Denys E. Head Ltd are in the final stage of a sale to Haskins Garden Centres Ltd.

Roger Head, Managing Director of Denys E. Head Ltd, has confirmed that he is in the process of selling the business, Forest Lodge, Garden Style and Birdworld, to Haskins Garden Centres Ltd and is working towards completing the sale over the next few weeks.

Roger Head said: “After setting up the business with my parents 40 years ago, I feel the time is right to retire and therefore sell the business. I have known Warren Haskins throughout this period and believe the Haskins business to be the perfect custodians to continue to develop Forest Lodge, Garden Style and Birdworld. I am very proud of the business and the team of people who have contributed so much to our journey and will work hard to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for the team and our customers.”

Warren Haskins, Chairman of Haskins Garden Centres Ltd, confirmed: “I am looking forward to Forest Lodge, Garden Style and Birdworld joining our family business. We have developed a great culture within Haskins and work hard to develop a long-term plan for all our sites, with a view of remaining a family owned, independent business.”

See GTN Xtra's photo gallery of Forest Lodge Garden Centre from April 2019 below:

Barton Grange regained the GCA Destination Garden Centre of the Year award and Fron Goch took the accolade for GCA Garden Centre of the Year at the GCA Annual Conference in Bristol tonight.

Eleven garden centres were announced as GCA Garden Centres of Excellence:

• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Bents Garden & Home
• Cowells
• Blue Diamond East Bridgford
• Fron Goch
• Perrywood Tiptree
• Simpsons Inverness
• Stewarts Christchurch
• The Old Railway Line Garden Centre
• Webbs of Wychbold

See more pictures from the GCA Annual Dinner and Conference in the next issue of GTN Xtra.

This years GCA Greenfingers challenge raised a massive £12,000 for the Greenfingers Charity.

'Orse Racin' on Sunday afternoon, a quiz on Sunday evening and an auction at the annual dinner tonight were the FUNdraising activities this year.

A huge thank you to all who took part.

Sir Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, has urged garden centres to see the environment crisis as a massive opportunity to make a difference to people's lives. "You should see yourselves as being at the pointy end of a new revolution," he told the GCA Conference in Bristol today (Tuesday).

"You are receptacles of marvellousness," he said. "Be aware.".

In a passionate address that gripped his audience, Sir Tim said horticulture was "so so important" to our futures and garden centres were places where grandparents and their grandchildren could go to feel safe. He acknowledged the "astonishing impact of greenery" on wellbeing.

A special themed party night at the Garden Centre Association conference saw delegates dressed in all types of fancy dress.

The winners of the Best Fancy Dress Award were King Canute & The Jellyfish (pictured above).

The second and third placed delegates are pictured below, along with a gallery of other suitably attired guests. 

Cowells Garden Centre - Ruxley Rose Winner (GC).

Garden centre staff across the country are celebrating after receiving awards at the Garden Centre Association’s annual conference in Bristol yesterday (Monday).

The awards were presented to the member garden centres during a ceremony at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “The hard work and dedication of our member garden centres improves year on year, meaning we have some of the highest standards in the industry.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our award winners as they are extremely deserving and are a shining example to others.”

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

The full list of winners announced on Monday, January 27 were:

• Christmas Competition (Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Whitehall Garden Centre – Whitchurch
• Christmas Competition (Destination Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Barton Grange Garden Centre
• Environment and Community Award – Garden Wise – Dumfries 
• Ruxley Rose (Garden Centre category) – Cowell’s Garden Centre
• Ruxley Rose (Destination Garden Centre category) – Perrywood Garden Centre Tiptree
• Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Creativity and Innovation – Bents Garden & Home
• Customer Service Award – Best Customer Service – The Old Railway Line Garden Centre
• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Squires Garden Centre – Hersham
• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – East Bridgford Garden Centre
• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne
• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – Simpsons Garden Centre
• Dick Allen Award (Most Improved Garden Centre) – Notcutts Garden Centre – Wheatcroft
• The ifse Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Garden Centre Category) – Fron Goch Garden Centre
• The ifse Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Destination Garden Centre Category) – Joint winners Bents Garden & Home and St Peter’s Garden Centre
• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Garden Centre Category) – Joint winners Squires Garden Centre – Hersham and Fron Goch Garden Centre
• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Destination Garden Centre Category) – East Bridgford Garden Centre
• GCA Grow Training Award – Klondyke Garden Centre – Byrkley Park.

Barton Grange Garden Centre - Christmas Competition winners (DGC).

Bents Garden and Home - Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Creativity and Innovation winners.

Bents Garden and Home - Best Garden Centre Restaurant winners (DGC).

Fron Goch Garden Centre - Best Garden Centre Restaurant winners (GC).

Fron Goch - Best Outdoor Living Retailer Award winners (GC).

Klondyke Garden Centre Byrkley Park - GCA GROW Training award winners.

Perrywood Tiptree - Ruxley Rose Winner (DGC).

