The acquisition of the Park group’s Lechlade and Cheddar garden centres won’t be the last by The Garden Centre Group...

Given that TGCG is owned by private equity giants Terra Firma, there will be ambitious plans in place to deliver value to stakeholders and a substantial pot of capital is available for expansion, reportedly through selective acquisition rather than new builds.

But how big will the group get – and how quickly will it grow? There is much speculation it will land a prize catch in the next week or two. If the hook has been baited with the Garden & Leisure group in mind, as many expect, the portfolio instantly gains seven centres and another £40 million of turnover, taking total group revenue to around £300 million. That makes it 139…just 11 stores short of 150, an initial ‘magic number’ that CEO Kevin Bradshaw may well have had in mind when he took over. There are juicy low-hanging fruit around, both single sites and groups, that would see him across that particular line, potentially adding another £30-£50 million.

Increased size, of course, creates opportunities to reduce costs through management efficiencies. TCGC’s regional managers have been in a consultation process for some weeks, so it is not unreasonable to expect some degree of slimming down. Savings will enable profit margins to be pushed, further nudging the group towards Terra Firma’s mid to long-term performance targets. Timelines are always difficult to predict, but exit strategies rarely stretch to infinity, so less than 10 years from now, if all goes to plan, TCGC will be readied for sale.

That’s one scenario. Eventual flotation is another, although the Wyevale years as a quoted company may well have tempered the corporate view about the value of this option. As we know, a business that falls prey to the vagaries of the weather, as inevitably it sometimes does, makes shareholders grumpy…and jumpy.

At this point, the crystal ball becomes even cloudier, for who can foretell what kind of transformation the business will have been through – or who will be in a position to buy it? By then, group ownership will be the norm here, as it is in several other parts of Europe. According to Mintel, 259 of the UK’s 1,000 or so garden centres are group owned – and half of those are, of course, controlled by Terra Firma. Who would bet against half the total market being in the hands of groups by 2020? That is a significant change in dynamic.

From then on, it will be a very different garden industry from the one we have today – unremittingly professional, hard-nosed, influential…and perhaps a tad less ‘lovable’ than the one we are used to.

Below: Another change happening at The Garden Centre Group, Costa Coffee in the Northampton Garden Centre.  The first of many?

As predicted in last week’s GTN Xtra, the Park group’s Lechlade and Cheddar garden centres have been acquired by The Garden Centre Group, whose portfolio now numbers 132.

It is the group’s second deal of 2013 – following acquisition of Barton Grange’s Bolton site earlier in the summer – but sources believe it is unlikely to be their last.

Suppliers were contacted earlier this week about payment arrangements, with instructions to invoice all goods and services supplied after 5 September to the new owners.

TGCG’s CEO Kevin Bradshaw said the leisure offering at Cheddar and Lechlade would be expanded.

Park Garden Centres director Phil Hodges said he had been been personally involved with Cheddar and Lechlade from their beginnings. “I would like to thank all the staff at Cheddar and Lechlade who have contributed to our success over the years,” he added. “These businesses are now well placed to build on that success with the backing of The Garden Centre Group and Terra Firma, who have been a pleasure to deal with.”

The acquisitions are expected to add around £6m to TGCG’s turnover, with the smaller five-acre Lechlade site contributing slightly more than the eight-acre Cheddar centre.

Park’s HQ site at Almondsbury remains in family ownership.

 
Neil Gow announced this week that he will be stepping down as Director of the Garden Industry Manufacturers’ Association in the New Year, after seven years in the role.

He says he wishes to explore other opportunities within the garden industry, but will continue to run the association until the end of February 2014, when a successor will be appointed.

Vicky Nuttall, current GIMA president and head of marketing at Forest Garden, said: “On behalf of the GIMA council and membership I would like to take this opportunity to thank Neil for all the hard work and dedication he has shown over the years. He leaves the association in a strong financial position with a healthy membership and portfolio of events.”

Gow said it would be ‘business as usual’ until he handed over to his successor. “I’ve still got plenty of events that I want to deliver such as the Glee Buyer Connect event and the Day Conference in November,” he said.

With high hopes that the UK could be in for an Indian Summer, there is even brighter news from the GTN Bestsellers All Epos Products data with volume sales at garden centres 30% higher for August than any year in the past five.

