GTN Xtra - GTN Xtra Issue 9 2018

Contact us with your news.

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700

GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards 2107
are sponsored by:

and raise money for the Greenfingers Charity to build magical gardens at Childrens Hospices across the UK.

See GTN's photo tours of 30+ garden centres this Christmas including Bents, Barton Grange, Brookside, Castle Gardens, Planters, Scotsdales, Silverbirch, Ruxley Manor and Whitehall using this link

Garden centre customers get the 'Love Spring' message

We are loving early spring sales according to EPOS data analysis by GTN Bestsellers. Six weeks into the year, total sales volumes are running at almost 11% up on last year and plant sales are racing ahead at 43%...

The covered planteria at GCA award-winning Bents Garden & Home are looking really attractive at the moment and GTN Bestsellers reports big plant sales increases across the country...

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STV first to market with newly approved bait formations for control of mice and rats
GTN Xtra Promotion

Home & garden pest control specialist STV is believed to be first to market with newly approved bait formulations for control of mice and rats, its in-house production teams working double shifts since the New Year to ensure independent and national retailers are fully stocked just in time for peak-season...

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Fundraising for Greenfingers exceeds £500,000 in 2017

For the first time in its 18-year history, Greenfingers Charity has announced that FUNdraising for building magical gardens in children’s hospices exceeded half a million pounds in 2017.

Colin Wetherley-Mein and Warren Haskins have been appointed Trustees of the Greenfingers Charity.

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Orchid drip feeder frenzy hits garden centres

A new orchid drip feeder has joined the battle for the No 1 overall bestseller in the GTN Garden Products Charts. Growth Technology, regulars in the chart with Orchid Myst, have launched their own Orchid Drip Feeders and initial sales see them enter the chart at No 17...

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Plant sales rocket ahead

After six weeks of 2018 the GTN All Plants Sales Index is running at 42.5% up on last year!

Earlier sales of planted Hyacinths, Narcissus and Tulips are big contributors to the overall increase.

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SBM Life Science pre-season sales up by 46% year on year

SBM Life Science’s new strategy – New Time, New Way – is proving successful as the company celebrates a year-on-year increase in pre-season sales of 46%...

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Bionema launch specialist training courses to boost Biopesticide efficacy

Bionema have developed a selection of specialist training programmes to help maximise the potential of this biologically benign way to protect and enhance your crops, plants and amenity areas...

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Saddle up for the Garden Re-Leaf Cycle Ride Challenge

Greenfingers Charity is inviting its supporters to put their pedal power to the test this spring by taking on an inspiring new Cycle Challenge for Garden Re-Leaf Day...

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All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering

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Whitco CEO Jeff Whitaker passes away after short illness

Whitco, the catering and bakery equipment company, has announced that its CEO Jeff Whitaker has died after a short illness...

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Squire's plant show heralds start of gardening season

Squire’s Garden Centres held their annual plant show at Squire’s in West Horsley. Thirty two suppliers from across the UK and abroad came to showcase their latest plants...

Barnsfold won ‘Best Bedding Plant Supplier’ (above) for an impressive third year in a row.

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Highfield Garden World expands its planteria team

Highfield Garden World in Gloucestershire has expanded its planteria team with two experienced new recruits, bringing the team total to 14. Ian Byrne joined in June as Deputy Planteria Manager, while Scott Ellis took up his role soon afterwards...

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Tong Garden Centre raises over £20,000 for local charities

A Shipley-based charity that helps people recovering from mental health problems to get back into work is among local charities that have gained from the generosity of Tong's Garden Centre's customers and staff.

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Channa sales ban on hold after an OATA challenge

Plans to ban the sale of Channa and three aquatic plant species across the whole of the UK have had a reprieve following a challenge by OATA to the EU...

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Haskins Roundstone donates bird boxes to school

Haskins Garden Centre in Roundstone has partnered with Angmering School to promote awareness of National Nest Box Week...

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GTN February 2018 Issue OUT NOW! To view a digital version click here

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Local residents ‘sad’ at proposed closure of Reigate Garden Centre

News that Reigate Garden Centre is set to close later this year has been met with hundreds of local residents expressing their sadness and disappointment on social media...

Red Baron onion sets back on top

Seed potatoes and onion sets lead the way in Veg-2-Gro sales with Taylors Bulbs holding nine of the Top 10 in the GTN Bestsellers Veg 2 Gro chart. Red Baron onion sets go back to No 1...

Seed sowing gets sales growing

Seed sowing in greenhouses and indoors is the big driver for growing media sales this week...

Wild Bird Care sales dominated by Gardman

Despite Gardman’s ongoing issues where they are catching up with orders at their new Daventry warehouse, their Wild Bird Care lines dominate the GTN Bestsellers chart...

Malcolm Scott Consultants strengthens team

Specialist garden centre planning experts Malcolm Scott Consultants has appointed environmental impact assessment (EIA) coordinator and ecologist Dr Holly Smith to the business to oversee all environmental issues on behalf of its client base..

TV gardener David Domoney to partner with Everest again in 2018

Everest Home Improvements will again be teaming up with celebrity gardener David Domoney this year for a series of events and activities, including the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show...

Looking for Christmas Ideas for 2018?

If you are on your way to Harrogate and wanting some extra input of ideas for your Christmas 2018, take a look at GTN's photo tours of 30+ garden centres this Christmas including:

Aylett Nurseries
Barton Grange
Baytree
Bents
Blue Diamond Trentham
Brookside, Kent
Castle Gardens
Daleside Klondyke
Dobbies Mellville
Fresh at Burcot
Fron Goch
Frosts Woburn Sands
Gardenwise
Gouldings
Haskins Ferndown
Haskins West End
Hetland
Kirktown
Mains of Drum
Millbrook Gravesend
Notcutts Solihull
Old Railway Line
Planters Tamworth
Pughs Radyr
Raemoir
Ruxley Manor
Silverbirch
Summerhills
Thurrock
Whitehall Lacock
Woodlands Ash, Kent

See GTN's Christmas Garden Centre photo tours

The best of last week's

If you missed last week's GTN Xtra, below are the most-read stories...

Kelkay bought by US company for $56million

Griffon Corporation announced that its subsidiary, The AMES Companies, Inc. acquired Kelkay Limited. The purchase price for Kelkay is approximately $56 million...

All hands to the pump at Gardman as backlog gets cleared

"We've been picking day and night, it's all hands to the pump as we catch up during February..."

QD Group acquires The Barn Garden Centre in Peterborough
Acquisition is the 11th garden centre in the Group

East Anglian discount retailer, QD Group, has acquired The Barn Garden & Aquatic Centre in Peterborough...

Squire's eyes investment opportunties after parting with Windsor centre

Squire’s Garden Centres is actively looking for further sites having taken the difficult decision to part with their Windsor centre, which will close in the autumn of 2018...

Major garden centre projects near completion

At the end of this month three projects of Smiemans Projecten, the Dutch builder of all types of glass constructions, will reach completion. One of the two projects in England is the new restaurant for Groves Nurseries in Bridgeport. The other project is a new construction and renovation for Squire's Garden Centre in Woking.