possibility of a second wave of the virus and possibly another lockdown later in the year”

 Mark Pitman, Wildlife World: “We're remaining very positive, it's a difficult situation to be in, and the government have had to react faster than ever before to put measures in place to help - e.g. the furlough/JRS system. We are watching the CBI webinars every day which are an invaluable source of information and guidance.

“Although Easter was a non event for retailers other than those offering home delivery etc, our B2C was busier than ever - the demand grew steadily before Easter, and has continued since; we are operating at 'Christmas' levels of trading and just had our best ever week (on the direct to customer side of the business).

“We are open, we put measures in place early on to be able to supply if the demand was there, and we entered lockdown with good quantities of stock in our warehouses - so our dispatch units ( we operate from 3 sites; one workshop and 2 dispatch) are socially distancing and operating in accordance with all guidance.  B2C has been phenomenal, and B2B is down, but steady - we are sending orders out to those businesses operating deliveries/home collections and online, both here in the UK and in Europe. We are also seeing a few older customers returning, and new ones approaching us.

“One real bonus for us is the increases in social media following and interactions. This was an aim for us earlier this year, and the lockdown has actually worked in our favour to boost our audience more than we had hoped for, and I can only see the momentum growing. We are using #wildlifeforwellbeing as our tag through this.

“We offer drop shipping as part of our operation anyway and have offered this out to all.

“Early on we were very concerned that business would drop off and we would be in a very different position to where we are now. The increases, particularly on B2C have given us a great deal of encouragement and this has raised motivation with the teams. We keep in touch with all staff via a WhatsApp group message with any relevant updates - this goes to all staff, whether working, or furloughed. All of our office teams are working at home now, so we communicate daily via email/phone/zoom, including 'zoom coffee breaks' and a weekly, or more regular if needed Management Team Zoom meeting. We talk regularly on the phone to those on furlough; we are now looking at some of the furloughed workers as to bringing some back into the business if we can.

“Let's hope garden centres are able to open soon. I’m fully behind Alan Titchmarsh, David Domoney et al. in their campaigning. We are working on plans to grow our business and adapt once things open up. There will no doubt be opportunities in the marketplace. One of the issues for anyone in our position will be flow of stock in from abroad. We have just started placing a few orders for stock, but there will be inevitable delays in the supply chain, which we will need to look at.”

Stephen Illingworth, Widdop: "Yes, we absolutely are open for business.  We have furloughed all but 8 in our warehouse which means we are maintaining social distancing but also able to cope with the small number of people still ordering regularly and service our direct despatch business which had orders of over 2,000 B2C shipments after the Easter weekend. We are shipping with a 1 day turnaround right now so anyone still open can get stock very quickly if they order via our website.

“We only ship B2C for customers who have established a clear process with us and pre-selected a range and they arrange collections by couriers. We are shipping direct and quickly B2B orders for garden centres and others though and our excellent new website shows everything in stock that can be shipped immediately.

“We have suggested training courses for many that are free online should they want to keep developing their skills- e.g. entrepreneur store and coursera.  We have launched a #lookonthebrightside campaign to promote positive initiatives across our customer base

“We are providing social media training free of charge for retailers and over 40 have signed up.

“Yesterday I hosted a webinar on Post COVID-19 Retail and Giftware with over 400 retailers.

“We know that it will be staged return to normal with some surveys showing only 20% of consumers will return to the high street straight away. We are helping retailers plan now by supporting them preparing their stores with new initiatives and hygiene standards to make people feel safe and confident to shop with them again. This will be very important. We feel and companies like Seton and Morplan are providing lots of kit now that people can get ready.

 A trip to our local garden centre, Baytree at Spalding, for essential pet supplies meant we were able to peek behind the scenes (observing proper social distancing of course) at their click and collect and delivery service.

The benefits of a large family mean that while almost all of the staff are on furlough leave, family members are working all hours to keep their 3 delivery vehicles and a steady stream of click and collect customers supplied.

"We got right down to having only 1 bag of multipurpose compost left last week, but just as that was sold the Westland lorry turned up and we were able to keep supplying, almost directly off the artic while it was unloaded," explained Nigel Wallis. " Our compost sales are almost on a par with our normal volumes for this tie of year, it's just been a lot more effort getting it to customers."

In the Pet department, open for Essential supplies, only 2 customers are allowed in at any one time, and sales have been up to 1/3rd of normal pet trading.

With the demand constantly growing other members of the team are being un-furloughed next week to get more people on the end of a phone taking orders from customers.

How are Garden Leisure suppliers faring during lockdown?  Here's feedback from suppliers who are adjusting to an on-line supply chain while anticipating the re-opening of garden centres.

John Athwal OBE, Premier Decorations: “What a shocker, which I personally have been dealing with since early January, when our China office had to go into lockdown. So fortunately, we had some insight into what may be coming our way, though of course we were praying like mad that the virus may be contained in China. Sadly, it wasn't and so even during Spring fair, it was sneaking up on us. We were nervous during the fair and I have never used the toilets so much previously to wash my hands.

“Early March it was evident that this was going to hit us, but still we had not realised to what extent. Preparations were made to facilitate our staff to work from home should the worst happen and we had just started a contingency based two shift system that would isolate any cases that may crop up in our own organisation, when the UK Government stepped in with their stay at home measures. As soon as the lockdown was announced we moved to the second phase of our contingency, with our Head Office staff members working remotely from home, enabling Premier to continue to process customer orders.

“We were already isolating some of our more vulnerable staff before the Government advice to stay at home and had also provided masks for them and their families. Though not cultural to be wearing masks here in Europe, I had taken advice from our China office.

“Throughout the lockdown period we have been operating somewhat normally (all things considered) and although our showrooms are closed, our Sales Accounts Managers are available and have been contacting customers.

“With regard to the summer business, our deliveries are as usual and we have stocks on the floor for those customers that require them.

“Our online web ordering portal is also open 24/7. Orders are creeping in and our advice to customers is to keep the confidence, as we will be back to a more normal trading style soon.

“Our diligent team have all necessary communication channels provided to them so they can operate as usual and we have remote meetings as necessary.

“So Premier is very much open for business, whilst keeping our staff and customers safe.

“My belief has always been that garden centres and DIY shops will be amongst the first "non-essential" retailers to open as this will give the public things to do during the lockdown period. This is why the online traders have done so well during the last month.

“Premier are well positioned to continue operations whenever the government allows us to go back to our offices, but we are mindful that it is getting late now for some factories to schedule production for additional orders. Premier’s orders were placed early but we are selling through the stocks currently on order. Our relationships with our factories are long standing and strong and all will be done to assist supply, but guarantees cannot be given on late additional requirements.

“We urge everyone to stay strong, stay safe and keep well, there will be plenty of time for trading.”

Debbie Waudby, Norfolk Leisure: “We are running a skeleton operation, a few staff furloughed, most staff working from home and a couple of staff working from site, but as the site is so big they are reasonably isolated.

“We are open for business and yes business is okay.  We are running a pretty extensive drop ship operation. Quite a few Garden centres have added a lot of lines to their online catalogue which we are delivering direct to customers, through the normal delivery channels. Online shopping is unbelievable at the moment, it is hard to keep up with the volume of small and single product orders coming though.  This is keeping the 'wheels greased' but not near the cash volume we would normally see with bulk orders and container shipments into garden centres.

“Staff morale and safety is our priority, we have a great deal of communication with everyone, normally group facetime chats, so you can see 'faces' , social facetime meets are frequent too as well as business meetings.  We also produced a guide to working from home which was sent out to all staff. We have made sure they are as comfortable at home too, most have the 'full' office PC set up at home, not just a laptop. Homeworkers also have their own office chairs sent home, so not working from dining room chairs. Our staff are wonderful and have really stepped up and worked with the unique challenges thrown at them.

“There is no let up or relaxing at the moment, the continuing unknown means that we are constantly reviewing operations / planning / finance.

“Like the rest of the industry, we are hoping that the restrictions will be lifted in garden centres early enough to recover some of the lost business but we want everyone to stay safe.

“For suppliers it's a long-term recovery plan, 2-3 years to get back to pre-Covid 19 levels.  How do we present our new 2021 collections? Will Garden Centres carry too much stock? Will they have cash to order for 2021 or will we be looking at 2022? We have had many conversations on these subjects, and we have plans and options but need to see what the coming weeks bring.

“At the moment we are working on building our warehouse stock so we are able to immediately support our customers better when they open again.

“Strategies are changing daily and we are hoping we are reacting and adapting quickly enough in a positive way.”

Mark Osbourne, Outback: “Outback is open for business and our e-commerce customers are experiencing big demand.

“Fortunately, 90% of our stock arrived from China before they got hit in January so we are in a great position to satisfy demand when lockdown starts to be released.

“There has been plenty of chatter about BBQ’s in the garden while families have time at home.  Retailing BBQ’s on-line and by local delivery could be a great opportunity this year!”

Joe Shrimpton, Extreme Lounging: “We are open for business in a limited way but keeping our head above the water, supplying online retailers, retailers with online channels and also retailers offering click and collect, which is proving to be incredibly busy.

“We are offering a drop ship service for garden centres.

“We all keep regular contact and have skype chats. One on one and group chats.

