The Garden Centre Group has announced the appointment of Rupert Gavin to the Board of the Company as a Non-Executive Director.

Gavin is the CEO of Odeon & UCI Cinemas, owned by Terra Firma. Prior to joining Odeon he held senior positions at the BBC, BT and Dixons.

Stephen Murphy, Chairman of The Garden Centre Group, said: "I am extremely pleased to welcome Rupert to the Board of The Garden Centre Group.

"Rupert brings a wealth of commercial experience that will greatly assist TGCG in achieving its goal of increasing customer visits by enriching the shopping experience and making our centres exciting destinations to visit.

"As a keen gardener and as the former publisher of Gardeners’ World Magazine and many popular gardening books, Rupert will also bring a personal enthusiasm and knowledge which will be a further significant contribution."

HTA Chief Executive Carol Paris found herself the centre of attention during the presentation of the Greatest Christmas Awards in Harrogate when she entered into the festive spirit and donned a rather fetching Santa's outfit.

Word about Carol's costume soon spread around the town with some exhibitors at Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair breaking off their own evening entertainment to get a peep of her outfit.

Carol wore her Santa outfit to co-present The Greatest Christmas Awards with Bestsellers analyst Trevor Pfeiffer, who was dressed as an elf, at the Majestic Hotel.

Commenting on the awards, Carol said: “I was truly amazed at the astounding quality of the 100s of displays visited by the expert judges in The Greatest Christmas Awards.

“I cannot tell you how delighted I was to be one of the judges for these awards. Having always been an entrant in the awards it was a pleasure to see how rigorously all the entries were considered. Every single centre was visited, every team was talked to and the discussion to arrive at the choice of winners was both passionate and professional.

“I now realise on the occasions in the past when Garden & Leisure didn’t win there were simply teams that were better than us.

"The stories reported back about the team work makes me so proud to be part of this industry. Nobody does Christmas like garden centres!"

Christmas shoppers headed to garden centres rather than the high street for their festive decorations and gifts in November and December (2013) with sales in both categories up on the same months last year.

The Garden Centre Association’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures revealed Christmas sales were up by 12.57% in November and 5.95% in December compared to the previous year.

Peter Burks, Chairman of the GCA, explained: “Sales of gifts during November were up 8.14% compared to the previous year and December gift sales were up 5.58% on 2012.

“It’s encouraging to see more people preparing for Christmas by visiting garden centres in their areas instead of high streets to pick up essentials.”

November’s sales of clothing were up by 13.37% compared to the previous year. Outdoor plants also performed well during December with a 16.13% change.

The best performing categories overall during 2013 were food hall/farm shop, which was up 8.05% and furniture and BBQs, which saw an increase of 6.46% due to improved weather.

Overall sales at GCA garden centres in 2013 were up 3.3%.

Peter added: “I’d like to thank all of our member garden centres for their hard work during 2013. The year has been a learning curve for us all and we look forward to even more positive sales in 2014.”

The GCA BoT reports are compiled using actual sales figures and provide an up-to-date trading position statement.

The BoT reports produced by the GCA allow member garden centres to compare their trading positions with other centres.

David Danning, Director of Trelawney Garden Centre, Wadebridge, said: “The last few years for us, Christmas sales have been disappointing, along with many others, and it was so pleasing to start to see a reverse in that trend this year.

“We have a renewed confidence in the department and have looked in detail at our layout and selection for the coming year. As the BoT figures are broken down into each product group we can see where we have done particularly well and those areas we need to work at harder. Retailing in this day and age isn’t easy and information like this is paramount to help us grow and to survive.”

The magic of Christmas sprinkled over the garden centre industry last weekend as The Greatest Christmas Awards for 2013 were presented on Sunday evening at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.

From conversations the GTN team had during the evening and at the Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair, it's clear that where garden centre owners invested in creating a better Christmas Experience, not only did they increase footfall, they also saw big increases in festive product sales and restaurant turnover.