Amazing news indeed! UK consumers, and gardeners in particular, have certainly voted with their feet, and their parked cars, by making more visits to garden centres during August than ever before. That’s what we can infer from the total volume sales data that we receive every week for GTN Bestsellers.

We wonder what the overall retail sales index will reveal for August. Will the High Street and the big supermarkets be up at all? As an industry we need to make the most of telling the world just how successful our garden centre retailing businesses have become. We certainly made a lot of noise and received more attention than usual back at Easter when the weather was against us.

Now we should be shouting even louder about our success so that customers feel even better about coming back and visiting again...and again. How great could autumn gardening and then Christmas be if we could attract another 30% of extra sales volume during those periods?

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

• Garden Products – up 13%
• Veg-2-Gro – down 5%
• Growing Media – up 45%
• All items index – up 31%

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.  Subscribe and invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Above: Kate Heath receives her award from Costa’s National Account Manager Luke Rutter (left) and and Warren Haskins.

The Haskins group have demonstrated their belief that garden centres should serve great coffee by holding their first barista competition.

Sixteen baristas in four teams, one from each Haskins centre, locked horns in a brew-off hosted at the Southampton store. The contest, sponsored by Costa, whose coffee is served in all branches, was designed to encourage high standards of coffee making. The participants had already competed against their catering team colleagues at their own centres.

Twenty year old Kate Heath from Thornhill, Southampton, won the Barista Of The Year trophy, having completed a 20 question quiz covering Costa, Haskins, passion, pride and technical factors.  Judges Carl Hadfield (Haskins group catering manager and Luke Rutter, Costa Coffee’s national account manager, scored participants on their skills, technique and delivering the brand standard.

Carl Hadfield said the standard was high, even against the stop watch: “Brand standards, product quality, speed of service combined with personality and customer interaction were the key values we judged the competitors by. It was no easy task to decide who would go on to the final. Kate performed professionally and calmly throughout the evening, every time delivering great looking drinks made perfectly to the brand standard.”

Kate, who has been a member of the restaurant team at the Haskins West End centre for three years since leaving Itchen college,  said that she was delighted to win the trophy, iPad, and special uniform recognising her achievement.

“I was very nervous but enjoyed the experience. I’m amazed I came top considering the high standard of the competing baristas who, like myself, make hundreds of coffees every day,” she said .

Haskins inroduced Costa coffee in 2008 and serve more than 1.2 million hot drinks a year.

After last week’s tie at the top, orchid drip feeders have re-established themselves as the outright No 1 bestselling garden product. Fito Drip Feeder for Orchids beat off the challenge of Scotts Levington Tomorite after the pair finished joint top the previous week – it was the first time two products had sold the exact same volumes at the summit of the GTN Bestsellers chart.

There are five other orchid-related items in this week’s Top 50, including a new entry for Vitax Orchid Drip Feeder and a re-entry for Gardman Orchid Drip Feeders (pack of four). Growth Technology Orchid Myst is also highly placed inside the Top 10.

Work on autumn lawn care is starting in earnest with the highest climber being Westland Lawn & Turf Dressing (25 litres), which has jumped an amazing 40 places.

Other notable performances include:

• Scotts Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food is the highest re-entry.
• Gardman Ladies Work Glove Set (Twin Pack) makes its first appearance as this week’s highest new entry.
• Gardman have seven garden lighting items in the chart, headed by Solar Spot Lights. The company’s Solar Rock Spot Light is a re-entry.
• Woodlodge Pot Feet (large) returns after a 100% increase in sales.

And gardeners are starting to think about autumn bulb planting with the Yeoman Hand Held Bulb Planter selling in high numbers.

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.

Bents Garden & Home have announced the appointment of a general manager and a new marketing manager.

Former Tesco man Mike Parker (left) takes over the day-to-day running of the centre, a new role designed to allow MD Matthew Bent (centre) to focus on the strategic issues.

“Mike brings with him fantastic experience from both Tesco and PC World and we believe he will be a great asset to the team,” Bent said.

Mike Parker said he was relishing the opportunity to get involved with Bents.  “As a family owned and run business it is a very different prospect but it is a business with huge ambition and one where you feel you can really make a difference.”