“If garden centres are to open first I think we as suppliers will benefit massively, I believe people will be scared and cautious for some time so social places will not be a priority, people want to be safe in their homes, and now we are reaching summer, the gardens will be the place to be and invest in. We are already seeing this with online channels for garden centres.”

Nigel Lawrence, Pacific Lifestyle: “I am delighted to tell you that we continue to trade through lockdown, albeit with limited staff. We have had to furlough a number of people owing to the huge decline in turnover as the majority of our customers closed their doors, but we kept on a limited number to meet the needs of those that continued to trade, mainly online.

“We have representation in Sales, Finance, Stock Control and Buying / Design all working remotely form home. We then have a limited number of warehouse pickers and packers working under very strict social distancing guidelines.

“We also offer a Direct Home Delivery service and again work with a professional network of couriers who are also working to strict distancing guidelines.

“So, in a nutshell we have good stock of outdoor (with more on the way), we are operative and here to help.”

Paul Cohen, LifestyleGarden: “LifestyleGarden continues to fire on all cylinders to meet retailer needs during lockdown.

“During the last four weeks, deliveries have been flooding out of our Essex-based warehouse, ensuring that online retail partners, and those that have been quick to adapt to offer online or click & collect services, are fully stocked with the company's market-leading ranges.

"It's safe to say that at the end of lockdown that the UK will be full of beautifully designed garden spaces based on the demand for product that our garden centre customers are reporting! It's great that people are engaging so much with gardening and outdoor leisure during this time, and that so many of our customers have been able to respond so quickly - long may it continue. For now, we'll continue to work to get stock out to customers to meet this demand, whilst also ensuring that our warehouses are fully stocked for the inevitable post-lockdown rush.

“We're firing on all cylinders - whilst following all government advice on social distancing - to make this happen, so a huge thank you to the whole team for their continued dedication."

Christo Mckinnon-Wood, Kadai by Wilstone: “Well we are very much still up and running, although over half our 22 staff are furloughed we have had to bring 3 back full time to help with the increase in demand from our web sales and also supporting and supplying to an increasing number of Garden Centres and other Kadai outlets that have switched to online sales.

“We have updated our dropbox image bank for stockists to access for their websites and Jenny is on hand to help with any enquiries.  We also just for this period offered a direct drop ship service for stockists that do not hold stock, this includes Kadai’s, accessories to Greenhouses one of which has just been sold today by a garden centre and we are delivering next week.

“I kept on board both marketing girls who are working flat out on improving the Kadai and Wilstone websites but mainly using social media as people have more time at home they have more time to search the web and read articles. We are setting competitions with prizes: This weeks’ will be who can design the best cocktail using a Kadai in some way or other, also working in partnership with top chefs to create now ideas for barbecuing.

“We support the Sambhali Trust in India and next week giving 10% of all sales to the trust for them to help fund feeding 300 families in need across the That desert in Rajasthan that have been most badly hit by the lock down and lack earnings.

“We are also very busy planning for when the restrictions are lifted by printing brochures, designing POS and visual merchandising plus looking at our stockist map with the intention of immediately having four people on the road visiting as many stores as possible to help them get set up and running again.

“We have enough stock here to be able to supply so this is not an issue.

“The Wilstone Potting Table is a finalist for Chelsea Product of the Year which has been announced today and is now on the RHS website.”

The third #floralfriday (Friday 17^th April 2020) saw floral creations galore as garden lovers, young and old, once again donned their favourite floral attire or shared floral pictures across social media. 

The prize for last week’s most creative post went to amateur gardener Tim Howell who put the FUN into FUNdraising by sharing his fabulous array of floral shirts on Instagram.

Tim was closely followed by the wonderful Adam Taylor who was affectionately named by colleagues as the industry’s #daftboss!

During these challenging days of isolation and social distancing, Greenfingers Charity would love to see many others spread a little bit of floral cheer on Friday (24^th April) and are once again offering a prize to the most inventive and creative picture or video posted on social media! 

For your chance to win £50 worth of National Gardening Gift Vouchers, here is what you need to do…

On your favourite social media platforms simply:  

• post a photo of yourself in your favourite floral shirt, dress, hat, shoes, tie, pjs or similar (or your favourite floral photo)
• use the hashtags #floralfriday #hortindustry #greenfingers
• nominate your boss, a friend or colleague whether working from home or at work to do the same
• add this story into your customer communications so that your customers can get involved by spreading a little floral cheer

You and those you nominate can make a donation to support the work of Greenfingers Charity by:

Texting FLORALFRIDAY to 70085 to donate £5 or by

Texting FLORALFRIDAYTEN to 70085 to donate £10

Garden centres are deploying extraordinary tactical agility with a generous dollop of staff loyalty and a large helping of true grit in order to survive writes industry consultant Jane Lawler.

It's been just over three weeks. Seems like a lifetime, but in any normal business timeline it's just the blink of an eye. And yet, some garden businesses have entirely changed their whole business model in that time. I've been trawling the garden centres to find out how they're surviving, what tactics they've adopted and how they're planning to come out of this crisis.

Three factors stand out.

• Extraordinary agility has allowed centres to move mountains to adapt and change how they operate.
  Overwhelming loyalty from employees who want to work, despite the challenges and potential threat to their health.
  The grit and determination of everyone in this wonderful industry to battle on in the interest of customers, staff and their gardens.

But despite all their extraordinary efforts, its clear the current trading activity is not a sustainable solution for more than a few weeks. Maybe the garden sector was just not as well prepared as some other retail segments.

Limited e-commerce capability
When lock-down first hit it was a huge shock for many independent centres - especially the majority who don't have fully operational online shopping solutions. Every retailer has a website, and some offer limited online and home delivery options on selected ranges. But few have a full product and plant online offer, and even those that do could not quickly turn on the picking and shipping capacity overnight to cope with the extraordinary upturn in demand.

It's been truly humbling to see how centres have managed to respond to the challenges. We won't be able to point to a record Spring in 2020, but many businesses will at least be able to say they kept in touch with their customers, supported their employees and moved modest amounts of stock to keep their businesses alive. It's not just financial survival, but the future of their brands and reputations that they're protecting.

Ayletts, for example, have furloughed a significant proportion of their staff. A core team have remained in work to care for the stock, provide customer support and pick and pack home deliveries. But the whole team has really stepped up - they have many more volunteers for remaining in work than they can deploy in the space available whilst maintaining their strict social distancing code.

Centres in the British Garden Centres group each have their own, local active facebook page which are full of snippets of news, images of the centres and comments from the team. This is down to the individuals in the centres who love what they do and simply want to stay in touch with their customers. Judging by the engagement level and the customer comments, it will prove to be a key brand driver for their return to normal trading once restrictions are lifted.

Analogue operations in a digital world
Several centres have trialed a 'call and collect' mechanic with limited success. All reported that telephone calls with customers take a long time, especially for those who are less confident about what they want to buy. And the challenge of maintaining order and appropriate social distancing at collection points has proven to be very tricky and time consuming. It seems that customer collections are proving to be less successful than the home delivery mechanic being adopted by many.

But with home deliveries come other challenges. BGC have been recruiting extra drivers and vehicles to try and meet rising demand. And without fully functioning e-shops, including images, dynamic stock management, pricing etc., helping customers decide what they want to have delivered in the first place is the main bottleneck.
Thetford Garden Centre don't have full listings of products and prices on their non-transactional website. So they've taken to creating gardening 'bundles' of related and relevant products to try and simplify customer selection. And they've used their very well-followed facebook pages to promote these to customers with considerable success.

Just how much impact can all this new trading activity make on a normal Spring gardening season? Ayletts told me that they had around 15 staff working at any one time, with five delivery vehicles managing a hundred orders every day. But the e mail 'inbox' is overflowing with new orders and they're still catching up with last week.

It's not sustainable for very long, and certainly not a profitable model. But at least it is liquidating stock, maintaining staff morale and building customer loyalty. Ayletts will be well positioned to take advantage of demand when restrictions are lifted.

90% of Thetford Garden Centres' team are on furlough and there is just a skeleton team taking calls and making deliveries. But they've cranked up their delivery service from around 15 orders a week to over 500 and dropped their free delivery limit to £30 within 5 miles. It's not about turnover, however, they really just want to support the local community. Their customers, some of whom are NHS workers, have been very grateful with one sending the team a large bag of jam donuts to say thankyou.

Another centre told me that, despite having a functional e-commerce site, in their first week of trading exclusively online as a result of the restrictions, their turnover was a tiny fraction (less than 1%) of the previous week's normal retail trade. Part of the problem is the logistics and the challenge of cranking up for a more than tenfold increase in demand with existing facilities and staff.

More than one of the independent centres I've spoke to have taken the decision to temporarily suspend the online shopping aspect of their websites to allow them to cope with the outstanding order book. Some have blocked all incoming telephone inquiries and substituted a recorded apology message because the number of calls has become entirely unmanageable.

And a quick tour around one or two larger garden centre online shops revealed limited availability, even on plants, as well as extended delivery timescales of up to 3 weeks. Demand from consumers is clearly outstripping capacity, even for the more sophisticated online operators.