Squires Garden Centre Hersham - Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer winners.

St Peter's Garden Centre - Best Garden Centre Restaurant winners (DGC).

The Old Railway Line Garden Centre - Best Customer Service award winners.

The most recent addition to the AMES UK Director team is Matt Wilson who joined the business in September. Matt is responsible for Finance and HR and comes with a wealth of relevant experience in privately owned business and large corporations.

Matt has set about bringing all AMES UK’s 300 employees into a harmonised system, streamlining policy and supporting the rest of the management team.

He is keen to point out the extraordinary employee retention in La Hacienda, Kelkay and Woodshaw with several members of the team having been on the payroll from the very start.

With his other hat on, Matt is focussing on the future sales growth of AMES UK and he was able to confirm their ambitious 20% growth forecast for 2020. Group turnover in the year ending September 2019 reached over £43million, a significant increase on the prior year and Matt’s confident that AMES UK – before the addition of Apta - will break the £50m barrier in 2020.

“It’s been a very busy first few months for me with major infrastructure projects here at Kelkay, the acquisition of Apta and the largest pre-season orders in the company’s history. I’m relatively new to the gardening industry, but I am reliably assured that what we need now is some sunshine. We are certainly very well prepared!”

The Klondyke Group Limited have just announced the acquisition of Garden Wise Plant and Garden Centre in Dumfries from Alistair and Gillian Bertram who will retire after a long career at the site.

The award winning centre in the south west of Scotland celebrates its 40th year in 2020 and becomes Klondyke’s 22nd garden centre.

The centre will continue to trade under the Garden Wise name and all of the staff will be retained by Klondyke.

Commenting on the acquisition David Yardley, Chief Executive of Klondyke said "Garden Wise has been long admired by Klondyke and is a great geographical addition to the group, becoming our sixth trading centre in Scotland".

See GTN Xtra's gallery of photos from Garden Wise taken in December 2017 below.

The Garden Centre Association has announced Phil McCann (above right) and Mark Taylor (above left) will be joining its team of inspectors.

The pair will be responsible for inspecting member garden centres in South Thames with Phil inspecting those in the Garden Centre category and Mark checking members in the Destination Garden Centre category.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, said: “We’re thrilled to have Phil and Mark joining our established team of inspectors.

“Phil has vast experience in the horticultural industry and graduated as a Plant Scientist and Mark studied at Writtle Agricultural College and has a HND in Commercial Horticulture.

“They will be integral in helping members to keep on improving standards and innovation through their annual inspection visits. The inspection process is very thorough and detailed, the GCA inspectors not only complete the inspection form during their visit but also give objective and honest feedback to the centres’ teams on the day before sending them their report.

“They will then make presentations at our regional meetings and during our annual conference in 2021.

“The 2020 inspections for member garden centres commence on March 16, 2020 and the inspectors are out visiting them until June 19, 2020, so those in South Thames can expect to see Phil and Mark soon.”

Phil graduated as a Plant Scientist and began his career in the horticultural industry as a Houseplant Manager at Prettywood Garden Centre near Manchester. He went on to become Plant Centre Manager at East Bridgford Garden Centre in Nottingham before selling seeds and young plants throughout the north and midlands for Unwins Seeds.

He then went on to sell Hillier Nurseries’ hardy nursery stock to garden centres across the north, midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland and has worked for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) as PR Manager for Shows and Gardens.

Recently Phil has been involved in creating an online garden centre and provides content for a variety of gardening websites. He is also a horticultural researcher and assistant producer for BBC gardening programmes and is the author of five gardening books and one cricket book. He is also a regular contributor to the RHS The Garden magazine.

As well as a HND in Commercial Horticulture, Mark has merchandising experience at macro and micro level having worked for Sainsbury’s Homebase. He was also the Planning Manager at Wyevale Garden Centres, where he was responsible for drawing up plans for refits and independent layout changes.

Prior to joining Wyevale, Mark worked for garden centre suppliers Nortene and Westland.

Three weeks into 2020 and so far every week has been up on the previous 3 years for volume sales according to the GTN Bestsellers EPOS data analysis.

The GTN Bestsellers year to date index sits at 10.4% up on last year, 21% up on the start for 2018 and 29% up on 2017's first three weeks of January.

Watch out for full analysis of January garden centre sales in GTN Xtra over the coming weeks and if you want to stay ahead of the competition, by a subscription to GTN Bestsellers using this link

Mike Burks will take over as Garden Centre Association (GCA) Chairman for 2020/21 at the start of the organisation’s annual conference tomorrow, January 27, 2020.

Mike, who is the Managing Director of The Gardens Group, will take the reins from outgoing Chairman, Mike Lind, who is also Managing Director of Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre.

He said: “I am greatly looking forward to my chairmanship and am lucky that the GCA has been in excellent hands with Mike Lind. With the association in such good shape, I can focus much of my time on driving forward with new initiatives and plan to visit many garden centres, attend meetings and work closely with the team to develop GROW, an e-learning tool that is very close to my heart, to make sure our members can get the most out of this valuable system.