The new marketing manager, Amanda Prescott (right), has 20 years experience, includings roles with Fujitsu and Northgate Arinso. She takes over from Helen Bent, who is on maternity leave until next year for the birth of her third child and who will return in a more strategic role.

Amanda Prescott said: “I originally lived in Culcheth and have seen the Bents business grow and develop over the years. I understand how ambitious a company it is. I am looking forward to being part of its future.”

Every year there are products launched at Glee that become bestsellers, but how do you know just how big a bestseller they become and how much in-store promotion you should give them?

GTN Bestsellers is the answer. Every week Top 50 Bestsellers charts are published, compiled from garden centre Epos data, giving the best and most up to date garden centre trading information on the market.

If you’d have been a subscriber this year you’ll have known that Roundup Weedkiller Gel, launched at Glee 2011, was the No.1 best selling weed killer product for 25 weeks this year and topped the garden products chart for one week in May. And that Vitax Slug Gone, launched at Glee 2012, was the GTN Bestsellers New Product of the Year, featuring in the Top 50 for 12 weeks, reaching a highest position of No12.

Plus, you’ll have benefitted from the GTN Bestsellers Tip of the week – a gem of a sales idea every week derived from 5 years of GTN Bestsellers charts.

So what are you waiting for? You need to buy a subscription to GTN Bestsellers right now. For just £145.00, you get a printed GTN Bestsellers chart posted to you each week, full access to the GTN Bestsellers charts and the GTN Archive on-line and your own copy of Garden Trade News in the post each issue.

And there’s more!! 

If you take out a GTN Bestsellers subscription before Glee, we’ll send you, as a bonus, the GTN Bestsellers Charts for the critical sales periods through June July and August this year when, according to our gathered Epos data, sales of garden products were up year on year by 10.3%.

And there’s even more!!!

Buying a subscription now means you’ll get every issue with the GTN Bestsellers Christmas charts too. It’s an invaluable chart to follow as your Christmas sales build, allowing you to spot new trends, make changes to your promotions and POS.  And, be one more step ahead of the competition when it comes to your Christmas buying for 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?  To get your subscription to GTN Bestsellers up and running, simply subscribe online here

or contact us by phone on 01733 775700 or by e-mail: karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

GTN Bestsellers – Garden Centre Bestsellers, Guaranteed!

Above: site plan showing the proposed new restaurant (roof shaded green)

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre at Taunton has obtained planning approval for a £1.5 million revamp and expansion of its Four Seasons restaurant.

MD Mike Lind said: “We want to invest in the future of the business and to continue to be a significant employer in the area.

“As a business, we’re committed to the community and to giving an excellent customer experience. Monkton Elm is a destination, family-orientated garden centre and our food offering is an essential part of this.

“The new restaurant will seat 350 people and the food will continue to be prepared by our chefs on-site in a brand new kitchen facility.”

Work on the 950 sq.m. development, which is approximately double the size of the current restaurant, is expected to start in summer 2014 and be completed by Christmas. The £1.5m investment makes it one of the biggest catering projects in Somerset. It could create 10 news jobs, bringing the site’s staffing total to around 100.

Lind said the planners at Taunton Deane Borough Council had been supportive of this project and efficient in processing the application.

The current restaurant will continue to operate as normal during the building work, which will extend across the top section of the outside plantarea.

Malcolm Scott Consultants were instructed to assist with the project’s design and planning.

In the two years since the redevelopment of Burgon & Ball stainless tools and their subsequent endorsement by the Royal Horticultural Society, sales performance has risen to exceed all targets.

Demand from end users is driving sales, backed by strong new POS and retailer displays. The powerful point of sale can easily be incorporated with retailers’ own fixtures and fittings to retain a corporate look if required, whilst discreetly promoting the prestigious RHS endorsement and the Burgon & Ball brand.

 Burgon & Ball produce a wide range of merchandising display material, like the 3m run featuring the complete RHS endorsed range featured here.

The combination of the two brands appears to be a particularly powerful one and far from trading down in tough economic times, it seems consumers are a making a considered decision to trade up to the best they can afford.

Burgon & Ball will jhave the full range at Glee (Hall 5, stand A02/A03)

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA) has launched its 15th annual competition to find the UK’s best Christmas tree grower.