Lessons for the future
A failure to invest in scaleable online trading functionality and the fulfillment capability to support it is now a real problem. Many centres have historically justified the decision by pointing to their 'destination' status and the importance of their restaurants and cafes. But the decision to hold off investing adequately in e-commerce alongside their bricks and mortar operations is now forcing suppliers and brand owners down a 'direct to consumer' and Amazon routes. They have no other option if they are to survive.

For some garden centres the financial assessments and employee health considerations have led to a complete suspension of all trade. From a purely financial perspective, they may come out of this crisis in a very similar position to those who have doggedly struggled on. But, they'll need to work hard to attract back customers who have found alternative suppliers in the meantime. They too will wonder if the provision of a really efficient online offer might have protected them from the worst of the crisis and helped to build a loyal online following.

The experiences of the past few weeks should make centres review their approach to online trading and question if a fully e-commerce enabled model might give them better protection for the future. Maybe an opportunity for a serious third party fulfillment party who can cope with the fluctuating volumes?

Centres who diligently collect and manage information on their customers through loyalty schemes will be benefiting now. Re-enforcing brand loyalty, prioritising orders and deliveries with a known customer is targeted and more manageable. Targeted marketing activity and offers can significantly improve conversion rates and increase basket size which in turn improves profitability. Insightful management of sales and marketing activity based on segmentation and understanding of the customer is a well established profit driver. Amazon, Facebook and Google are testament to this fact and garden centres will need to embrace similar use of data to drive their own strategies post-covid.

For now, centres seem to be prioritising four key issues

• managing operations to keep staff safe
  maintaining the customer-brand relationship
  looking after perishable stock
  controlling costs

As soon as we are through this, garden centres might do worse than consider developing their whole digital sales and marketing approach. Maybe this crisis is the wake up call we needed.

Jane Lawler 

jane@lawlerassociates.co.uk

Dobbies Garden Centres are encouraging children to get green fingered this season, and has launched its popular Little Seedlings Club online.

Packed with activities, Little Seedlings at home is an online version of Dobbies popular, free monthly club for children aged 4 to 10 years old. Available on the Dobbies’ website, the handy resource is full of fun gardening and crafting projects, with delicious recipes added each week.

Graeme Jenkins, CEO at Dobbies, said: “Our Little Seedlings Club is hugely popular across our stores, and we wanted to share some gardening activities for kids to do at home.

“Our programme offers a whole host of enjoyable and educational activities, and is a great way to get kids outside and into the garden. Gardening is proven to boost our wellbeing and is a brilliant way to pass the time, and we hope that Little Seedlings at home will help inspire the next generation of gardeners.”

Each week, Dobbies will be sharing a new series of fun activities for kids to do at home. Coming up over the next month, children will be shown how to grow their very own pea shoots and tasty tomatoes, with accompanying easy-to-make recipes available so they can enjoy their home-grown produce.

With spring in full bloom, children will be encouraged to spot the signs of the changing season with flower crafts and card games, with Dobbies sharing top tips on how to have a sunflower race. To celebrate National Bee Day (20 May), there will be special activities and recommendations on how to make a bee-friendly garden.

Dobbies will be sharing updates across its social media channels, with everyone encouraged to get involved using the hashtag #LittleSeedlings.

Find Little Seedlings at home on the Dobbies website dobbies.com

RECOUP has released the 2020 update to its Black Plastic Packaging Forum report, updating figures and guidance around the use of black plastic in packaging in the UK.  The report, produced as part of RECOUP’s Black Plastic working group, estimates that black packaging used in the UK has dropped from around 36,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes going into 2020.  This continually reducing figure means that black plastic now accounts for just 0.7% of consumer plastic packaging placed on the UK market each year.

These figures are announced as RECOUP continues to argue that all Black Plastic packaging should be recyclable in current, commercial scale recycling systems by 2025.

Stuart Foster, Chief Executive Officer of RECOUP, said:  “The ultimate aim is to drive black plastic recycling forwards in a practical and sensible way, turning ambitions and collaborative thinking into actual delivery.”

Black Plastic is largely considered unrecyclable through commercial recycling systems due to the use of NIR (Near Infra-red) sorting systems in MRFs (Material Recycling Facilities) that are unable to identify the carbon black pigment. As such, most of the black plastic is sent for landfill or incineration. However, black plastic has historically been popular with packaging producers because it enables the use of skeletal waste, factory scrap and recycled plastic in products, without creating a colour which is considered unattractive to consumers.

Alternative solutions to black plastic, including the use of non-carbon black pigments and other coloured materials have also helped to reduce the amount of unrecyclable material  The identification of end markets and solutions for the recyclate has also helped to drive value and interest in the recycling of black plastic in the last twelve months.

Paul East, RECOUP’s Packaging Sustainability Manager, commented “Black plastic has long been a challenge for plastic packaging producers and recyclers.  Whilst it has been an excellent way for producers to get recycled plastic into their packaging, it’s also long been incompatible with commercial sorting facilities.  Today, with changes to Extended Producer Responsibility on the horizon, it is the best time to finally resolve the issue of black plastics, through achieving a satisfactory level of recyclability."

The Black Plastic working group and subsequent report was generated as part of RECOUP’s Black Plastic Forum, set up in 2018, with the aim of improving the recyclability of black plastic. 

The Black Plastic Packaging Forum document is available to download for free on the RECOUP website, at: http://www.recoup.org/p/173/download-centre

As preparations for spoga+gafa continue ahead of its planned date of 6-8 September 2020 in Cologne, Germany, the Gardenex export association has been successfully recruiting UK exhibitors for the event.

Gardenex has secured cash grants of £1,500 for small-to-medium-enterprises (SMEs) that qualify under the Department for International Trade Tradeshow Access Scheme. The funding will enable British companies to exhibit their products at spoga+gafa in a cost-effective way, while also benefiting from the wide range of practical research, logistical and promotional support offered by Gardenex, before, during and after the event.

The British pavilion organised by Gardenex will be located in a prime spot in Hall 9, and Gardenex has also secured a number of exhibitor stands in some of the other product-specific halls. Space for the show is filling up fast so interested companies should contact katie-mai@gardenex.com to book their stand as soon as possible before the deadline of 30 April.

Gardenex’s comprehensive British themed pavilion and stand package has been designed so that exhibitors can just turn up and display their products. The association’s dedicated event organisers will help with freight, travel, accommodation and other logistics.

Gardenex also provides support at spoga+gafa via an industry information stand manned by its experienced team, and publicises the goods and services of the British group through a schedule of press releases before, during and after the show. A comprehensive preview is sent out to named international buyers in advance of the event to generate even more advance publicity for the British group.

Advice and information about how to prepare and maximise attendance at the show are also available, as well as background market information and exporting advice. There is a preferential Gardenex exhibitor support package fee for members, but non-members are also welcome to exhibit on the British pavilion.

spoga+gafa covers all aspects of practical and leisure gardening and is divided into the following product sectors: garden living, garden creation and care, garden BBQ and garden unique. The key theme for this year’s show is ‘Sustainable Gardens’, which will be present across all segments of the event.

In spite of the current coronavirus climate, companies from 64 countries have already applied to exhibit at spoga+gafa 2020, an 8% increase on the previous year and the organisers have confirmed that should the event be postponed or cancelled, exhibitors will be reimbursed accordingly. The 2019 show attracted around 40,000 trade visitors from 124 countries, with over 64% of the visitors coming from outside Germany.

A broad spectrum of buyers is expected to attend, including representatives from garden centres, DIY stores, mail order/internet sales, supermarkets, discounters, department stores, specialist furniture retailers, landscapers and many international distributors and wholesalers of garden products that support the retail and contract trade from around the world.

Previous British group exhibitors have seen buyers from countries across Europe as well as leading distributors and retailers from markets such as the US, Canada, Dubai, Israel, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

If you would like to book a stand on the British Pavilion at spoga+gafa with Gardenex, please contact Katie-Mai Smith at katie-mai@gardenex.com before 30 April and also visit www.gardenex.com for more information.

Contact Gardenex if you require further advice and assistance:

Tel:  +44 (0) 44 1959 565995

Email: info@gardenex.com

Website: www.gardenex.com

When Ambassador, Richard Newton, ‘drove-in’ as Men’s Captain of Erewash Golf Club, he nominated Greenfingers charity to benefit during his reign as Captain. Along with Lady Captain Judith Evans, they and club members raised a staggering £7686 for Greenfingers Charity.

Richard and Judith hosted a range of fundraising events at Erewash Valley Golf Club, a superbly manicured championship golf course set in 165 acres of prime parkland in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.  As well as many events which brought the whole family together, their Captains Charity Day was a great fun occasion which saw many friends support the raffle and auction and in turn Greenfingers Charity. 

Speaking about his year as Erewash Golf Club Captain, Richard said: “I’m really pleased that members took Greenfingers Charity to their hearts last year. They were only too happy to support the events and activities I organised knowing the money raised would make a very real difference to seriously sick children and families who spend time in children’s hospices.  What’s also great, and a real bonus, is that hundreds more people now know about the vital work of Greenfingers so hopefully this will serve as a legacy of my time as Captain”

As well as supporting Greenfingers Charity as Captain of Erewash Valley Golf Club, Richard has supported the charity over the years both personally and professionally.  He’s sky-dived, volunteered, supported through Woodlodge, GIMA and much more, helping to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the charity.