“As well as sharing membership success stories, I’m keen to demonstrate the role that the industry can play in protecting wildlife and the environment, as well as bringing people together through plants and gardening to promote better health and wellbeing.

“We are in an enviable position, in that so many trends and needs of the modern world cross our path, so we need to work together to make the most of these opportunities.”

The Chairman of the GCA works closely with the GCA Executive and full Board of elected directors.

The GCA supports constructive relationships with other entities connected with retail and wholesale in the sector and promotes best practice across the industry.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “I am thrilled to have Mike as the new Chairman and congratulate him on being elected by our members.

“I am really looking forward to working with him when he takes on the role. He has already helped tremendously with the organising of our conference, which we will ensure will be bigger and better than ever.”

Mike has been on the GCA Executive Committee for more than 10 years.

He has also played an integral part in the creation and delivery of the GCA’s Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) which aims to give garden centres an opportunity to train staff to ensure their level of basic horticultural understanding is increased and that the necessary compliance training on topics such as health and safety and food hygiene is delivered.

Graduating with an honours degree in Horticulture from the University of Bath, Mike and his wife Louise, who is also a graduate in Horticulture from the University of Bath, founded The Gardens Group in 1987 with the opening of Castle Gardens in Sherborne. It has since expanded with the opening of Brimsmore Gardens in Yeovil in 1992 and Poundbury Gardens near Dorchester in 2006.

Although very much based in plants and core gardening, the garden centres are also renowned for their Christmas displays from October to December each year and Castle Gardens has won the GCA’s Christmas display competition nine times in the last 10 years.

Mike follows in the footsteps of his brother Peter Burks, who was GCA Chairman from 2012 until 2014.

The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide.

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

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

The ten finalists from the Westland GCA Rising Stars programme 2019 are making presentations at the GCA Conference tomorrow, Monday 27th January.

Jo Wilkinson from Westland says: "We’re celebrating their project achievements and sharing their learnings from the program. We’ll be opening up applications to the 2020 program which will feature a focus on sustainability."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Westland and GCA training programme which has so far seen 267 Rising Stars benefit from the scheme.

Westland has announced a £500,000 radio advertising and press campaign for its Peckish wild bird care brand.

The radio ads started last Thursday and will run for eight weeks, while press ads are scheduled through January and February, both timed to catch late winter/early spring interest in feeding and caring for garden birds.

In the UK, ads on Smooth Radio are expected to reach 7.1 million adults (including 2.5m ABC1s) and in the Republic of Ireland, ads on RTE’s Radio 1, 2FM and Lyric FM stations will reach 57% of all adults.

Listen to the radio ad here

Press ads will appear in Countryside magazine, the National Trust membership magazine and the Daily Mail.

In all, the campaign is targeting 12.7 million adults, including 7.4m ABC1s.

Sue Allen was confirmed as chairman of the Greenfingers Charity at its last week, when a new-look board was also introduced.

During his four years in the role, outgoing chairman John Ashley was instrumental in the further development of the charity, overseeing the completion of 10 gardens at UK children’s hospices, with four more in the planning; the launch of the ‘Million Moments’ campaign, which reached its £1million fundraising targetl in under three years; the launch of the Chairman’s Fundraising Dinner at the RAF Club, which has raised over £100,000 in three years; the appointment of patrons Ann-Marie Powell and Adam Frost; the development of the Greenfingers Charity brand, and the award-winning Greenfingers garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019.

Sue Allen is a well-known face in the garden retail industry, having established Millbrook Garden Centres in 1979 with her late husband, Dick. Now that the businesses are run by her extended family, Sue splits her time between the board of trustees for the Garden Centre Association, chairmanship of the GCA Trust and now, Greenfingers.

Sue, who has been involved with Greenfingers for more than 20 years, said she was excited to be guiding the charity over the next four. “From the development of fundraising opportunities, to building the Greenfingers brand nationwide, and encouraging our ambassadors and supporters to engage with us even more – the potential for growth is significant. I can’t wait to get started!” she added.

The AGM saw three trustees step down at the end of their tenure –post Scotsdale’s Caroline Owen, Dennis Espley (previously MD of Squire’s, now Non-Executive Chair of the Tillington Buying Group) and Carol Paris, CEO of Somerton Group,.  Two new trustees – Tammy Woodhouse, MD of Millbrook Garden Centres, and Richard Capewell – joined the board.

Linda Petrons, director of fundraising and communications, said: “On behalf of all of us at Greenfingers we’d like to thank John for everything he has done for the charity during his time as chairman. He has been a wonderful part of our development over the last four years and will be missed. We are of course excited to have Sue on board and look forward to seeing how we can move forward under her guidance.

“I’d also like to thank those trustees who have come to the end of their term. Their input has been invaluable, and I hope they will continue to support Greenfingers in the future.”