The winner will earn the right to deliver an outdoor Christmas tree to stand outside 10 Downing Street this December.

The event covers five categories (pine, fir, spruce, container grown and wreaths) and each finalist can submit two of any one species per category. The trees, which must be 1.8m to 2.2m in height, will be scored on foliage, colour, shape and marketability.

A Champion Wreath award will also be presented. The winner’s decorated wreath  will take up pride of place on the door of No 10.

The winners will be decided at the BCTGA Competition Day on October 30 at Bridge End Forestry, Much Cowarne, Herefordshire.

The competition is a popular fixture with growers. “It’s always a wonderful sight to see the winning grower’s tree outside the most famous door in the country,” said BCTGA secretary Harry Brightwell.

Last year’s overall winner was Mike Craig of Garrocher Tree Farm in Newton Stewart, Scotland, who delivered a 22ft Nordmann Fir to No 10.

Hundreds of garden centres source their Christmas trees from BCTGA growers.


Above: Mike Craig, last year's champion, delivers his tree to No.10.

Fancy creating a pair of 6.5-metre mythical creatures for your Christmas display, using just steel cables and crystals? Inspired By Design have the technoloogy…

Armed with a brief to design and produce a pair of delicately handcrafted crystal Chinese Dragons, Inspired By Design (IBD) rose to the challenge. These dramatic lighting installations, developed by IBD founder Simon Shuck and featuring extravagant Chinese Dragons, were destined for Buddha-Bar, in Knightsbridge, currently hailed as London’s most fashionable East-meets-West restaurant. The dragons are suspended over two levels of the restaurant, animated only by coloured RGB lights.

 Shuck said: “We are always excited by new projects that involve a bit of ingenuity and resourcefulness. On top of which we had to suspend these huge and majestic beast within each of the two stair voids, attached to only a bespoke floor and ceiling plate”.

Now, that must give ambitious garden centres food for thought…

For more information, go to www.inspired-by-design.co.uk

The Garden Industry Manufacturers Association (GIMA), who brought the Innovators Zone concept to Glee, have launched a new initiative to connect buyers and sellers.

Buyer Connect, to be trialled at this month’s Glee, enables exhibitors to book a 10-minute ‘speed dating’ slot with one of a range of buyers. It gives suppliers the opportunity to introduce themselves, their company and product and explore the buyer’s level of interest. Suppliers will then follow up after the show.

GIMA President Vicky Nuttall says it can be difficult, especially for smaller companies, to get a foot in the door of the bigger retailers and groups. “This is just the sort of support as an association we seek to give our members, so we are really pleased to be getting this off the ground,” she said.  “We are extremely grateful to the influential buyers who recognise the potential of Buyer Connect and are offering up their time to meet potential new suppliers to their businesses.”

Buyers already committed to include: Steve Guy (Dobbies), Neil Fishlock (Decco), David Yardley and Allan Wilson (Klondyke Group). Gerrard Smith  (Garden Centre On Line), Simon Moore (Wilkinson Stores), Richard Pennell (Future Marketing Group), Sandy Parker (Notcutts Garden Centres), Michelle de Lavis-Travis (Choice Marketing) and David Gillespie (Homebase).

Exhibitors seeking an appointment need to register their interest with GIMA by email. “Demand is expected to be high” said director Neil Gow to whom requests for an appointment should be addressed (neilgow@gima.org.uk).

The event which will take place on Tuesday 17 September in Hall 5, between 10am and 12 noon. “Start and finish times of each 10-minute meeting will be strictly controlled and suppliers need to prepare well and do their homework to make the most of this fantastic opportunity,” said Gow.

Matthew Mein, Event Manager for Glee said: “We just love this sort of support from GIMA and know how successful the Innovators Zone has become. In fact, it is now copied at other trade shows across the world. Buyers come to Glee to find new product and new suppliers so this has to be a hit with both show visitors and exhibitors.

“We are convinced Buyer Connect will become an annual event at Glee too. Feeling the pulse at other trade shows this week, the garden industry is in positive mood with the recent better weather and people are looking forward to the garden season ahead. What better place to kick that season off than at Glee next week.”

