Dobbies has made a dramatic U-turn and dropped a controversial plan to charge charities up to £400 a week to collect donations in its stores...

The garden centre business has been attacked by charity bosses over the money-making scheme with fundraisers fearing they would be driven out by the charge.

Dobbies has now reversed the policy and said it will now “not be charging charities for renting promotional space."

The U-turn has been hailed by opponents outraged at the levy.

One charity, which asked not to be named, claimed Dobbies wanted £400 a week – or £200 for weekends – to allow charities to collect from shoppers on their premises.

Dobbies has declined to disclose the exact charges it was touting.

A charity spokesman said he did not think it was right charities should face handing over such huge sums – simply for using Dobbies’ shopfloor.

He said: “I don’t suppose customers making donations would be happy to know half their money was going to the store. We’d never heard of such charges before and were quite shocked. On a good weekend you might collect £400 so they were effectively asking for half.”

Tin-rattling former serviceman Tom Gilzean, who has collected £100,000 for the Sick Kids hospital, branded charging for charity collecting ­“disgraceful”.

The 93-year-old said: “I’d give up collecting before paying charges. Charity is charity and no-one else should be taking it away. I think it’s sheer greed. It’s wrong and they must be out of their box.”

Colin Flinn, head of fundraising at Poppyscotland, was equally aghast at the hidden charge. He questioned the need for it and said: “The support we have received from shopping and garden centres over the years is vitally important to the overall funds raised.

“We would question any suggestion of introducing charges for collections as it would have serious implications for our fundraising and, ultimately, the support we are able to provide for veterans and their families.”

Gordon Henderson, senior development manager with the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “I find charging charities for collecting very surprising. I would very much hope no small business would do so.”

A Dobbies spokesman said: “The Dobbies Community Plan is at the heart of everything we do and a large part of this involves fundraising work with our local and national charity partners. Dobbies is proud to have raised over £300,000 for our nominated charities this financial year and we will continue to focus our fundraising efforts on this.”

Dobbies was selling access to its centres through a Glasgow-based body called Space and People, which markets promotional space in shopping venues. A spokeswoman for the organisation said it has become “common practice” in the retail industry to charge charities who want to use “high footfall venues” for fundraising.

The organisers of Garden Re-Leaf Day – the annual season-starting garden retail event in aid of children’s hospice garden charity Greenfingers – have announced a new and simple way to enable garden product and plant suppliers to get involved in time for March 14...

The ‘Loose Change’ scheme involves suppliers placing special, coin-shaped stickers in denominations of 50p or £1 – available from Greenfingers – on products of their choice, either before despatch or after delivery to the retailer. 

The selected products can then be featured in dedicated Garden Re-Leaf Day product displays set up by participating garden centres, with the stickers showing consumers how much money the supplier will donate to the Greenfingers ‘Rosy Cheeks Appeal’ upon purchase of the goods.

The Loose Change initiative aims to ensure no supplier, or retailer, misses out on Garden Re-Leaf Day’s promotional and fund-raising opportunities due to time and budget constraints. 

The idea was devised by former Gardman marketing director Jane Lawler, who is now helping to support the partnership between Greenfingers and Garden Re-Leaf Day. 

Jane (left) explained:  “Loose Change offers a fast and easy way for product suppliers and growers to take part in Garden Re-Leaf Day and be associated with the appeal.  You can buy just a few stickers for a small display in a single centre, or hundreds for distribution across all your participating customers.  

"The consumer pays just the normal in store price – but with the knowledge that 50p or £1 of their purchase is being paid to the Greenfingers Rosy Cheeks Appeal on their behalf by the product supplier.”

The Greenfingers Rosy Cheeks Appeal aims to raise £750,000 over two years to fund the creation of at least ten more, unique children’s hospice gardens.  “By suppliers offering these specially labelled products, Greenfingers will be able to give more families the gift of spending precious time together in the fresh air, away from the hospice bedside, in carefully designed gardens,” added Jane.

The Loose Change initiative follows the announcement of support for the Garden Re-leaf Day quiz from celebrities such as Jude Law, David Tennant, Alistair MacGowan and Patsy Palmer; and a competition for garden centres to win a visit from ITV’s Love Your Garden presenter, David Domoney.