One of the biggest contributors to this is on-line booking as opposed to the traditional queues to see Santa in the grotto. While the lack of queues snaking around a garden centre may lose some “atmosphere”, the benefits can be seen in the tills as happy customers spend more time and more money.

The Greatest Awards team discovered that even if a centre doesn’t build a magical grotto on the scale of ‘World of Grottos’ winners such as Chessington Garden Centre, they can still make the experience very magical.

Merryhatton Garden Centre (pictured above) phoned all of the parents who had booked in advance to find out information about their child to add into Santa’s book. Now that is guaranteed to make the visit magical!

And skating rinks installed under covered planterias meant a better skating experience too, leading to more footfall and more time spent spending, eating and drinking.

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here 

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Crest Garden Ltd is the name of the new venture headed by Nick Davies as Managing Director. 

The company which benefits from the financial backing of Westland Horticulture Group will commence trading in late summer 2014. Crest Garden Ltd is a stand-alone business but will utilise part of the Westland infrastructure to support its start-up and establishment. 

Davies is in the process of establishing an experienced team of managers who have many years experience in the UK and international garden business.

Andy Abraham becomes Sales Director and Colin Smart becomes Commercial Director both of whom previously held senior management positions at Solus. 

The business will focus on developing quality products and high levels of customer service.

Commenting on the new business, Davies said “The team here at Crest Garden have many years experience of new product development and providing high levels of customer service to the traditional garden market.

"We have the advantage of starting with a blank canvass and will bring to the market innovative new ideas that meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated retail environment.” 

The new plans, which include a £5 million investment in improving surrounding highway access, envisage a Waitrose alongside Wheatcroft Garden Centre, part of the 18-store Notcutts group for the past five years.

Waitrose have already announced plans for a branch next to Notcutts’ Maidstone store, which would eventually move to a new site.

Meanwhile, plans are in the pipeline for a £14m development next Notcutts at Bagshot.

In the 1980s, The Notcutts store at Shirley, Solihull, was the first garden centre in the UK to have a supermarket (Tesco) move in next door.

Reconised as the leading artificial Christmas tree supplier, National Tree Company recently joined forces with the team from Norfolk Leisure to ensure that their finely crafted trees and decorations will now be available to all.

The first joint venture at Harrogate proved to be a huge success, with customers flocking to the stand to place orders with both National Tree Company and directly with Norfolk Leisure.

“Having been in the industry for so many years even National Tree Company was surprised at the positive reaction to the new partnership,” said Nick Anderson, Director at Norfolk Leisure. “Customers know us and appreciate the high level of quality of the National Tree Brand, so opening new avenues of supply in the UK was a logical step.”

Due to the exceptional response at Harrogate, National Tree Company and Norfolk Leisure are pleased to announce that they will now exhibit at the Spring Fair next month.

National Tree Company have exhibited at Harrogate for over 20 years but previously had only offered the leading brand in direct containers with FOB pricing. Norfolk Leisure are now able to offer the catalogue ex warehouse and DDP containers, with the added bonus of full back up and support from the Norfolk based team.

According to Debbie: “it was an easy decision for us to work with National Tree Company, our early research proved that they are at the top of their game for artificial trees and decorations and the brand would fit comfortably into our company profile and the brand model we have developed carefully over the last couple of seasons. It is a real pleasure to work with a business that has such a long history and like us very strong family orientation”

Norfolk Leisure has however had to re-think their strategy slightly after returning from Harrogate.

“Originally we had planned to offer a more limited range of products then National Tree Company but based on the success of Harrogate and seeing first-hand the response from the customers to the incomparable range of trees, we now plan to expand our offer considerably and provide the UK customers with a full catalogue. “said Nick “ This will be presented now in its entirety at SPRING FAIR 2014”

We are excited about the future with National Tree Company and hope to see many more customers on our Spring Fair stand in Hall 2, H44-K45

For further information  call +44 (0)1553 811717 or email christmas@norfolkleisure.co.uk

The National Tree Company Brochure 2014 is available to download from the Norfolk Leisure Website www.norfolkleisure.co.uk

Sinclair will pay interest of around 2% above base rate on the working capital facility, over an minimum initial term of two years. following which it is terminable at six months’ notice by either party. The property loan will cost them 3% above base rate and is repayable by quarterly instalments over five years or out of the proceeds on the settlement due from Natural England over their Bolton Fell peat bog claim.