Speaking about Richard’s support, Director of Fundraising and Communications, Linda Petrons said: “Richard is a fantastic FUNdraising Ambassador and a real joy to support as he supports Greenfingers Charity.  This latest donation is very welcome particularly during these difficult and uncertain times.  We really can’t thank Richard enough for his continued and very generous support”.

For more information about the work of Greenfingers Charity and ways to support, please contact Linda@greenfingerscharity.org.uk or by calling 07908 221240.

There is no doubt that the continuation of the Covid-19 lockdown is placing significant and never before seen pressures on the garden retail supply chain, however the Garden Industry Manufacturer’s Association (GIMA) is issuing a call to action to retailers to ensure that cash flow continues to reach suppliers.

Pre-season deliveries in January and February would traditionally see payments reach suppliers in April and May, but in a world where Coronavirus is creating an unprecedented landscape, receipt of these payments are not necessarily a given as retailers tighten their belts. A troubling concept already, but as spring represents a time when cash is historically already limited for most suppliers, the issue is significantly compounded.

GIMA Director, Vicky Nuttall, said: “The continued closure of garden retailers understandably leads to a need to control expenditure, however, halting the flow of cash through the supply chain is not the answer. There is no question that for some suppliers, lack of payment could lead to their untimely demise; something that will be felt across an industry that often sells itself as one that supports one another. I urge retailers, on behalf of our members, to support your suppliers as you would your own staff. It’s so important, now more than ever, to speak to your supply customers and not leave them in the dark. Please don’t dictate payment terms and definitely don’t take rebates off invoices that have not been taken.

“Sadly, we’re hearing that some retailers are starting to employ bullying tactics which we deem to be totally unacceptable, and we will not hesitate to publicly call out these retailers should these tactics continue. Getting through this difficult time will only be possible if we work together, and thankfully not all retailers are responding negatively.  Many are already stepping up to the mark and are actively communicating with their supply partners, and I hope this communication continues to build over the coming weeks - after all, forewarned is forearmed.”  

Pressures of home delivery & Job Retention Scheme

The switch to home delivery, coupled with significant uptake of the Job Retention Scheme, is also placing additional pressure. The entrepreneurial spirit of some retailers that have been quick to adapt to consumer demand should be congratulated, but it is also important to be aware that many suppliers are now operating a skeleton staff having furloughed much of their workforce. As a result, suppliers may be unable to respond to stock requests as quickly as they normally would, and contingencies need to be put into place to incorporate this longer lead time.

On the flip side, retailers should not berate suppliers who have reached out to the home delivery and internet channels. Vicky added: “Suppliers do not have the benefit of business rates holidays or cash grants.  At a time of crisis, it is necessary to take advantage of any opportunities that ensure survival, and presently online sales are the biggest opportunity of all for the entire supply chain. For most suppliers the income generated from their online customers will help, but it certainly won’t fill the massive void left from the loss of their garden centre trade. This isn’t about replacing retailers, it’s about adapting and ensuring a healthy supply chain will emerge from this gloom.”

GIMA - here for its members

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, GIMA has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to offer a range of services and support tools for its members.

Initially, the trade association kept its members informed about the financial support available, including the Job Retention Scheme and wider government initiatives. The team also maintain a direct dialogue with the Confederation of British Industry, ensuring member concerns are being heard at the highest level.  Meanwhile, daily cross dialogue with other trade bodies such as the HTA, LOFA and BHETA is maintained to share information and to create a cross-sector support network.

GIMA has also made sure that industry specific issues such as cash flow seasonality, pressure from national retailers over payment terms, ornamental horticulture and increased demurrage and detention costs at the ports, are also recognised.

Finally, the importance of providing a community for its members has never been so inherently necessary. This community of GIMA members is enabling a safe place to share best practice and ideas on how to handle the current crisis.

Find out more

Find out more about GIMA and its many benefits for members by visiting www.gima.org.uk or call 01959 564947.

Thank you from the team at GTNXtra for all the reading and sharing of our e-mail newsletter during this crisis period.  Our stories about Easter feedback from garden centres have beaten all records in terms of number of individual story clicks and the amount of time spent reading GTNXtra which has jumped by over 65%%.  Thank you.

Please do keep sending us your news - trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk, We really enjoy keeping everyone informed and hopefully entertained.

After a fantastic first year of trading, Treadstone’s ClipGlove range has also proved to be a hit with the team at Good Housekeeping magazine.  In their recent test, ClipGlove came top in 4 out of the 6 categories tested, including Best All-Rounder Gardening Gloves.

Commenting on the results, Treadstone’s Head of Brands Dean Winters said “We’re so pleased with the reviews from Good Housekeeping which support what our customers and consumers have been telling us since we launched ClipGlove.  Our innovative range of gloves not only feature class leading levels of comfort, dexterity and protection, but they’re also stylish to wear.”

41 different garden gloves were tested by the Good Housekeeping team, with ClipGlove winning in the following 4 categories:

Best All-Rounder Gardening Gloves: ClipGlove Cosy
Best Light Duty Gardening Gloves: ClipGlove Bamboo Fibre
Best Medium Duty Gloves: ClipGlove Watertight
Best Waterproof Gloves: ClipGlove Watertight

The full review can be found at: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/product-reviews/house-garden/g31805351/best-gardening-gloves/

This latest accolade comes after Treadstone won 2 GIMA awards in 2019 for best product in category and best display. ClipGlove gets its name from the addition of an aluminum Carabiner clip, which keeps glove pairs together when being stored away so that they do not get lost. Retailers appreciate the clip and how it prevents torn header cards and allows consumers to try on both gloves easily in store plus of course how it enables the gloves to be clipped to the user’s belt, ensuring they are always to hand.

Retailers interested in working with Treadstone Products can contact the company on 01978 664 667 or email sales@treadstoneproducts.com or for more information, visit www.treadstoneproducts.com

GARDENA has teamed up with sustainability influencer, Lynne Lambourne, to launch a social media sunflower growing competition for families to enter this spring. The competition has been launched with the intention to get families into their gardens so they can grow some ‘sunshine’ and boost community spirits, as well as a fun activity to occupy the little ones.

The competition will encourage families to get in their gardens, city balconies or roof terraces and plant sunflower seeds. Families must then nurture the plants and keep track of their growth. Lynne will also be posting ‘how to’ videos on her Instagram channel @lynnelambourne so families can follow the correct planting process.

Once the families are happy with the fully grown sunflowers, they can enter the online competition by uploading an image of their sunflowers onto Instagram and tagging @gardenauk and @lynnelambourne with the hashtag #growsomesunshine.

On Friday 19th June 2020, five winners will be chosen by GARDENA and Lynne who will each receive a GARDENA handtool set, so they can keep on gardening!

There’s also lots of useful information, tips and hints available at www.gardena.co.uk.

Timber product supplier Zest 4 Leisure is relaunching its Zest Direct home delivery service to online retailer customers with the aim of ensuring its customers are able to supply garden products and meet the increased demand in the lockdown period.

The company’s goal is to support its online retailers with the roll out of services to deliver garden products to customers’ homes which begins next week (w/c 13 th April) with the first home deliveries scheduled to be with customers by the end of that week.

Simon Davison, Head of Commercial Development, said: “With the current lockdown and people spending time at home, the importance of gardening has been recognised and being able to purchase garden products including “grow your own” items plays an important role in maintaining many people’s health and well-being during this period. People in the gardening industry are coming together to deliver a service that will support this and I am delighted that we too can lend our support.”

Simon added: ”Working with our operations team, we have done a lot to adapt to this changing environment and introduced stringent conditions and working practices at our warehouse and distribution centre to comply with social distancing and hygiene requirements. The health and safety of our staff will always be paramount and steps have been taken in conjunction with Government guidance to ensure this is in place.”

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, Zest 4 Leisure decided to suspend business temporarily. Using its home delivery arm to support online retailers, Zest Direct will now operate its usual nationwide delivery service of its range of timber garden products and hopes to deliver some gardening satisfaction in these unprecedented times.

http://www.zest4leisure.co.uk/

With households enjoying an enforced “staycation” this summer, millions of people will be turning to their gardens to escape cabin fever and boost their health and wellbeing. And what better way to soak in some Vitamin D in the sunshine and enjoy the outdoors, then buying yourself that brand new garden furniture set to relax in and extend your home this summer by turning your garden into an additional room?

Leading garden furniture brand, LifestyleGarden® is offering not only the excitement of owning something new, but the warm and fuzzy feeling of helping the environment through its ground-breaking new DuraOcean® set, the first mass market commercially available chair made from nets, ropes and ocean plastic waste recovered from the world’s seas.

Whether you’re sitting outside reading a book or socialising in the evening with your household while the BBQ is cooking and the kids are playing, DuraOcean® is the furniture set for you and is available in a 4-seater set accompanied with a sustainably sourced Nassau table, to suit all your outdoor needs.

For those that have a smaller patio area or like to watch the sun set from their balcony with good food a glass of wine, DuraOcean® is also available as a bistro set, ideal for urban living and perfect for even the smallest of outdoor spaces.