Garden centres across the UK are registering to run special events and activities for Garden Re-Leaf Day, which takes place on Friday 14^th March and across the weekend.

Find out more

• Suppliers looking to take part in the Loose Change promotion should call 01494 674749 or contact info@gardenreleaf.co.uk
• Retailers and suppliers wanting to participate in Garden Re-Leaf Day need to register their details on www.gardenreleaf.co.uk
• Retailers looking to enter the free, ‘Gardening Date with David’ competition should email info@gardenreleaf.co.uk by the closing date of February 7
• Anyone wishing to run the Garden Re-Leaf Day Celebrity Gardening Quiz, can order an organiser’s pack (£100) from 0118 930 8918 or email pat@gca.org.uk

Greenfingers, the charity dedicated to creating magical gardens at children’s hospices around the UK, has started work on its first new garden of 2014 at Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice in Sussex...

The charity is creating a fully accessible magical woodland walk for the children and families who use the hospice to enjoy, utilising existing woodland that has previously been inaccessible to the children.  Renowned garden designer Ann-Marie Powell has designed the woodland garden, with a landscape team from Garden House Design building the project.

Greenfingers have received amazing support from suppliers across the industry to help with the project at Chestnut Tree House.  The charity rely heavily on gift in kind support for these major projects, with this garden benefiting from the products and services of Winner plant hire; The Millboard Company Ltd; Arun Landscapes; Stanton Bonna, Sussex Transport and Simon Groves, a local chainsaw sculptor who is creating woodland creatures for the garden.

As the project gets underway Emma Hanford, Greenfingers’ Garden Project Manager, took the opportunity to say thank you to those already involved ‘We are now on the cusp of creating a really wonderful woodland walk for the children at Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice.  We couldn’t do it without the wonderful support of those who have supplied us with essential materials, manpower and services to create all the elements we need – a huge thank you to all who’ve been involved in getting the project to this exciting point.

Emma Hanford continued: ‘Although we are now ready to start building to garden there are still other materials and products are in need of – we are still looking to secure native woodland plants, composted bark and wildlife habitats – if anyone can help us with those items we’d love to hear from them!’

The woodland garden is expected to be completed in around three months, in time for the children and families who spend time at the hospice to enjoy it over the summer.

The woodland garden at Chestnut Tree House hospice will be the 42^nd garden to be built by Greenfingers.  This garden will be built as part of the charity’s ‘Rosy Cheeks’ appeal, which aims to build at least ten more gardens at children’s hospices around the UK over the next two years.

To get involved in the garden please contact Greenfingers on 01494 674749 and for latest project updates follow Greenfingers on twitter @Greenfingerscha

Photo caption: L-R Rod Winrow, Garden House Design; Peter Field, Greenfingers trustee; Hannah Hunt, Greenfingers; Emma Hanford Greenfingers; Ken Gillingham, Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice; Ann-Marie Powell, Garden Designer; Peter Cornwell, Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice.

Ian Flounders, of Woodlodge Products, is taking part in the Celtic Challenge Rowing Race in May to raise money for charity, including Greenfingers... 

Ian is a member of Crannog Rowing Club (www.crannogrowingclub.co.uk), a sea rowing club based in Llangrannog, Ceredigion in West Wales. Members of the club row in Celtic long boats, a modern day craft with four rowers and a cox.

The club is mad up of all ages and it meets regularly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday morning, from March until the end of September – during the winter months it meets on Sunday mornings, weather and tide permitting.

"We are a small but dedicated club of around 18 members," said Ian's partner Rhian Evans. "We race in various regattas hosted by rowing clubs along the  beautiful Welsh coastline, where we enter ladies, mens and mixed teams.

"There are several categories and last year we won our first piece of silverware ever in the Super-vets Mixed Team (qualifying criteria combined age of all four rowers being 200 or over!)

"We decided to undertake the Celtic Challenge, rowing from Ireland to Wales, to challenge ourselves and also to raise money for charity. 

"We have chosen Greenfingers as one of our charities, due to the great work that they do providing magical and inspiring gardens for the children, siblings and families who use hospices around the UK to enjoy. Also several members of our rowing club have employment based around the garden industry.