Shareholders will be asked to approve the deal at a general meeting.

Sinclair CEO Peter Rush said : “The completion of this refinancing, which increases our total borrowing facilities significantly, positions the company to deliver the board’s objectives of greater operational efficiency, scale and growth.  We are pleased to have found in RBS a supportive partner for the next phase of William Sinclair’s development.”

Town & Country have pledged to donate 15% of all online sales to Greenfingers – a move which the company believe will provide the charity with a regular income stream and one that will be of great help going forward.

T&C chief executive Barry Page said:  “I have seen the work that Greenfingers carries out for children’s hospices across the UK first hand and it is inspirational and we are keen to do our bit to ensure that they can continue their amazing work. 

"We have been increasing our marketing, PR and social media activity – all with a view to driving traffic to the website, where purchases can be translated into vital contributions to the Greenfingers fundraising initiative.”

Chairman of Greenfingers Matthew Wilson commented:  “Town & Country has long been a supporter of Greenfingers and we already have them to thank for help in producing the video we are currently using to raise awareness of the work we do. 

"This latest initiative – which will see Greenfingers receive a generous percentage of their online sales – will provide a valuable contribution to our fundraising efforts.” 

For further information contact Town & Country on 01530 830990 or email info@townandco.com.

Greenfingers have announced that three founder trustees are standing down from the board of the charity. 

The end of the trustees’ tenure was expected after over 15 years of service and outstanding contribution since the charity began.

The three trustees are:

Richard Jackson - Greenfingers founder and former chairman; a well know face in the horticultural industry, writer, broadcaster and presenter for QVC.

John Little – Current Greenfingers treasurer; chairman of Poplars Garden Centre, the largest independent garden centre in Bedfordshire.

Chris Webb – Current Greenfingers secretary; Business Manager at Fulham Palace Garden Centre in London with over 25 years experience in the industry.

In recognition of all the work the three trustees have done for Greenfingers over the years, lifetime honoury roles have been created for them which, whilst not holding any official responsibility, will see them continue to be linked to the charity.

Richard Jackson has been given the honoury role of Founder President, whilst John Little and Chris Webb will become Honoury Members of the charity.  The new honoury appointments reflect the outstanding contributions these people have made to Greenfingers since the charity’s inception over 15 years ago.

Matthew Wilson, Chairman of Greenfingers, thanked the trustees for their contributions, saying: "Everyone at Greenfingers would like to say a huge thank you to the three trustees who are stepping down at this point – the contribution they have each made to the charity has been immense and whilst they will be missed, the can rest easy in the knowledge that Greenfingers will go forward with strength and drive thanks to all the hard work they have put in.

"And of course, we are delighted to have their continued involvement in these new honoury positions, particular with Richard Jackson in his role as Founder President."

As his official time at Greenfingers draws to a close Richard Jackson added: "I feel incredibly privileged to be appointed to this new role with Greenfingers. It is a very exciting stage in the development of the charity and I’m delighted to continue to be part of it."

The new treasurer and secretary of Greenfingers will be announced soon, with new appointments to the board of trustees being during in the year.

George Bishop, Assistant Manager for Squires Woking and Will Michieli, Plant Advisor for Monkton Elm Garden and Pet Centre at Taunton, will describe their journey to success on Tuesday 28 January.

Keith Nicholson, Westland marketing director explained how the 2013 programme had attracted 12 applicants, with four shortlisted for the full programme, all go-getting ambitious individuals “Two were promoted within their businesses during the year. As the whole process was so successful, in 2014 we’re hoping for a greater number of applicants,” said Nicholson.