Have you thought about… Sustainability

According to new research for the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), consumer attitudes to eating out have become more sophisticated. Increasingly, knowledgeable diners are far more concerned about how restaurants operate and over 50% are willing to pay more to eat in a restaurant that is run sustainably.

• If you’re planning on refurbishing your food space, don’t throw away; instead, think about re-upholstering or adding a touch of paint to existing furnishings.  It is also possible to create features from recycled materials - reclaimed pieces look great and are very on-trend
• Provenance is king – support local producers by sourcing locally and serving seasonal dishes made with fresh ingredients. Ensure your restaurant environment reflects this trend by opting for natural, recycled or reclaimed finishes.
• Consider the environment when choosing equipment. Think about the potential CO2 footprint and energy efficiency. Opt for low energy lighting and heat recovery, which may be a higher purchase price, but reduction in energy usage over its lifespan can far outweigh the initial investment.

It’s not every Saturday morning that a Double World Champion pops in to the garden centre for a drink and piece of birthday cake!

Danni Khan, in her World Championship Rainbow Shirt, a member of Solihull Cycling Club, led over 100 of their members on a ride to Studley Garden Centre on Saturday 31^st August.

The club was out en masse at the weekend to celebrate not only Danni’s success earlier in the month at the junior track world championships in Glasgow, see more on the story at Cycling Weekly coverage but also her 18^th birthday!

The Solihull CC visits Studley Garden Centre every Saturday morning come rain or shine as part of their cycling programme. Today was a record turnout with over 100 cyclists on site together enjoying the Warwickshire sunshine and numerous pieces of cake!

Organisers of The South West Growers Show say next month’s event looks like being the most successful to date.

Around 95 per cent of the stand space already booked so prospective exhibitors are urged to act quickly.

The show is on Wednesday 2 October at The Matford Centre in Exeter, Devon. Aimed at growers and plant buyers –from garden centres and retail outlets to local authorities and the landscaping industry – it brings together key growers and suppliers of specialist horticultural equipment and services.

 Show chairman Andrew Spilsbury said: “Since taking over the running of the show four years ago, we have seen both exhibitor and visitor numbers shoot up.”

Among the 80-plus exhibitors already booked are Container Centralen, a provider of returnable transport items including the CC Container which is widely used in the horticultural industry.

Declan Conaty, key account manager at CC said : “We are offering a damage exchange service at The South West Growers Show next month. Currently damage exchanges can only be undertaken at a CC Depot so this is the first trial outside of our depot environment.”

Exhibitors can book their damage exchange at the show by emailing ccuk@container-centralen.com before Friday 27 September - stating code CCSWG, company details and the number of bases, shelves and posts they would like exchanged. A time slot will then be allocated.

Declan continued : “By opening up this service to exhibitors at the show, our aim is to make it more convenient and cost effective for our customers in the South West to exchange their damaged items”.

Admission is free.

For further information, visit www.swgs.co.uk  or call 01404 821982.

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.

Every week we give sales volume comparisons with 2011 as well as 2012 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 Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers chart for this week are here

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

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

Green manure seeds are the newest bestselling item with four lines in the top 50, and they’re all from Thompson & Morgan.

The new range and point of sale material from T&M must be working well with their Green Manure General Mix for Organic Gardening the highest re-entry this week. It has been a good selling week for T&M with their Rocket Wild Wildfire the highest new entry.

Other newcomers from the seed company are Green Manure Buckwheat, Lettuce Winter Gem and Tomato Sweet Aperatif.

This week’s highest climber is Gardeners Kitchen Leeks F1 Verina, which jumps 27 places to No 17.

There is a big move at the top of the chart where Taylors Garlic Marco pushes autumn planting seed potatoes out of the way to take up the No 1 position. It is closely followed by Farplants Potato Charlotte.

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.

Visitors to Gardman’s stand at Glee (15-17 September, NEC, hall 5, stand B30-C31) will have a chance to see final details of the company’s new ‘Trust us to deliver’ strategy and its sales initiatives.

Five sales initiatives cover sharper pricing to drive sales volumes, offers to drive footfall, merchandising to maximise yield per square metre, new product ideas and category solutions.