A review of Highlights of 2019 and  preview of plans for 2020 included:

• Almost £550,000 raised through FUNdraising activites
• Four new gardens completed at Grace House (Sunderland), Little Harbour (St Austell), Richard House (London), and Claire House (Wirral).
• Five new gardens set to be completed in 2020 at Haven House (Essex), Rainbow House (Loughborough), The Nook (Norfolk), St Oswald’s (Newcastle) and Ty Hafan (Vale of Glamorgan).
• Kew Green Hotel’s support of Greenfingers as its chosen charity will continue in 2020. To date staff in hotels across the country have raised over £380k.
• The team at STIHL raised over £10,000 in 2019 through a range of FUNdraising initiatives.
• New charity partnership with Clarins UK, which has chosen Greenfingers as its new charity partner
• Garden Re-Leaf Day 2020 – new teams signing up for the Sponsored Walk and Cycle Challenge, plus retailers thinking of new and exciting ways to get involved.
• The ‘Monte Carlo or Bust’ Rally race which will see teams travel through six countries in a £500 ‘banger’ as part of a FUNdraising adventure.
• The New Summer Ball at Barton Grange will be making its debut this June.
• Floral Thursday at Glee will return, though this year we hope to see many others ‘going floral’ for Greenfingers on 17 September.
• The GIMA Golf Day

…and the continuation of the Chairman’s Fundraising dinner at the RAF Club in London 3 November.

As part of the next phase of the industry-driven recyclable plant pot campaign, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) is to urge local authorities to collect recyclable plant pots in their kerbside collections.

The HTA wants member businesses to contact their local council to strongly encourage them to commit to collecting and recycling non-black plant pots. As well as providing members with a template letter, the HTA will write to the Local Government Association, the national membership body for local authorities, highlighting the issue and stressing the need for consistency on collection.

This follows the recent publication by recycling charity RECOUP of their 2019 ‘Household Plastics Collections Survey’ which shows that 10% of councils state that they collect plant pots as part of their household kerbside collections. This amounts to 40 councils, an increase on previous estimates.

RECOUP’s ‘Plastic Packaging in Horticulture - Recyclability By Design’ report provides the technical assurance that recyclable pots are fully recyclable by local authorities. This document outlines that there is a clear demand among plastic reprocessors for non-black polypropylene, from which the recyclable pots are made, and concerns over pot contamination should not present any issues if the pots are emptied by the consumer. There is an increasing desire amongst consumers, especially gardeners, to ‘do the right thing’ and they are looking to their local councils to help them achieve this.

HTA director of policy and communications James Clark said: “While it is encouraging to see the number of local authorities collecting recyclable plant pots from the kerbside has increased, there is clearly more work to be done. There is no reason why all local councils could not collect recyclable pots and we are calling on HTA member businesses to contact their local councillors to highlight the issue and ask them to act now. This is part of our wider strategy to engage with local authorities and waste management companies to close the loop, ensuring that an estimated 8,000 tonnes of pots are recycled from the kerbside.”

Stuart Foster, CEO of RECOUP, adds: “The positive response to our question on plant pot collection in our recent Household Plastics Collection Survey means that we are starting to gather more detailed information from local councils.  RECOUP have 30 years’ experience of working across the whole plastics resource and packaging industry and we are now being approached by industries, such as the garden sector, keen to explore how they can help create a fully circular and resource-efficient economy, underpinned by effective producer and consumer responsibility.”

Evergreen Garden Care, which encompasses Miracle-Gro®, Levington, Roundup and Tomorite brands, has appointed David Domoney as its brand ambassador.

The partnership will see David produce a wide range of content, including insightful blogs, videos and promotion of a variety of gardening activities, including growing in any space, supporting the environment and gardening for health and wellbeing.

MD Mark Portman says David and Evergreen share a mutual desire to drive participation in gardening through de-mystifying it, making it accessible and easy for all to achieve successful results, as well as highlighting the health and wellbeing benefits. “With David’s wealth of expertise and role as a key influencer with the British public alongside Evergreen’s high-quality garden care products, we know this is a winning partnership,” he added.

As part of his role, Domoney will help launch the company’s leading 2020 initiatives, which include Miracle-Gro Performance Organics, which Evergreen claims is the first 100% organic range of plant food, lawn food and compost range that performs as well as synthetic products.

David Domoney said: “Over the year I will be motivating the nation to experience the love of the garden and the many positive things it can do to make us happier and healthier.”

Hillier is to return to the central Monument site in the Grand Pavilion at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show as it attempts to win a 75th consecutive Gold Medal with its “greatest ever” exhibit.

The design by Lilly Gomm will feature 21 of its famous mature trees – but the main spectacle will be the recreation of the iconic Hillier shop front from 1864, which will be the entrance to the walkthrough garden experience.

The exhibit will be an immersive walkthrough, winding around the famous central monument, bursting with planting inspiration throughout its 387.5 sq.m –85% more than in 2019.