The 2013 programme included three seasonal workshops (facilitated by Ian Boardman and sponsored by Westland), aimed at increasing awareness of key merchandising skills. Participants were then challenged to try these ideas back at their centres and deliver measurable results, for example, increased sales. Results were reviewed before planning for the next season.

George Bishop said: “We have become much more proactive. Planning ahead more, being ready to change displays and product placing if the weather changes.

 “I can now think like a customer more – and aim to make it easier for customers to shop and spend.”

Will Michieli (pictured left) said: “We worked on the average spend and now understand net profit and the effect we can have on it.

 “I now realise how vital the personal touch is and how it affects what people spend on the day. I am now looking ahead to the coming year with new ideas for improved POS signs.”

All entrants were invited to attend the GCA Conference later this month, courtesy of Westland Horticulture, as part of the prize.

A new Rising Stars Programme will be developed for 2014.

Nicholson added: “This will allow more delegates to benefit from the workshops and the conference. They all have the potential of a great future in garden retail as the industry’s next generation of managers.”

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “We are aiming to involve a larger group to participate in the workshops throughout 2014. Ultimately we hope there will be four or five attending the conference, selected from the group, next time, which will be part of the prize itself.”

Anyone interested in applying for the 2014 programme should contact the GCA on 0118 930 8918 or visit www.gca.org.uk

The trial of Hayes Garden World garden centre owner accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice will resume with a new jury.

The judge in the case, Recorder Michael Hayton QC, discharged the jury yesterday.

Hayes, of Crook Road, Kendal, and Henderson, of Woodbank Terrace, Endmoor, both deny the same charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. 

The new jury will be sworn in on Monday January 20. 

There are positive signs in the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart that gardeners are gearing up for action.

Gloves, in particular, are in high demand with 10 lines in this week’s Top 50 bestselling products. The highest placed are Gardman Ladies Water Repellent Gloves at No 9 while three gloves in the Town & Country Winter Master Gardener range have found their way into the chart.

Two products from Brintons have had a good sales week, particularly Mould Magic Ready to Use, which is the highest re-entry at No 4. Meanwhile, Deck & Fence Magic is a new entry at No 19.

The highest new entry is Carbon Gold GroChar Soil Improver at No 8 and the highest climber is Gardman Bottle Lantern, jumping 33 places to No 13. Other Gardman newcomers this week include Soaker Hose (4m), Strawberry Planter (Green) and Hanging Flower Planter (Twin Pack).

Bosmere Tree Tie (60cm) is another new entry.

Topping the chart for a second week is Smart Solar Bright Eye Baby Penquin Light, followed by Fito Drip Feeder for Orchids. Gardman and Vitax drip feeders have also done well.

See the full GTN Garden Products Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Taylors Bulbs dominate the Veg-2-Gro chart this week with 23 entries, including nine onion sets and nine seed potatoes.

Onion sets are in big demand with Taylors Stuttgarter Giant Value Pack taking over at the top of the chart. Red Baron has had a good week too, climbing 15 places to No 2. But it was even beaten to the highest climber accolade by Sturon, jumping 16 places to No 4.

Stuttgarter Giant is the highest re-entry and Mixed Onion Sets (pack of 50) takes the highest new entry prize.

Taylors highest placed seed potatoes is a Taster Pack of Pentland Javelin, a re-entry at No 18. Unwins have eight seed potato lines in the Top 50, headed by Rocket at No 3.

Newcomers to the chart include Hilliard and Porter Seed Potatoes Charlotte and Suttons Parsnip Gladiator F1.

See the full GTN Veg 2 Gro Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only 

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here 

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

There were some good sales performances this week as 39 of the Top 50 bestselling lines in the Growing Media chart showed volume increases from the previous week.

The highest re-entry was Neolay Rubber Mulch Chips at No 9 and another returning product was Cambark Mini Nugget Bark.

Gardeners are also thinking about their vegetable planting with New Horizon Organic Vegetable Compost (60 litres) being the highest new entry at No 31.