The DuraOcean® is sustainable in every aspect of its design and manufacture:

• Made from 3.5kg of marine debris, the DuraOcean® is the first chair of its kind to be made from recycled ocean plastic.
  Wooden legs that have been carefully crafted with Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC) eucalyptus, the DuraOcean® offers both garden comfort and style.
  Can be fully recycled at the end of its life.

Ocean plastic has been a hot topic since it was brought to global attention through Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series. Shocking statistics revealed:

• Each year we produce 300 million tonnes of plastic waste – which is the same weight as the entire world’s population.
  Annually, ocean plastic waste is killing in excess of 100,000 marine creatures.
  Predictions show that unless something is done to reduce this, we will have created four times as much plastic waste by 2050.
• DuraOcean® can be complemented with soft furnishings from LifestyleGarden®’s exclusive partnership with The Eden Project, which will see its outdoor ranges supported by Eden Project branding, as well as exclusive designs and patterns on accessories such cushions and deckchairs for ultimate luxury.

If you want to find out more about LifestyleGarden® and its premium-quality outdoor furniture, please visit us at www.lifestylegarden.com or follow the team on Facebook and Instagram.

Cordless specialists in outdoor power equipment, EGO is expanding its range and its offer to make it even more relevant to both domestic and commercial users.

Across 2020, EGO is increasing the warranty on its Professional-X range from 1 year to 3 years (subject to product registration) on both the tools and battery; demonstrating its commitment and faith in the range, so that professional users put their faith in EGO in return, as described in the brand’s Challenge 2025 manifesto.

In its Power+ range, EGO is also launching a powerful new 10Ah battery and a range of equipment, including a new 42cm self-propelled mower and a 45cm chainsaw. Additionally, EGO is introducing new tools for its multi-tool – a Rotocut head, olive shaker, bristle brush and paddle broom, giving the company one of the most extensive product offerings in the cordless outdoor power equipment sector.

Vince Brauns, Group Product Manager EMEA at EGO: “Our products are popular with both domestic and professional users, and as the range expands it’s important to help customers make the right decisions – including which product and level of warranty is best suited to their needs. By identifying three categories of use, we’ve now got a clear offer for our dealers and customers, as well as a solid platform for the future.”

To reflect this expansion and help customers and dealers to recognise the right tool for their needs, EGO is also creating three distinct product ranges.

The EGO Power+ range includes tools suited for domestic use in small to medium-sized gardens. This includes the new 42cm self-propelled mower.

The EGO Power+ Professional range covers larger gardens and heavier use, including professional applications. This includes the new 45cm chainsaw.

Finally, EGO Power+ Professional-X is for heavy-duty professional use as well as specialist users and applications. Products in this category include the new Rotocut attachment.

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Thanks to a donation of plastic from Desch Plantpak a South Durham state-funded technical school for 14-19 year olds has been making visors for the NHS.

UTC Durham said: "Thank you so much to Martin Shields and everyone at Desch Plantpak for donating and delivering a huge reel of plastic to help us make more PPE visors! Thanks also go to Sheltee Industrial Mainteneance Ltd for helping us unload the plastic! We’re so grateful for the generosity and support we’ve received from businesses and the wider community as we work towards making visors to donate free-of-charge to the NHS and other key organisations. In just under two weeks, we've made and donated 1500 visors and with these materials and the generous donations we've received, we can keep making visors for those who desperately need them. Thank you!"

Kees Waqué, Desch Plantpak B.V. Manager Retail & Marketing said: "Hopefully this battle will be over soon, and (UK) garden centres will re-open, so people can go out again and shop for their well-deserved plants!"

Recycling charity, RECOUP has released its updated Recyclability by Design publication to include guidelines for recyclability of plastic film.  The publication includes RecyClass’ recyclability tables in order to help address the challenge of designing plastic film packaging to give it the greatest chance of being recycled.

Guidance includes the importance of separation of materials, avoidance of laminates and the greater recyclability credentials of PE and PP film when compared to other materials. The publication also includes contributions from RECOUP members: Coca-Cola, Faerch, Garçon Wines, KP Films, Krehalon, Borealis and TOMRA Sorting Solutions.

RECOUP’s decision to include film comes as the UK continues to work towards its recycling ambitions for 2025. While it is estimated that almost 400,000 tonnes of plastic film are produced in the UK each year, RECOUP’s annual UK Household Plastics Collection Survey reported in 2019 that only 16% of UK Local Authorities list film as being collected kerbside. This low service rate is, in part, due to the challenges this material causes collection and sorting machinery, its lightweight nature, transportation challenges and the ultimate low value, as well as the high contamination rates of this type of material.

Not only will these guidelines help to support making plastic film packaging more suitable for collection, but also help to reduce contamination levels and the weight and quantity of films in non-circular waste routes.

Paul East, RECOUP’s Packaging Sustainability Manager, said: “At times of increasingly challenging recycling targets both in the UK and across Europe, there is an ever-increasing importance in finding sources of plastics to recycle rather than go to non-circular end destinations such as landfill and incineration.

RECOUP’s Recyclability by Design publication helps to address this at the first stage by advising users and designers of plastic packaging of the best way to ensure that their packaging has the best chance of being recycled, or, failing that, have minimal impact in terms of what cannot be recycled.”

The Recyclability by Design document is available to download for free on the RECOUP website, at http://www.recoup.org/p/173/download-centre

Hillier Nurseries, Amenity Tree Division is continuing to replenish stocks after a record-breaking winter planting season, with sales currently 31% up on the previous exceptional year. Planting of new tree crops and transplanting of the existing is well under way across Hillier’s 725 acres of open ground production.

Adam Dunnett, Amenity Sales Director explains "We have had to adapt how we work to ensure the production team can remain safe, coronavirus has thrown up lots of challenges for us as it has for every business, but the way in which our teams have risen to the challenge has been remarkable; they have been determined to ensure we have a continuation of stock to supply our customers once we get through this current crisis."

Hillier will plant over 30,000 trees this season. 25,000 under stocks for their own summer budding programme as well as transplanting thousands of trees from 8-10cm girth up to 110cm, with semi mature and super semi trees Hillier’s real specialism. Along with the field production, Hillier also have a 50 acre container tree nursery, and production hasn’t slackened there either. Dunnett continues "Martin Hillier, Senior Manager Container Trees, and his team have so far potted thousands of trees, including over 20,000 45ltr, a size the local authority market seems to have an insatiable appetite for at the moment!"

COVID-19 had an early impact at Hillier Nurseries as Dunnett points out "coronavirus hit us at the end of our open ground lifting season, with customers calling off 100s of trees. They were lifted and awaiting despatch, and then sites started closing, orders got postponed and we were left with tens of thousands of pounds of trees needing a home fast! We contacted every customer and told them we would ensure their trees remained in tip top condition, ready for when their sites reopened. Every tree that had been lifted was transported to the Hillier container tree nursery and each will be containerised.

‘Bare root stock has been lost and if the COVID-19 restrictions continue, then our losses will start to mount if we have no market for our summer container trees. However, we know we have not seen the same impact that the bedding and young plant producers are enduring, the anguish those nurseries must be going through is difficult to contemplate’ said Adam ‘we can only hope that government implement the HTA’s plant scrappage scheme, otherwise the ramifications for the industry could be enormous".

Although Hillier have seen a significant drop off in orders for immediate supply, the sales team who are all working from home have seen no let up in enquires and orders for future supply. As Adam explains "Most of the customers we are speaking to seem to be of the opinion that the government will want to stimulate the economy post COVID-19 rather than introducing new austerity measures, and if this is the case then business and local authorities want to have projects lined up and ready to go. Generating cash flow & profits for business and tax income for government will never be more important. With the work we are currently putting in to our tree production programme at Hillier we will be in a strong place to supply great British grown trees."

www.hillier.co.uk/trees

Thanks to help from suppliers and licence authorities Garden Radio charges have been put on hold from Tuesday 24th March 2020 when the lockdown started.

"We were able to immediately suspend the Garden Radio service when all garden centres closed and thanks to the licence authorities and our suppliers help we've also been able to suspend charges until garden centres open up again," said Trevor Pfeiffer, Director of Potting Shed Press who run Garden Radio.

"We have had calls from a couple of centres who have asked for Garden Radio to be kept playing where they have a farm shop that is still open, but for the rest or our customers they are happy to know we have put the service and charges on hold."

If you'd like to know more about Garden Radio please contact Trevor on 07973 504214 or by e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Usually on Easter Monday, GTN Xtra’s Trevor Pfeiffer contacts garden centres to ask how their Easter trading has gone, but not this year.  As Robert Ducker’s drone photo of an empty car park and deserted £3.9m new road at Langlands Shiptonthorpe, which would normally be traffic jammed for most of the weekend illustrates, this was an Easter to forget, garden centre trading wise.

Instead we just asked: How are you and your team? And how are delivery services going? Will Click and Collect be part of your recovery strategy?

"We have been operating an online store for some time, on a small scale, but uploaded our EPOS database to it when the Garden Centre was shut” said one garden centre owner.  “Demand has been huge, more than we can cope with logistically.  We have only managed to open the online store twice a week, for about 12 hours at a time, more than that and we get swamped with orders.  There is not a lot of point investing in IT or infrastructure to deal with this as most people will want to get out and buy plants afterwards, so it is head down and get on with it for a few weeks. 