The historic shopfront replica will transports visitors back to the humble beginnings of the company, which started from a single florist shop and small patch of nursery land. Following a path past the shop, visitors will discover a large garden with a stone-walled walkway taking them on a journey filled with semi-mature trees, large shrubs and colourful herbaceous planting schemes. The finale of the garden’s winding walkway will be a water feature – a place to ‘reflect’ on 155 years of history.

The designer,Lilly Gomm, made her Chelsea debut with Hillier in 2019, winning Gold. “The design this year is intended to capture the essence of Hillier, stand out and be memorable, at the same time as featuring the detailed stunning planting and variety that Hillier is known for,” she said.

The garden will highlight the extensive variety of plants grown on the Hampshire nursery and available in all 17 Hillier Garden Centres.

Chris Francis, director of retail and wholesale, said: “This garden recognises and celebrates something incredibly special so it’s only fitting that we have our greatest exhibit ever! We are thrilled to be working with Lilly again. She is immensely talented and created a stunning garden for us last year. This year’s design is incredible; the idea of recreating the original shopfront is certainly going to be remarkable and I know real attention is being paid to historic detail. We can’t wait to see it all come to life!”

The Hillier exhibit is once again sponsored by power tool manufacturer STIHL. Simon Hewitt, head of marketing for STIHL GB, said: “The Hillier designs wow us every year, yet each time they seem to create something even more spectacular and breathtaking. With the huge space and shopfront recreation, not to mention the planting and horticultural expertise, we have no doubts that this year’s garden will be the best ever. We are thrilled to sponsor it and to be working with Hillier to once again create one of the biggest talking points of the show.”

Wyevale Nurseries has installed a new bespoke enterprise resource planning system.

Following a six-month trial, the system is now fully operational and will cover all aspects of the business, including production, sales, transport, accounting and HR.

The system is designed to be secure, stable and future proof, allowing the business to innovate and grow in line with its customers, suppliers and economic and ecological challenges.

“By having one central repository across the business, information is updated and displayed in real time meaning all operatives have access to the full picture and can work more effectively,” said MD Andy Johnson (pictured).

“Streamlining practical work processes to mirror the passage of information through the system means we are better able to plan and are seeing more accuracy in data output and performance.”

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV software allows the nursery to capture business-critical information centrally at the earliest opportunity and analyse it to make informed decisions, maximising efficiency. Sales forecasting will drive production planning to manage and control outputs, reducing wastage.

 “We underwent a long and extensive collaboration period with our system supplier to customise the programming to fit the nature of horticulture, as opposed to standard manufacturing,” Johnson added.

 “The new system now means that we’re able to react immediately to changes in legislation, for example the introduction of the new plant passporting requirements. We can also plan regular delivery routing and give clear guidelines to customers guaranteeing delivery requirements are met and longer-term order requirements are planned well ahead.

“We can store and analyse all plants requested on quotations and this information can then be used for sales forecasting and production planning to ensure we are constantly in touch with market demands.

“The software allows us the ability to react quickly to changes in the marketplace and we can see real-time stock availability information. Our new simple quotation and order input templates also mean information can be processed and returned to customers much faster.”

Festive shoppers at a Tong Garden Centre near Bradford raised almost £2,500 for two local Salvation Army groups in the run up to Christmas.

Salvation Army bands representing the Bradford Citadel and Morley Corps were invited to entertain shoppers as part of the garden centre's annual celebration of Christmas and representatives from the charities were delighted with the outcome.

"The Salvation Army are very grateful to Tong Garden Centre's continued support in allowing us to spread the Joy of Christmas to their customers,” said Susan Spargo from Bradford Citadel. “We were overwhelmed by the customers' generosity which raised over £1500 and allows us to continue our work supporting families in need both at Christmas and throughout the year.”

Richard Weston from Morley Corps said: ”Thank you so much to the customers for the generous donations while we played Christmas Carols. All of the money raised will help us to make a difference in our local community in many different ways."

The events were organised by Tong's tills and customer services manager, Diane Farrar. “The Salvation Army brass band is an integral part of our festive celebrations that bring joy to our customers and raise valuable funds for this amazing charity,” she said.

Pictured (left to right): Dennis Keen, Claire Whybrow, Tony Goodwin and Jamie Maxwell.

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Laurence Flatman died yesterday, 25th January 2020, aged 88 years. Laurence joined Alan Bloom at Bressingham when he left school and apart from two years National Service spent all his working life on Blooms Nurseries.

Peter Seabrook says of Laurence: "Laurence was a real Norfolk countryman who loved plants and served Blooms Nurseries with complete loyalty throughout his working life. His plant knowledge was remarkable and his reputation in the garden trade of the highest order.

"Whether it was direct with the public at shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show and on garden centres, or on the road and at home selling Blooms alpines, herbaceous and conifers he was generous with his knowledge and a great friend to many. He will be sorely missed, but not forgotten and lives on in hardy Geranium ‘Laurence Flatman’. I was fortunate to have known him, worked with him and count him a very good and dear friend."