"Along with Ian, who works with Woodlodge, one member has his own worm compost business and a couple of other members have their own gardening rounds, and all came to the unanimous decision that Greenfingers was a charity they wished to support."

The Celtic Challenge (www.celtic-challenge.org.uk) is the world’s longest true rowing race where teams race from Arklow in County Wicklow, Ireland, to Aberystwyth on the Welsh coast, a distance of about 90 nautical miles.

Celtic and Pembrokeshire longboats take part (and occasionally other similar boats also join in) – each boat is about 24 feet (8m) long and has four fixed seats and one cox. Each team doing the Celtic Challenge consists of 12 people who take it in turns to row, spending the time in between on a support boat. A small inflatable is generally used to transfer people between the support boat and the rowing boat.

"It is indeed a tough challenge, a test of endurance and we are training hard at the moment," added Rhian.

"We have kept training all winter, on the sea when the conditions allow, and on the river at other times. During one October training session on the river, we rowed up river to the glorious view of the sun setting and then rowed back down river, in the moonlight! It was very magical."

The weather may not be great for gardening – as reduced year-on-year sales volumes in our Veg 2 Gro and Growing Media charts indicate – but total garden centre volume sales were up on the past two years for the fifth consecutive week.

With core gardening products holding their own and wild bird care sales down on last year, possibly largely due to the milder weather, it could be catering and gifts that are keeping sales up as we move into February.

Appropriately enough, garden centre buyers were out in force this week at Spring Fair, the year’s biggest gift-buying fixture. Gifts have become a mainstay of the garden retail market and trade buyers invest every bit as much care in selecting their offer as they do when buying garden products.

In many ways, it is more challenging, especially for small buying teams faced with Spring Fair’s seemingly endless sea of exhibitors. We spotted plenty of garden centre interest in the two products pictured.

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

• Garden Products – static
  
• Veg-2-Gro – down 31%
  
• Growing Media – down 17%
  
• All items index – up 6%

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Twenty-two of this week’s Garden Products Chart Top 50 products are from the Gardman stable, testimony to the success of the company’s current topical promotions strategy.

Gloves sales hardly need a helping hand at this time of the year, apart from plenty of facings and clip-strips to stimulate impulse purchase to ensure they find their way into every basket at the checkout. Ladies’ and men’s glove twin packs from Gardman are the highest climbers this week, both rising 20 places to Nos.8 and 9 respectively, with ladies heavy-duty glove twin packs the highest re-entry at No.21.

Highest new entry is Sankey’s 136-litre standard water butt (now supplied by new owners Strata); with the heavens still opening around the country, users are clearly keen to prepare for drier times. The timing is absolutely right for promotions on water storage lines.

Westland’s 1-litre glyphosate-based Weed Buster RTU kicks off the weedkiller season with a new chart entry at No.44. Weed growth has hardly stopped during this generally mild and wet winter, so perhaps the category is in for an earlier than usual start.

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.

Established in 1649 as an ironworks in a small Finnish village, Fiskars has grown to be a leading global supplier of consumer products for the home, garden and outdoors. Fiskars' products bring joy to consumers' lives and help solve their everyday problems - every day.

Known for innovation and design, it's the Fiskars Classic orange-handled scissors, selling over one billion pairs worldwide, that turned Fiskars into an internationally recognised and renowned brand. From the very first nails, hoes and knives made in 1649, to launching the world's first plastic handled scissors in 1967, and producing gardening tools in 1985 Fiskars continue to design and innovate to this day.

In the garden sector, Fiskars holds premiere position for its cutting tools.

Following three successful spring TV campaigns, Fiskars is back with two campaigns for 2014. The first TV campaign is launching in April and will promote Fiskars PowerGear pruner with its 3x more cutting power.

This will be followed during the Easter period with Fiskars highly recognisable Weed Puller campaign.

Fran Kershaw, Trade Marketing Manager for Fiskars UK Ltd, says: "We're incredibly proud of the Fiskars heritage. 365 years is a landmark for us and we wanted to celebrate it through demonstrating our expertise as well as showing consumers that we are a forward-thinking and innovative company. Our TV campaigns over the past three years have been highly successful, driving footfall to retailers and increased product sales. We look forward to similar success when our Fiskars PowerGear campaign launches."