“We are taking about 10% of what we would normally expect to take at this time of year, and it is bloody hard work for the few staff we have in.  We will look at click and collect when the option becomes available.  We have mainly been selling to local customers, shipping things out in our own vans.  We opened the online store at 19:30 yesterday (Sun) and had 400 orders by lunchtime today (Mon) so have switched off again.  We are managing about 60-80 deliveries a day, mainly bedding plants off our Nursery, Compost and Garden Sundries."

James Debbage, Green Pastures in Norfolk told us: “We have a Farm Shop, the garden centre and a Post Office.  It’s been manic!  With three vehicles we’re managing 100 deliveries a day from phone orders.

“Food deliveries have been restricted to a 5 mile radius and garden centre deliveries no further than 10 miles.  That way we are now being most effective with our time and resources.  We are turning orders around in 24/48 hours using our cleared restaurant area as a pick and packing station.  Three or four staff are handling the phone and e-mail orders each day.  We’ve had to add extra phone lines to cope.

“There is so much demand, I’ve never experienced this before.  We have as much business as we can handle, some days we can’t keep up with it.

“I will sell out of multipurpose compost in a few days, gro-bags have already sold out.  Fortunately a new supplier is helping with supplies as my existing supplier is closed.

“Local growers are happy to supply us plants, and even those who are unable to label and barcode as usual due to social distancing issues on their packing lines.  As we are delivering that is not a problem.  We are finding it better to have good stocks of a few plants to cope with orders rather than a wide spread.

“We’ve even kept some of the chefs on full time to make home baked items to sell in the farm shop and deliver; soups, ready meals, pies and quiches.

“We’ve had to adopt a different mind set, it’s been a steep learning curve but the feedback on social media and from customers when we deliver is of overwhelming gratitude.”

Derek Bunker, Alton Garden Centre was also full of positivity for keeping on trading by deliveries and customer collections: “We’ve made sure we found a way through it all, after 49 years building the business I’m not about to throw in the towel.

“We already had a small on-line service, so we decided to carry on internet trading with some local customer collections.  We’ve been inundated with 100 to 200 phone calls a day.  To save time and get the orders correct we take peoples contact details and get the right person to call them back and if we can’t service all calls, we just ask people to call back next week.

“There are 30 people here working on phones, BBQ, furniture and lawn mower orders, small item internet orders and the outside team handling local gardening orders using garden centre trolleys on the delivery lorry to simplify the process.

“I don’t think we are making a lot of money, but demand is there, and we’d rather be here at work, socially distancing of course, than sitting at home doing nothing.

“We’ve donated plants to 40 local schools so that the children of key workers can grow while at school and houseplants for the teachers.

“So far we’ve sold over 40 VegTrugs this spring.  The demand for grass seed has been very high and Westland have been great with top up deliveries.  I went up to Decco in Ipswich myself to collect products we needed for our customers too.

“Demand is definitely there.  If they can lift the ban at the end of April we can recover plant sales.”

Colin Barrie, Caulders Garden Centres: “It is strange times indeed! We started a delivery service about 10 days ago and then stopped it as we were overwhelmed and felt that it was difficult to operate safely.... we have now re looked at it, put the appropriate measures in place and are re starting it on a smaller scale as of tomorrow.

“I think whenever we are allowed to reopen, our opening strategy will include a robust delivery system and an efficient click and collect.  I expect that it will be many months before our coffee shops are allowed to reopen, and with a lot of our customer base elderly and many who will be shielding, it will take a long time for the footfall of the garden centres to resume to previously levels.  Just part of the learning curve!”

Simon Bourne, Perrywood: “What a week we could have had! I think it is safe to say that last week could have been a record breaker by some margin. 20 degrees, sunshine and clear skies provided perfect gardening weather. Our hope is that all our customers have spent time in their gardens and appreciate them even more.

“Over the last week the skeleton plant area teams have been continuing with watering and starting to setup the garden centre for when we reopen. They have also been supporting just two members of the nursery team who have been potting everything into larger pots than we would normally in the hope that when we reopen we will have larger stock of bedding plants available and ready to look good in gardens. There is a third member of the nursery team who has just started this week, he's a bit rusty but Alan's 50 odd years of experience is worth a lot. It is keeping him busy and getting him out from under mum's feet!

“I have been operating a very small delivery service just for staff members over the last few days. The team are all plant mad and to be starved of plants is sending them stir crazy. A little bit of compost and some veg, and basket plants is enough to put a smile on most people’s faces at the moment. We have also been supplying the local hardware store with a bit of compost and a few pansies. Nothing massive but it means that a few more people will be able to carry on gardening.

“With the three-week review supposedly happening today we have delayed making any major decisions until tomorrow. I think we all know that there will be continued lockdown for the next week, two weeks or probably three. After that we just don't know and that is where the trouble starts. Do we setup a home delivery service? Do we wait it out? If we opened up again in three weeks could we cope with demand? They are all questions we have been working on but it does seem that we will have little time to prepare to reopen. I've just heard on the news that Italy has started to ease lockdown. If we are on a similar path maybe our shop will reopen with the restaurant closed. We have plans for changing our shop around to help customer flow and reduce the 'browsing' that we spend so much time perfecting. We are in close contact with our suppliers and I know they will all pull all of the stops out to get as much product out to the market as is possible. “Our customers will have to be patient and understanding of the situation and for many this will be extremely difficult.

“Wishing everyone in the industry a Happy Easter.”

Julian Winfield, Haskins: “We are completely closed and took the view that it was going to be very difficult to continue our phone and delivery service in a cost effective and safe way.  It is difficult to do more than 15 deliveries a day especially when it tends to be bulk low cost items such as peats and compost.  Whilst it would have been a good service to offer our customers, we also took into account that we didn’t believe it was "essential" and difficult to square this with safety of our staff.  We have furloughed 92% of our staff with small teams left at each garden centre site to water plants etc, Birdworld has a bigger team as the bird welfare continues if we are open or not, our finance department is still working as we have our year end to complete, pay staff and pay a reducing purchase ledger every month.  We continue talking with our teams, posting videos from me on our staff section of our website with the view of keeping everyone engaged and updated on our situation.

“Our bank is being very supportive and last week we applied for one of the government backed CBIL via HSBC to secure our shot term cash position.  We are now looking at a number of scenarios on how we will have to adapt our trade taking into account "social distancing".  We have looked that supermarkets and learnt from what they have done, so screens around the cash desks, markings on the floor, max number shopping at any one time etc. 

"We are talking regularly to our suppliers, especially on the plant side.  We need our suppliers and it is essential that they see a future and survive to rebuild their businesses, it goes without saying without them we all fail.  What we fear is that it will be months before we are able to open our restaurants which represents close to 25% of our sales.  I understand that restaurants are opening up on the continent but waiter service only, so we may have to adjust our service style for at least the short term.

“On the positive side I believe that garden centres will be seen as reasonably safe places to visit, over 60% of retail space outside, wide paths etc will help with this perception.  We are destinational with large well-spaced car parks, our customer drive rather than use public transport which I think people will avoid.  Our customers will have been stuck at home enjoying their gardens so when we are re-open they will have some pent up demand which we will benefit from.  I also hope and believe we will be one of the first non-essential retailers to be allowed to open which will help build the momentum back.  It will take some time and is not going to be easy, but we will be in a better place than many retailers!  For sometime I believe our customers will stay more at home and holiday less, that has to be good for garden centres!”

Mike Burks, The Gardens Group: “We are trading with telephone orders and home delivery. We are checking every day that staff are happy to continue this and have ensured enough space so that we are observing the distancing to keep us safe. We have perhaps a dozen staff at Castle Gardens, a similar number at Brimsmore including the farm shop and just a fab four at Poundbury!

“We have kept on a chef at Brimsmore and at Castle who sorts tea breaks and lunch for everyone.

“Drivers have kits to keep them safe and deliveries are to the front of houses. Customers are observing the rules too.

“We believe that we are keeping vulnerable people at home where they should be. It keeps them safe, mentally active and in a few weeks time they will start producing their own food.

“In conversations with customers on the phone especially the elderly it’s clear that many are bewildered and a call that takes 30 seconds to take an order often extends to 10 or 25 minutes as the team just chat.

“The feedback from customers is astonishingly positive.

“We are also delivering plants free of charge to local schools, nursing and residential homes and to hospitals for the staff.

“How long we can continue this remains uncertain and we review every day.

“Supplies coming in are patchy but we are getting good support from T&M seeds, Decco, Westland, Stax and Evergreen with a number of nurseries including Farplants and local bedding suppliers.

“Some of the small suppliers are just delighted to be moving some stock and we have prioritised what cash we can release to these suppliers.

“We have always been set up to deliver but its a completely different model to normal trading. I'm sure that we aren't making anything out of it but we believe we are doing the right thing keeping the public at home and safe.

“I understand that there are other opinions and I respect those who have made the decision to stay closed.

“Our delivering is no different to the hundreds of courier companies out there delivering for Amazon and co

“Reopening looks a long way off and it won't be simple. We are working on how we keep distancing in store, how we protect till staff and how we get the centres back up to being fully stocked with the relevant product. It won't be straightforward.”