From today (Sunday 25 January) to 11 March, 35 of Scotland’s finest gardens, woodlands, and estates will open their doors for the 14^th year of the popular Snowdrop Festival.

Properties including the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; Attadale Gardens in Wester Ross; Culzean Castle & Country Park in South Ayrshire; Dunvegan Castle & Gardens on the Isle of Skye; and Logan Botanic Garden in Stranraer will host over 70 walks, talks and activities to show off swathes of snowdrops to visitors.

Snowdrops first appeared in Scotland in the 18^th century. The plant is not native to Britain, but its hardiness and adaptability allows it to thrive in the Scottish climate. Its botanical name is Galanthus, which means milk flower – an apt name for the dainty white flower whose buds look like drops of milk hanging from the stem.

Catherine Erskine, chair of Discover Scottish Gardens and founder of the Snowdrop Festival in Scotland, said: “Snowdrops foretell the changing of the seasons and, for many of us, they are a welcome indicator that spring is just around the corner. We are very lucky in Scotland to have such a fantastic climate for snowdrops, with many species flourishing here and creating magnificent displays.

“Many of the festival venues are in the ground of some of Scotland’s most historic buildings and estates, creating a spectacular sight. We hope the festival will encourage people to go outdoors and discover this beautiful flower alongside Scotland’s stunning gardens.”

Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland chief executive said: “The Scottish Snowdrop Festival heralds the start of a new year, encouraging visitors to get out and about to enjoy Scotland’s gardens.

“Once again some of the country’s finest gardens and estates will be taking part to showcase these beautiful flowers and their tourism offering during the traditionally quieter winter months. At VisitScotland our marketing is focused on sharing the tourism windfall in lesser known parts of Scotland and outwith peak times, so we are delighted to support this fantastic festival.”

For details of all the gardens and grounds taking part in the event, visit the website.

A growing number of gardening groups competing in this year’s RHS Britain in Bloom competition are prioritising the regeneration of urban areas as communities recognise the value of green spaces to people and planet.

Now in its 56th year, 70 competition finalists will be going all-out to showcase their horticultural skills, community and environmental efforts. Finalists are put forward to the national final based on their progress regionally and compete across 11 categories including village, town and coastal.

Each will be visited by a pair of RHS judges in August as they vie for a medal, a category win and to be named Champion of Champions.

Nearly two-thirds are participating in town, city or other urban categories, reflecting growing recognition of the importance of plants and green space for both wellbeing and the environment.

This includes the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Town and City Centres category which has seen a surge in entries since it was introduced two years ago. Leeds, Blackburn and Paddington, London, are among the ten finalists that will be greening central shopping and business hubs by increasing the number of plants to help mitigate urban pollution, flooding and temperature rises and boost footfall and lower vacancy rates.   

Last year, the competition was won by the Scottish city of Perth which impressed with its whole-community approach to sustainability, pollinator-friendly planting and campaign to raise awareness of and collect plastic waste.

Chair of the Britain in Bloom judging panel, Darren Share, said: “We’re noticing more towns and cities keen to tackle some of today’s most pressing challenges by tapping into the benefits of urban greening, with reasons ranging from concerns about our changing climate and air pollution to turning the tide on high street decline.”

John Summers OBE, Chair of Beautiful Perth, said: “Winning the Champion of Champions award has meant a great deal to everyone in Perth. We have had so many comments about how clean and green our city looks, and what a positive impact that has on the local economy and quality of life. Winning really has boosted pride in our Fair City of Perth.”

The Champion of Champions title, winners of each category and finalists’ medals – ranging from gold to bronze – will be announced in Manchester in October.

For more information about RHS Britain in Bloom and to search for community gardening groups in your area, click here. https://www.rhs.org.uk/communities/find-a-group-search-form

With less than a week left to apply for a horticultural scholarship, the David Colegrave Foundation (DCF) is urging students to take advantage of available funding.

DCF has awarded almost £100,000 over the past ten years towards study tours, work placements, college tuition, accommodation fees, books, equipment, and extra training courses.

This year there are seven fantastic scholarships to apply for including three travel opportunities:

• Majestic Trees is offering up to £3,000 to fund a placement abroad at a tree nursery to learn about tree production, plus the opportunity for a work placement at Majestic Trees.
• The Markham-Colegrave International Scholarship is offering $4,500 USD for a work placement in the US/Canada to experience production horticulture.
• Ball Colegrave is offering £1,500 to support knowledge and experience in bedding plant production and marketing with the opportunity for travel across the UK and Europe.

Colleges are encouraged to get on board and get their students applying.

Applications close at midnight on Friday 31 January 2020.

To apply click here 

Hayes Garden World has announced the sad passing of Mrs Elizabeth Ann Hayes, who died on Sunday 5th January 2020. Elizabeth, the devoted wife of the late Thomas Leith, was mother to Richard and the late Monica and much-loved grandmother of Martin and Megan.