Duncan Ross, director of garden centre sales at Gardman, says that while garden centres had seen better trading this season compared to last year, there is no room for complacency. “Capitalising on every opportunity for a sale is important,”he said. “Giving shoppers the products they want at compelling prices is the key and we are working closely with retailers to help them do exactly this.

“At Glee, retailers will be able to see the sales initiatives brought to life across our wild bird care, lighting, core gardening and hanging garden ranges.”

The ‘ShaRRPer Pricing’ initiative has already been launched for Gardman’s bird care range; the price of 53 key bird care products has been cut, 29 new sales boosters are available and the minimum volume has been cut on 42 existing sales boosters.

You can book a showroom visit by calling 01406 372237 or by emailing orders@gardman.co.uk. 

A survey carried out by fine food distributor Cotswold Fayre has revealed that most fine food retailers expect their businesses to grow over the next year.

Competition from mainstream supermarkets continuing to expand their convenience store formats was seen as a major challenge and online shopping services offered by supermarkets were also a perceived concern.

So it was perhaps unsurprising to discover that 84% of those surveyed said stocking products not available to buy in supermarkets was very important, with 16% believing it to be it quite important. None felt it was an unimportant.

Price was seen as the second most important factor when choosing what products to stock, with attractive packaging thirde. Of far less interest to retailers was whether the products were organic or carried the Fair Trade mark.

And, while it is often suggested that consumers are looking for locally sourced produce and have a great interest in provenance, only 21%  said they only bought UK products. The vast majority were more interested in quality and items that added seasonal relevance.

Paul Hargreaves, MD of Cotswold Fayre, said: “We were delighted to see the positivity of the market. And, while none of us can do anything about the weather, there are certainly other challenges that our customers can overcome.

“Several of those surveyed mentioned that they now only stock products that aren’t available in supermarkets, which creates a  huge point of differentiation. And, progressively many are now looking to establish their own home delivery service.

Finding the right compost can be a minefield but there is no-one better qualified for meeting a ‘tall order’ than model and celebrity contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, Abbey Clancy.

As recently spotted in the Daily Mail and Sunday Mirror, Abbey was photographed walking out of her local florist’s with a carry-home pack of Durstons multi-purpose compost.

Was she heading home for a spot of planting with her daughter and husband, England football legend Peter Crouch – or maybe offering some gardening tips to the groundsmen at Stoke City's Britannia stadium?

It has been an amazing week for growing media sales with all but three of the top 50 lines in the GTN Bestsellers chart increasing sales on the previous week.

It seems that gardeners are catching up on growing activity at last. Volume sales for the week are higher than the same period in both 2012 (up by 44.5%) and 2011 (up by 14%).

Notable performances this week are:

• Westland Gro-Sure All Purpose Compost (50 litres) and Westland Soil Conditioner (60 litres).
• Arthur Bowers New Horizon Multi Purpose (60 litres) as seen a 100% increase in sales.
• Growise Multipurpose with John Inness (56 litres) returns to the Top 50.

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.

How do we make horticulture attractive to youg people as a career? Wow - we have a job on our hands! writes Ian Boardman

It takes me back to 1977 at the University of Bath where I did my Hort degree. The late (and great) Prof Leonard Broadbent told all us freshers that year that horticulture had an image problem and a recruitment problem. Sadly, little has changed in almost 40 years. He also said we would never make much money in this industry – I’m not sure that has changed either!

What is horticuture? You can try the Wikipedia definition (www.wikipedia.org) but that might turn me right off if I were ‘young’. Our industry needs something more exciting.

I think it needs something alomng these lines:

What is crucial to our well being?

What has been at the core of humanity and our very survival - and we've been at it for almost 9,000 years?

What is even more intensive than agriculture?

Answer - Hortus Cultura (i.e. the Latin root of the name)

Put it another way - let's get intimate, intense, passionate. Let's get close to plants!

I’m very much plucking bits from Wikipedia myself now, but we do need to sex it up a bit. We can can then go on to explain all the aspects of Hortus Cultura and its myriad career opportunities.

I would love to know what others think...

Ian Boardman BSc MBA MiHort is director of IBBIS (UK) Limited, a business consultancy. He is also the Garden Centre Association’s chief standards inspector. You can contact him by email: i.boardman@btinternet.com