Gerald Ingram, Planters and Garden King: “We have increased our unfurloughed team from today.  Partly because looking after a plant area is a full-time job!  Everything has survived but ideally it needs more care than we were able to give it.  Also following the Governments direction that essential stores can sell none essential items, (following reports of police patrolling supermarket aisles making people take none essential items out of the basket) we are more open about adding garden items to pet and aquatic orders for collection.

“On Wednesday we are doing a compost delivery service.  This will be one multipurpose compost on the van, minimum order 6 bags, delivery charge applies, trying to keep things simple.

“I’m taking delivery of three trolleys of plants this week.  The first since lockdown!

“At Garden King, Darren got his on-line ordering up and running very quickly and as a result his trading last week wasn’t far off last year thanks to some large furniture orders.”

Justin Williams, Fron Goch: “What incredible times! Very frightening times for people who are more vulnerable and those who worked within the NHS. After this terrible health crises I imagine an economic one could follow? Especially for an industry like ours which has a large amount of perishable or seasonal product.

“We are running, like many other centres, with a very tight team servicing online sales only. Like others, we have had to turn off most products on our site for the last week as we are still catching up.

“Everyday we try and streamline and make the process more efficient but it is a totally different business model and we are all exhausted. We have two vans delivering 7 days a week. Last week we quadrupled our sales estimate to reach 30-40 deliveries per day so there is something to smile about.  Key is making sure the deliveries include furniture and bbq’s etc and not just low value compost.

“It seems impossible to guess the right answers to product levels on the nursery, cancelling or delaying furniture containers. We are still hopeful of a decent late spring and summer, no doubt the current restrictions have seen an huge increase in interest for gardening and it's mental and physical health. This situation seems like it won't disappear but more likely change slowly. We already have great interest in Click and collect and it may well become an important need for those more vulnerable who have to isolate for much longer.

“Another worry is staffing, even if restrictions are lifted soon, filling the gaps of those self isolating seems daunting. Support from the community has been wonderful, our delivery teams have been very warmly received by grateful customers, who are able to stay at home and garden.

“Seeing the place empty and quiet is incredibly sad, I can't wait to see the centre and restaurant open and full of energy and life again.”

Alan Roper, Blue Diamond: “I have had my battle with the virus but now clear. My operations team and the teams that are not on furlough who are operating the Home delivery operations are magnificent. They have been totally supportive of our shut down sales initiatives. We are operating on a can-do culture.

“Demand is enormous as one would expect. We set off from the starting gates the day after shutdown to reposition the business to Home deliveries and online and its working, its successful. Of course, it doesn’t match the centres normal trade as our deliveries are just gardening. However, if you take just sales of plants and gardening sundries our sales volumes through Home deliveries is running at about 85% of last year’s sales when the centres were open. We have 37 sites this year compared to 30 last year but the sales figure is growing every day.

“Click and collect will very much be at the forefront of our strategy when we reopen.

“My hopes are limited when it comes to normal trade within the centres for the remaining length of the season. It’s the best strategic approach because it focusses you on adapting to the new world order and innovating to create opportunities for sales during shutdown.

“I suggested to the HTA two and a half weeks ago to just ask for the plant areas to open. All garden centres have open covered areas which can be converted to sell garden care products, tools, composts etc alongside the plant area. Access can be arranged directly into plant areas on most sites. Open air retail is a positive USP.

“This policy avoids clashing with high street who are closed and cannot sell products such as Home and Fashion, when we could. This approach would stop allegations of unfairness. UK garden centres have much broader high street offer than our European counterparts where garden centres are open. Germany and Austria are just two examples.

“Of course if they allow garden centres to open with non-gardening products roped off that would also work.

“This lockdown will run for some time and I don’t see any movement on garden centres. Maybe a fresh approach is needed?”

After publishing GTN Xtra last night we've now had feedback from other centres including a record-breaking day online on Easter Monday at Longacres, how a veg hub is working wonders in Cornwall, how 12 vans are delivering up to 200 orders a day at Coolings, feedback from Matthew at Bents and comment from deepest Kent's Grovewell Garden Centres.

Edward Boult, Grovewell Garden Centres: “Looking into and understanding the magnitude of the contagiousness levels of this terrible virus, we took the 'ethical' decision to totally lock down all 4 sites for the initial 3 weeks that Boris asked for.

“This was in order to protect Staff, Customers and the Community. Explaining to customers that as a family business we felt this was the right thing to do and that it was still early for 'Essential' Gardening! We have a vast amount of praise from sections of the general public for this action, (although some don't get it and just want their seeds & compost etc!)

“We are looking to re-start deliveries, depending on what is said in tonight's (Thursday's) Government review, although we are not sure how we will cope as the demand will be huge!

“We have been operating a skeleton staff, who have done a wonderful job maintain the sites and plant areas look amazing! In addition, we have been putting in place plans for re-opening, looking at how we will control customer numbers, till screening and till processes, click and collect systems which we feel many customers will want as opposed to traditional shopping.

“We have been in regular communication with our plant nurseries and other suppliers; generally getting ready to ramp things up, as I have a funny feeling that when we are allowed to re-open we will be rather busy?

“Many staff are itching to get back, but we need to provide a safe working environment and understand that we are going to have to operate in several new and different ways.

“In reality it has become harder, with so many people acting in different ways and so many people attacking our marketplace.  Local hardware shops selling all gardening, compost and seeds etc, Local Farm shops selling plants, odd places operating Click and Collect schemes (which involves opening your premises which I thought you couldn’t) others delivering, some Supermarkets, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Aldi etc promoting spring plants & gardening, selling clothes, toys, electronics, housewares etc and now Tesco's has cleared their Easter Eggs and replaced the contents of the whole shopping aisle with gardening and Amazon selling everything! I do give B&Q credit as they have locked down to essential lines only, hardware, plumbing, electrical essentials (although I have heard they may now be selling some plants and gardening?)

"When is a non-essential product not non-essential? I just don't get how gardening is deemed non-essential then certain supermarkets put big banners with get ready for spring etc and roll it out also selling clothes, homewares etc.  It just seems like everyone is finding ways to 'bend the rules'."

Matthew Bent, Bents Garden & Home has added this afternoon: “The team and I are well, adapting and changing everyday to the 'new normality' for the time being.

“We are currently doing well in our food hall, with the better days towards the end of the week.  We have a good combination of dairy, meat from the butcher, bread, everyday essentials and more premium items, which seems to be working well at the moment.

“Online is going well due to the great weather and demand from customers, although it is difficult to get all the plant lines on and find a safe way to deliver them.  We also have set up a local delivery service for gardening, plants and compost which is working well for the local community.   It is helping us tick over, but a small percentage compared to previous years.

“Who knows what the future holds short term, we are planning for either end May or End June to end lockdown.  I am sure the opening will be slowly and controlled to defined places or retailers, hopefully the HTA can get the garden centres at the top of the list.  Similar to what other countries have been doing so far.”

Edward Boult, Grovewell Garden Centres 

Paul Cooling, Coolings, writes: “At Coolings we were fortunate to have already had a web-shop that catered for keen gardeners across the UK searching for unusual plants.  The IT and EPOS teams have worked really hard to adapt that successfully to offer a broad range of plants along with a core selection of composts and gardening sundries but just to our local area that we can deliver to using our own transport. 

“As our gardening teams are not working, we have up to 12 vans that can deliver up to 200 orders per day.  Unfortunately there is so much demand that we have had to turn off the web-shop as we cannot keep up (over 1000 orders placed in 36 hours).  Even with the high volume, this activity is not profitable although we are turning stock back into cash and, as the majority of our stock is perishable, that will save on plant maintenance costs and reduce the compost mountain at the end of the season. 

“At the end of the day we are a retail destination that relies on people visiting our sites, selecting their own choice of plants and supplies then loading it all into their cars and taking it home.  We are not set up as a stock picking and despatch company.  200 orders a day may sound like a lot but it's a fraction of the number of visitors we would normally have at this time of year.  Overall our plant & sundries takings last week through the web-shop were about 33% of the same week last year at the Rushmore Hill site.

“Coolings Potted Garden at Bearsted near Maidstone and Coolings Wych Cross in the Ashdown Forest remain closed with two horticulturalists each day keeping the stock watered.  Some stock has been transferred to Knockholt to improve efficiency and help fulfil online orders.

“At Coolings Green & Pleasant, the six COOK freezers and limited food offering allowed the shop to remain open.  When the local village shop closed, as it could not control social distancing, we enlarged the range of produce available which has been a very popular move among local residents. 

“Again takings last week were running at about a third of where they were last year through the shop although we have lost all the traffic through the Café and the popular Nature Trail.  At this site we have sold a few BBQs and sets of furniture as a result of online and telephone enquiries but it's a drop in the ocean compared to what we should be doing for the time of year.  It's made all the more frustrating by having the perfect weather too.

“Overall, when running the numbers, we know that we are making no more money (or losing no less) than those who have closed their doors completely and furloughed all their staff.  What we do have is a core of enthusiastic staff who are keeping busy and that has to be a good thing for mental wellbeing as well as keeping some wheels of trade in motion which is good for the local economy.  Most of all we hope that, as restrictions are relaxed, customers will return to Coolings first as the contact has been maintained albeit limited.”