And Scotts Levington Organic Choice Farmyard Manue (56 litres) is in demand, rising 38 places in the chart to No 11.

See the full GTN Growing Media Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here 

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

The Hillview Group have made two senior appointments, including Jo Wyles, who becomes garden centre manager at Hilltop. Jo (pictured above left) was the manager at Stratford Garden Centre.

The second appointment is Kate Hateley, who will be the Gift Coordinator for both Hilltop and Studley Garden Centre. Kate (pictured above right) was the previous gift buyer at  AIS, and has held simlar roles at Blooms Garden Centres and Webbs Of Wychbold.

Thompson & Morgan has signed a long term TV agreement with Leadthegoodlife.com – part of the Ideal Shopping Direct group.

Leadthegoodlife.com has increased visitor numbers in recent months to become the second most visited pure play horticultural site in the UK with an 18% share of horticultural traffic.  This partnership between Ideal Shopping Direct and Thompson & Morgan will help to dramatically enhance our gardening offering to customers.

Originating in a small garden behind a bakers shop in Ipswich, Thompson & Morgan is the UK’s number one horticultural brand operating throughout the world through its international website and seed catalogue, whilst supplying its popular seed range through major garden centres across Europe.  

With its own unique, multi-award winning plant breeding programme based in Suffolk, Thompson & Morgan is able to offer Leadthegoodlife.com customer’s exclusive varieties, grown and tested for proven garden performance.

Mike Hancox Chief Executive Officer of Ideal Shopping Direc, said “We are very proud to announce our partnership with Thompson& Morgan. We believe this partnership presents a great opportunity to establish us as a market leader in the gardening category, just as we have in crafts. 

"Having seen the horticultural industry change and develop in the last 6 months and a surge in customers we are confident it is now the perfect opportunity to partner with such a well-established industry player”.

John May, Chief Executive of Thompson & Morgan, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen to work with the professional and enthusiastic team at Leadthegoodlife.com. 

"We have joint plans to dramatically increase the range and quality of beautiful plants and tasty vegetables available to Ideal’s TV home shopping customers.  We know how passionate about pleasing gardeners the teams at Leadthegoodlife.com and Thompson & Morgan are”.

Stewart Group, the UK manufacturer and supplier of plastic moulded products for the gardening, home, professional catering, technical and packaging sectors, has appointed Andy Burns as Group Sales and Marketing Director.

Burns will have management responsibility for the growth and strategic development of Stewart’s sales and marketing activity across all sales channels.

Burns joins Stewart’s from Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s largest white goods manufacturer, where he held the positions of Head of Marketing and, more recently, Head of Sales for the UK. While at Whirlpool Corporation, Burns oversaw online, retail and trade channels worth a combined £45 million. 

Previously, Burns was Marketing Director at Stanley Europe with strategic marketing responsibility for the entire UK product portfolio. This comprised five product categories with a combined turnover of over £100 million. Burns reduced departmental costs by 14% and developed a forecasting model to maximise returns on financial resources. He also project managed, from concept to completion, Stanley Europe’s corporate brand and product showcase including a customer visitor centre. Burns was a key member of the steering committee that relocated Stanley’s UK Headquarters, transferring 120 people without disruption to the business.

Richard Butler, CEO at Stewart Group, said: “We welcome Andy to the company. With his background he can add extensive brand and category management expertise to our commercial team. His motivation and strategic marketing planning skills will also be vital assets to the future of Stewart Group.”

Burns commented: “I look forward to working closely with Nigel Thompson and the members of the sales & marketing team, together our aim will be to quickly build on our past successes and take the business onto the next level. We have an enviable brand position in the channels in which we operate and leveraging this to the benefit of our consumers & customers will be the key to our success.”

Stewart Group offers an extensive portfolio of products, from garden planters and propagators to food containers and specialist storage products. Three specialist divisions also work across the aerospace, automotive and medical industries.

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

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

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2012 as well as 2013 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most upto date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, or subscribe on-line here

or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Christmas Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Garden Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers.  Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.