From 1649 to 2014 Fiskars has lead the way in cutting tool technology and the future is bright and most certainly orange.

For more information visit www.fiskars.co.uk, email ukinfo@fiskars.com  or call 0115 927 733.

The Garden Centre Association’s new chairman Will Armitage has pledged to rejuvenate the organisation’s regional groups as he took on the chains of office at the organisation's recent national conference.

The Managing Director of Armitage’s Home and Garden in West Yorkshire says he wants to get the GCA regions back to being fighting fit during his two-year tenure. 

He said: “The GCA should be proud of what it has to offer. It’s a pretty unique networking opportunity for like-minded people. Our conference has always been a great place to meet and this year was no exception.

“It’s great to share information with other like-minded garden centre owners and operators. The GCA’s strength lies in its membership and the opportunities members have to get together and discuss what they’re doing well, and to share their experiences.

“I want to expand the membership and through stronger regional groups help members get more from the body. In the late 1990s and early 2000s regional activity was very strong so it would be good for that to be reinvigorated again. The other two pledges that I asked the membership to make me accountable for were building on GROW, our online learning resource, and increasing overall membership.”

Will predicts 2014 will be a good year for garden centres too and he believes economic confidence is coming back.

“The consumer is definitely getting more confident about spending and I’d like to think that bigger-ticket items such as larger specimen plants, barbecues and garden furniture will start to do well again this year. More and more customers are going online to buy everyday products that they don’t want to queue for at the garden centre.

“They’re coming to our centres for different reasons and we all need to capitalise on our individuality. There’s the leisure aspect we offer, the catering and the wonderful relaxed ambience – perfect for a potter.

“People still want to go to have social interactions, face-to-face with a human being so I don’t think the Internet will damage our sales but can only enhance them. All garden centres are seeing a growth in food sales and at my two garden centres we’re selling more instant planted products than ever. Overall I feel the industry’s future is bright."

The pioneering technology behind LazyLawn’s top selling product, Wonder Yarn, has been awarded a patent.

The country’s biggest artificial grass brand has been given exclusive rights to use the newly patented technology in the UK.

Wonder Yarn features a ‘W’ shaped yarn with the ability to recover after activity; the shape of the yarn forces the blades of grass to stand upright, making the grass more resilient and giving it the ability to bounce back.

Andy Driver, Marketing Director at LazyLawn, comments: “We are delighted to receive the exclusive rights to use this patented technology to produce our Wonder Yarn turf. 

“We have spent a great deal of time working closely with our manufacturer to develop a product that looks and feels authentic, and having successfully created the most realistic artificial lawn on the market, we want to ensure others cannot copy this pioneering design.

“Wonder Yarn has been our top selling product for the last three years and its growing popularity is all down to its high quality and unique design.

“The turf’s ability to bounce back gives it added durability and realism, which is enhanced by the green and beige colour mix of the individual strands; these are made from soft, yet durable polyethylene, and are fully UV stabilised to prevent fading.”

LazyLawn, which is the flagship brand of Evergreens UK, experienced a 25% leap in sales in 2013.

The synthetic turf specialist has already gained a number of well-known fans, including Amanda Holden and Alan Titchmarsh, and is the artificial turf of choice for JD Wetherspoons, Centre Parcs and Selfridges.

LazyLawn was also the first artificial grass brand to ever appear at the Chelsea Flower Show and has installed the Big Brother garden for eight consecutive years.

Find out more about Wonder Yarn by visiting www.lazylawn.co.uk, following @lazylawn or calling 0800 023 2343.

Plans to build 62 homes on the site of a Barrow garden centre will be voted on by Ribble Valley Borough Council next week.

The plans were sent in by proprietor Chris Hanson, of Hanson’s Garden Centre in Whalley Road, in August, two months after a public consultation. Proposals are for 34 three-bedroom houses, 15 with two bedrooms and 13 four-bedroom homes.

The parish council has objected over concerns of additional traffic and insufficient facilities, such as schools.

Five letters of objection have been submitted to the council which include concerns over noise disturbance and loss of businesses and employment.

The proposals will be discussed on Thursday, February 13, from 6.30pm at Ribble Valley Borough Council Chamber in Church Street, Clitheroe.