Micheal Ainley at Longacres reports: “As most of the store is closed (we’re open for food and pet supplies only) sales were roughly 10% of what we’d expect to take on an Easter weekend (and the irony of one with such lovely weather was not lost on us.) Normal year on year comparisons have become pointless anyway – there seems very little we can consider ‘normal’ at the moment.

“We had a record-breaking day online on Easter Monday when we opened up a new load of delivery slots.  Demand is exceptional and we’ve had some great feedback from people who are immensely grateful for our delivery services. We’re delivering locally and nationwide and we can barely keep up at times. Customers are often confused about what they can and can’t shop for – if we had a pound for every ‘but can’t I just come and buy some plants’ query it’d go some way to offsetting the lost sales!

“We're doing local delivery from Bagshot, Bybrook Barn and Shepperton.  Chobham and Chelmsford are closed at the moment, unless we get some movement on plant retail.

“The phones have been utterly relentless.  Along with customer service queries we’ve been offering a food delivery package for elderly and vulnerable local customers which has been very popular.”

And down in deepest Cornwall, Sarah Daniel at Pengelly Garden Centre told us: “We're all good down here, my team are amazing and working like trojans on the fruit and veg community hub that I set up. We are helping local suppliers, fruit, veg, milk, eggs and bakery to get their products to the public. They've all been hit hard with the closure of restaurants, pubs and hotels so this is helping them a little and also getting food to people who cannot get out.

“It was a nightmare to start with, the phone never stopped, but we introduced an online ordering system, thanks Nat at Porters for the tip off, and have used shopify to ease the congestion. You don't need to be a computer whizz to set it up and it looks reasonably professional. We are now working with some local growers to get their plants listed too, we'll deliver them to the doorstep with the food orders.

“We have struggled from the start to keep up with orders, we have a team of volunteers who do some of the deliveries and are glad to help out. We are going to streamline our opening hours this week to Monday to Friday so that the whole team can have a break, it’s very intense work and there is no let up all day. We're still all smiling though, and it just hammers home to me what a great crew I have here at Pengelly.”

Please keep sending in your experiences or running delivery services and your thoughts on how you'll get back to business differently when restrictions are eased.  E-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or use the comments button below.  Stay Safe and well!

Following the launch of GrowNation, the free E-Commerce web site for garden centres, GTN Xtra has been asking Steve Meleka to give more information about the site and the reasons behind the initiative.

"It’s been brilliant to see garden centres coming up with their own local delivery services, but what we're hearing is that they're coming up against very similar sets of challenges over and over. The demand is absolutely massive from consumers at the moment, but efficiency and organisation are needed to take advantage of it whilst keeping costs down.

"Centres who are relying on Facebook, email, manual card payments, spreadsheets and the like are finding it really inefficient and overwhelming for their staff. It’s also creating customer service problems which is putting people off. We’re seeing lots of centres having to either keep pausing their service due to overwhelming demand or sadly, just throwing up their hands and giving up.

"We realised weeks ago that an easy to set up online platform was the answer, so we got to work straight away. We’ve been talking with some the most innovative growers and wholesalers already who are helping us by pre-populating product information for their lines. This means garden centres can very easily choose which products from which suppliers they want to list on their own storefronts. The process we’ve designed is really quick and easy to do, even for people who’ve never had an online store before.

"In most cases there will already be product names, descriptions, photos and suggested retail prices in place, but these can all be adjusted by the retailer in any way they like. Nat from Porters Fuchsias has been brilliant, supporting us by giving us data to work with and getting our name out to other growers who can benefit from our project.

"Wholesalers don’t need to change the way they operate, in fact we expect all the existing relationships to remain the same. The benefit for retailers is that they’re effectively taking back-orders and payment straight away, then ordering from wholesalers in the usual way.

"A slightly different example would be Fallen Fruits, their entire drop-ship range is being added at the moment, so retailers can sign up, list their products and sell them right away. There’s nothing else for them to do other than take the customers money, Fallen Fruits deliver orders direct to the garden centres’ customers.

"The priority for us is to make it as quick and easy as possible for garden centres to start taking advantage of online sales, so we've launched with a no-risk option. We charge a flat commission on sales, so we only benefit if the store owner does. We also organise and process all the payments, then pay garden centres direct. We’re currently negotiating with payment platform providers to get the best possible card processing rate on behalf of retailers as a group, which is something they wouldn’t be able to do individually.

"We’re not expecting to see any significant change to the current lockdown restrictions for a while yet, and even when that happens, it’s unlikely it will be possible to drive the same levels of footfall and business through garden centres. We think we can help there too, so we’ve already built a click & collect option into the platform that we’ll give centres access to when the government tell us it’s safe. We think that even if centres are allowed to open, some customers would rather still buy this way, especially if they’re in one of the vulnerable groups.

"Click and collect has been growing even faster than on-line direct delivery over the last few years. It’s hugely more efficient than local deliveries which restrict you to a relatively small number of orders per hour. We’re working with commercial and local authority environmental health specialists to design safe collection protocols which are supported by features in our software.

"Click and collect could be a really useful halfway house between what we can do now and centres being allowed to re- open. We expect centres to be able to fulfil around 30 collections per hour per collection point with minimal staff. If the demand is higher, the platform supports an unlimited number of additional collection points or bays.

"We can offer garden centres the ability to start selling right away. If they’ve got products to list now they just need to get them over to us and we’ll get them set up. We also need to engage with as many wholesale partners as possible to really turbocharge the project. When centres can immediately start listing all of their existing suppliers’ products, they’ll be able to begin generating cash and paying their bills again, which can’t come soon enough for everyone’s sake.

"We don’t want to disrupt any existing supplier/garden centre relationships, garden centres will continue to order and pay suppliers as before. What we’re doing is allowing centres to sell online quickly by listing the products, processing payment and providing a set of tools for managing orders and local deliveries.

Read more and follow the links to register for GrowNation using this link

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Derek Spicer, owner of Kilworth Conifers, passed away on March 30th from complications following surgery for oesophageal cancer. He was 77.

A long-time champion of conifers in Britain, Derek has run Leicestershire-based Kilworth Conifers with wife Carole for more than 40 years. He was a founder member and Chairman of the British Conifer Society, and author (with Aris Auders) of the two-volume RHS Encyclopedia of Conifers (2012).

Hozelock announces the appointment of John Grayson as Commercial Director for UK and Ireland, Scandinavia and Southern Hemisphere.

John brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team. Following a successful career in home décor, he moved to Fiskars where he was Managing Director for the UK and Regional European Director before moving to Melbourne as Managing Director for Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific.

Simon Davies Hozelock Group Sales and Marketing Director commented; “We are very pleased to welcome John into the Hozelock family and look forward to continuing to develop with our partners under his leadership.”

John also commented; "I'm delighted to be joining the Hozelock Group and working with the team to maintain growth and help deliver continued success in category sectors that I know well. Adding value to this business by utilising extensive customer and global sector knowledge is a prospect that I'm really looking forward to."

John replaces Adrian Davey who has been Hozelock Commercial Director since joining the business in 2014. Adrian and John will work closely together over a four-month transition period, to ensure that customers are fully supported throughout the season.

If you want to keep your staff up to date with what's happening in the industry during the lockdown how about adding a link to the GTN Xtra weekly e-mail newsletter into your staff communications.

All you need to do is add this link: www.gardentradenews.co.uk and that will take them to the current issue.

Or you can add an RSS feed of our newsletter using this link: http://tgcmc.newsweaver.co.uk/gtnxtra/rss/

Don't forget to send us your news and views during lockdown, GTN Xtra continues to be read at very high levels, for which thank you.  Send your news and views to: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Haskins Garden Centre in Snowhill, Crawley, has opened its doors to customers following a 12-month refurbishment costing £15m.

The new centre boasts a retail space of 11,813 sq.m., including an outdoor plant area and 440-seat restaurant complete with a newly installed pizza oven. Additional space has also been created to accommodate 170 restaurant guests on an outdoor patio.

Up to 70 new jobs have been created to accommodate the centre's expansion. Car parking has increased to 346 spaces.  See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the new centre below.

Chief executive Julian Winfield said the Snowhill team worked tirelessly to ensure the centre was able to remain open for the majority of the project, with minimal disruption.

“We can't wait to receive our customers' feedback on our new and improved facilities,” he added. “Over the years, we have built a loyal customer following and we are proud to be able to give back to them in this way with our new expanded centre.”

Haskins acquired the Snowhill site in 2003, inheriting a number of ageing buildings.

Haskins also has centres in Ferndown in Dorset, West End in Southampton and Roundstone in West Sussex. The family business recently acquired Forest Lodge Garden Centre, Bird World and Garden Style in Farnham.

Pictured (left to right): Julian Winfield, Jamie Haskins, Ally Haskins (married to Jamie) and Warren Haskins, the group's chairman. 

The opening event was attended by the current GCA Chairman Mike Burks and three past Chairs; Warren Haskins, Sue Allen and Julian Winfield.

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 2018 as well as 2019 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 Products 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 £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 call 01733 775700.

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