The funeral will be held at Mater Amabilis Catholic Church, Wansfell Road, Ambleside on Friday 24th January 2020 at 1pm. As a mark of respect Hayes Garden World will be closed on that day.

The garden centre has posted the following tribute to Elizabeth on its Facebook page:

Elizabeth, or Betty to those who knew her well, always had an active role in the Garden Centre. She started work in the shop, which was then located in Calluna House, now the garden centre
head-office building. With her colleague, Thelma Hayes, she worked alternate weekends selling plants grown in the nursery, allowing husband Leith and long-serving staff member Fred to work elsewhere on-site. In later years, as the garden centre business expanded, she continued to work alongside Thelma in the small café, comprising just 10 or 12 seats in those days! Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed her role which allowed her to spend time with the family, customers and staff alike. In later years she began to merchandise ranges of decorative giftware for sale in the café. During this time her young Grandson, Martin, would frequently offer his assistance in disposing of the empty cardboard boxes for his Grandmother, although he often became side-tracked and made dens out of them instead!

1987 – A Momentous Year

In 1987, the garden centre saw a major moment in its trading history and a momentous occasion for the Hayes family with the opening of the iconic “Crystal Palace” building. The unusual and unique architecture established the business as one of the key players in the developing garden centre sector and marked the start of the large and successful business we know today. The opening in 1987 was doubly-special as it was not only performed by botanist and broadcaster the late David Bellamy, but was also the date of the christening of Elizabeth’s grandson, Martin.

Stalwarts of the Industry

Elizabeth and husband Leith became very well known in the garden centre industry. They often travelled internationally to conferences and events, bringing back some fantastic and innovative ideas from around the world, including some rare plants and trees that continue to flourish at Hayes Garden World, today. Closer to home they also regularly attended shows in the UK, including Harrogate and Birmingham which they sometimes attended accompanied by staff members from the garden centre shop. On journeys to these events the team would often stop at “Etna”, their favourite Italian restaurant in Lancaster, where they always enjoyed a laugh and a joke with the Sicilian owner, Dominic. Elizabeth and Leith forged strong friendships over the years, too many to list here but those with Derek Bunker, Ron Bent and Beryl & Dave Stafford are worthy of a special mention. Elizabeth and Beryl were great friends and would continue to go on cruises together into their later years.

1992 – Garden Centre of the Year

Perhaps one of Elizabeth’s proudest moments occurred in 1992, when, as a result of all the years of hard work she and Leith had put into building the business, the garden centre was awarded the accolade of Garden Centre of the Year. A photograph marking this achievement still hangs in the Hayes’ company offices to this day. Sadly, a few months after this crowning event Elizabeth’s beloved husband, Leith, passed away. However, in the aftermath of this sad event, new doors were opened as the next generation of the Hayes family took the reins of the business. In October 1993, Elizabeth was delighted to see her son, Richard, take the helm and was proud to see how he and the management team continued to drive it forward over the coming decades.

A Life very well Lived

Although in recent years Elizabeth stepped back from the day-to-day running of the business, she remained a passionate champion of maintaining standards at the highest level, paying attention to detail and keeping management on their toes! She knew the staff members well and enjoyed seeing many of them flourish over the years as they gravitated from young junior assistants to senior managers, team leaders and buyers. Some long-standing staff members became good friends with whom Elizabeth enjoyed some wonderful holidays, revelling in the sights and always having plenty of fun!

Elizabeth Hayes personified everything that has made the Hayes Garden World business such a success: she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Caulders Garden Centres today announced the addition of Loch Lomond Homes and Garden Centre to the group, making it now 8 centres in Central Scotland.

Loch Lomond Homes and Garden Centre, owned by the Shaw Family who own and operate a group of builders merchants in the West of Scotland, have sold the garden centre to focus on and expand their core business.  

Colin Barrie, Managing Director of Caulders, said: "We are delighted to have agreed to buy Loch Lomond Homes and Gardens Centre - it is a great business and a great location with a fantastic team of people who we are looking forward to welcoming into the Caulders Family."

In addition, Steven Shaw of Loch Lomond Homes and Gardens Centre, said: "The Shaw Family would like to thank all of our staff and loyal customers for the support shown over the last 13 years at Loch Lomond Homes and Gardens Centre – we have thoroughly enjoyed it.  We would like to wish Colin and Mandy at Caulders the very best of luck and we are sure that Loch Lomond will be a great addition to their portfolio of garden centres."

The sale is due to complete in early February 2020.

The wet winter weather doesn’t seem to have deterred people from making garden centre visits so far this January as the GTN Bestsellers All Products Sales Index reports volume sales are up by 13% on last year and up 21% on 2018.

Clearance sales post-Christmas and many great homewares offers are certainly driving overall volumes, and most encouragingly, sales of garden products, growing media and plants are up too. Wild Bird Care is the only sector measured by GTN Bestsellers that is down at the moment.