Regarded as the ultimate trade experience, BETA International covers equestrian, country clothing, outdoor and pet product sectors, and is built on a rich tradition of innovation, design and invention. It is the place to see and be seen, offering the finest business and networking opportunities over three days at the NEC, Birmingham...

Visitors and exhibitors are in for a treat as BETA International prepares to welcome War Horse back to the trade fair. The hit West End production will play a starring role on each of the three days, giving everyone the opportunity to meet the play’s leading puppet, Joey.

“We are thrilled that War Horse has agreed to pay us a return visit,” said BETA International organiser Claire Thomas. “It was an absolutely tremendous experience when the crew, puppeteers and Topthorn appeared in 2012 and we are looking forward to a repeat performance – only this time with the show’s main character.

The event's Innovation Awards celebrate new products displaying flair, creativity, cutting-edge technology and inspirational invention. They have become even bigger, with an additional category introduced to their highly successful mix.

Nine categories – Saddlery & Tack, Rider Clothing, Safety & Security, Feed & Supplements, Horsecare Equipment & [horse] Clothing, Pet Products, Country Fashion & Footwear, Rider Footwear & Chaps and Other – will be judged by a panel of industry experts, carefully selected for their experience in specific fields.

“The awards continue to go from strength to strength as the number of entries grows each year,” said Claire Thomas. “The introduction of a new category to embrace the wide range of products exhibited at the show and the fact that we are welcoming leading trade publication ETN back as a sponsor for another year is a terrific endorsement of these popular awards.”

Other popular features include fashion shows, horse demonstrations, seminars, plus there is an amazing number of exhibitors.

BETA Interenational takes place at the NEC on February 16-18.

For more information visit www.beta-int.com

Garden centre catering operators will come together next week (12 February) for the HTA Catering Conference – Ingredients for Success, which takes place at the Hilton Hotel, Coventry.  With only a few places left anyone wishing to attend is encouraged to book now to avoid disappointment as demand for this event is high!

Waitress vs. Self Service will be the topic of discussion in an industry panel debate that takes place during the day. Alan Roper, Blue Diamond Garden Centres, Guy Topping, Barton Grange, Helen Lloyd, Stratford Garden Centre and Jane Cox, Glendoick Garden Centre will explore the positives and potential negatives of waitress, call to order and self-service operations. 

Delegates are invited to take part in the discussion on the day and through a live Twitter feed that will be running throughout the event. Questions can be tweeted to @HTAEvents using the hashtag #cateringconf prior to and during the event.

The event will also see a choice of workshops tackling key areas for garden retailers who run cafes and restaurants.  Delegates will be able to choose from workshops on Improving Service Speed, Coping with Peaks in Demand, Sourcing Locally and Recruiting the Right Staff.

Keynote speakers include Jo Wheatley, bakery author and Great British Bake Off 2011 winner, Jemma Swallow, owner of the Tea Box, Jason Danciger, The Garden Centre Group, Lauren Cocks of Coletta and Tyson, Ellie Yates of Plantation Garden Company Ltd and Sue Allen of Millbrook Garden Company.

Sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, the conference will bring together industry experts and practitioners in order to showcase best practice, provide inspiration, tackle key common issues and look at the trends that lie ahead for garden centre catering.

Building on the success of last year’s sell-out event, this year will feature an even bigger exhibition which will allow delegates to meet with a range of key catering suppliers including Ice Cream World, Mars, Bon Bons, Catering Design Group, Carford Group, Cawston Press, Country Choice and Patchwork Pate.

Make sure you don’t miss out by booking your place at http://www.cateringconference.co.uk/index.php/book-online or email events@the-hta.org.uk

Having proven its economic model, Greenfingers.com is now looking to double the scale of its business in the next three years.

According to Kevin Hague, MD: “In the 10 years since we acquired Greenfingers.com we have successfully transformed it from a heavily loss making catalogue company to a profitable pure online player with exceptional growth prospects. We have patiently refined the business model so that we can now self-fund our growth and have put in place infrastructure and capacity plans to double the business in the next 3 years.”

As well as extending the warehouse capacity at their premises in Livingston, Greenfingers.com are close to a full website re-launch which will apply the best practice lessons learnt from the highly successful site re-launch of sister company, PetPlanet.co.uk in 2013.