It would appear the desire to get gardening as soon as possible is definitely there so getting that turn around for Christmas into spring gardening and outdoor furniture is the key activity for the month

Another factor increasingly driving volume sales and more regular customer visits is the food hall of garden centres. Gates in Leicestershire have an organic milk vending machine in their new farm shop that is creating new regular traffic from customers looking for a sustainable shopping experience.  Read more about it in the GTN Sustainability Directory to be published later this month.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 2)

• Garden Products - up 25%
• Growing Media - up 91%
• Wild Bird Care - down 8%
• Veg-2-Gro - up 15%
• All Plants Index - up 16%
• All Items Index - up 25%

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

One of the great benefits of AMES UK acquisition of Kelkay has been investment to drive business expansion.The site near Snaith, from where Kelkay's aggregate and paving operations are run, has been expanded by over 20% in preparation for the forecasted increase in garden centre business.

AMES UK have demonstrated their confidence in the team and the future growth of the business by funding  a £1.5m investment in warehousing and logistics as well as new packaging machinery, all of which has been installed since August.

Richard Slade, General Manager, said: "It's been an exciting, if challenging, few months. We've undertaken a pretty major reorganisation of the site to double our internal pallet spaces and expand the external space to accommodate more than 12,000 pallets. And while we were making these changes, we've also expanded our operations in Cork to cope with the business growth in Ireland of more than 100%."

Richard, who has been responsible for Kelkay operations for several years is now running the business across all AMES UK sites, including La Hacienda and True Temper. This has also meant further investment in business infrastructure to improve communications through IT and the installation of new servers that allow the whole group to be operated effectively under the new centralised management team.

Kelkay base in Snaith WWII airfield.

West Berkshire Council have approved plans for a major extension at Hillier’s Newbury garden centre.

More than 2,500sq.m. of additional retail space is planned, almost trebling the existing area, housed in a new glass-fronted building with apex roofline that will also host concession businesses as well as a farm shop and coffee shop. The entrance and parking area will be improved and enlarged.

Work will begin in the summer  and completed in time for the peak spring season in 2021.

“We are delighted to have the green light for this extension project,” said Chris Francis, Hillier garden centre and wholesale nurseries director. “A few years ago, we undertook a shop refit at Newbury and introduced our popular Mulberry & Thyme Restaurant, which have contributed to the success of the garden centre. This extension project will take the location to a whole new level.”

If you have a team of willing participants and a weekend spare, then the Bust Rallies’ Monte Carlo or Bust banger rally could be the perfect adventure. Even better, the Greenfingers charity has been granted 10 places for this fabulous event, meaning even more FUNdraising opportunities for the UK’s leading children’s hospice garden charity.

‘Monte Carlo or Bust’ is Europe's ultimate banger rally event (Thursday 4 June to Sunday 7 June ) through six countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy –  and culminating on the French Riviera in Monaco. Along the way, participants will take in the Black Forest, Lake Como and the ultimate driving road along the Gottard Pass, 2,000m up in the Swiss Alps.

To take part, participants need just a few things – a ‘banger’ that costs no more than £500, two drivers, appropriate insurance and a sense of direction. The rally isn’t about speed, but instead teams will be faced with daily challenges, prizes and fancy-dress competitions along the way, all with the aim of putting the FUN into FUNdraising. A handful of eager drivers have already signed up, so interested parties who would like to join the event under the Greenfingers banner are urged to sign up as soon as possible.

For those with vehicles that can’t make the journey back, there will be a special ‘scrapping’ service available where participants can wish their car a fond farewell before travelling back to the UK in a little more comfort than they arrived in! Those feeling brave enough can, of course, use their trusty stead to complete the journey home.

One company that has already signed up is STIHL. Simon Hewitt, the STIHL team spokesperson, said: “STIHL GB has been supporting Greenfingers for the last year and is very excited to be a part of this exciting fundraising mission. Four of the STIHL team will take part in the Greenfingers banger Rally and we’ll be inviting our dealers to sponsor our very orange car!”

Linda Petrons, Director of Fundraising & Communications, added: “The Monte Carlo or Bust Rally is designed to provide a fun teambuilding opportunity.  From choosing your ‘banger’, to completing the challenges along the way, I’ve no doubt that the rally will provide hilarious memories for years to come. But more than this, it’s a great way of raising funds, and helping us to build even more hospice gardens. We love our supporters so much, which is why we wanted to offer them another fantastic way to get involved. We can’t wait to see how the journey to Monte Carlo pans out for those taking part. I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant!”

To find out more about Greenfingers Charity, and how to get involved in the Monte Carlo or Bust Rally, please email Linda@greenfingerscharity.org.uk. You can also find information about previous Bust Rallies events by clicking here. www.bustrallies.com

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

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

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2017 as well as 2018 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

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

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

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

Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care Products chart for this week are here

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

Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.

GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.

Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

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