Kevin continued “We have always believed that the key to building a successful business is hiring and nurturing the most talented people. We believe one our key competitive differentiators is the commerciality of our product range and this is underpinned by best-in-class buying and merchandising practices.”

Currently, Greenfingers.com is seeking a Senior Buyer to bolster their team. Click here to view the full job description.

The Smart Solar head office team is expanding in line with increasing sales to ensure that trade customers continue to receive outstanding customer service. From order taking to delivery and beyond, these new appointments will help the office admin team to provide a more efficient service. 

Paula Sobocinska has been appointed as Supply Chain Planner. With extensive experience in supply chain roles she brings a wealth of knowledge in forecasting, inventory management, warehouse liaison and freight forwarding.

Laura Selby has joined as Sales Coordinator with responsibility for supporting mail order customers from order taking to delivery. Laura brings a mature expertise to this busy role and is already proving an asset to the Sales Admin team.

Jackie Williams is the new member of the Accounts team, assisting with invoicing, payments and anything finance related.

Jonathan Stobart, Smart Solar’s managing director, commented: “This is a very exciting time for the company and key to our success will be having the right teams in place across all areas of the business to help drive our growth.“

Pictured: Three new appointments for Smart Solar: from left to right: Jackie Williams, Paula Sobocinska and Laura Selby.

Gardman is giving its retail partners 10 more Stronger Off£ers, with savings of up to £40 off RRP, in time for the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) National Nest Box Week, which takes place beteen February 14-21. 

The purpose of National Nest Box Week, launched by the BTO in 1997, is to encourage people to put up nest boxes in their local area promote and enhance biodiversity and the conservation of breeding birds and wildlife.  

National Nest Box Week themed Point of Sale (POS) materials are also available.  Using these POS displays retailers will be able to easily transform their wild bird care accessories bay into a themed promotional area that will attract consumers and engage them with the event.  Free consumer literature about National Nest Box Week and where to site nest boxes in gardens is available with promotional orders.  

“National Nest Box Week represents a great opportunity for our retail partners,” explained Gardman Marketing Director, Sarah Downing.  “The moderate wet weather means consumer have so far bought fewer wild bird care products this season and this week presents an opportunity to reverse this trend.  With our Stronger Off£ers on these attractive nest boxes our retail partners can tempt shoppers in store and then trade them up to buy everything they need to care for the wild birds in their gardens.”

There are eight appealing nest boxes included in the offer: the Beach Hut, Country Cottage, Log Cabin, Bird Box, Robin Nest Box, Multi Nest Box, Orchard Multi Nest Box and the BTO Colour Camera Nest Box.  

The Beach Hut nest box is pine with an attractive red cedar tiled roof and is suitable for many species including Sparrows, Great Tits and Nuthatches.  With a contrasting design the Country Cottage Nest Box is also made of pine and a red cedar tiled roof and suitable for many species.  The Log Cabin Nest Box is made of western red cedar wood with a birch front and the wooden Robin Nest Box has an open front suitable for Robins.  The simple Bird Box is wooden with an entrance hole suitable for many species.  The Multi Nest Box has interchangeable entrance panels and the Orchard Multi Nest Box has a slate-style roof.  With the BTO Colour Nest Box, which is built from long-lasting FSC certified cedar, it is possible to watch nesting birds in full colour and with sound.   

Gardman is taking orders now; those wishing to place an order should contact their local agent on 01406 372237.  

Aggregates continue to be core to the Kelkay business. This fact has been underlined by the company’s recent and substantial investment in opening up another 10 acres of its land bank.

Explaining the reason, Antony Harker, Managing Director, commented; “We’ve done this in order to support exceptional pre-season sales and in preparation for anticipated increased sales during the season ahead.”

This greatly expanded aggregate site is providing storage for back up stock, currently at 30,000 pallets, which is 50% more than this time last year. In addition to this, Kelkay also has over 55,000 tons of aggregate stock piled in its yard. The company understands how important it is that its customers have reassurance on stock availability for the coming season, especially with the predicted increase in demand for aggregates in the garden.

For more information on Kelkay’s range of aggregates email salesenquiries@kelkay.co.uk or call 01405 869333.

Textice Ltd was established 20 years ago, manufacturing garden related products and now has an ever growing range of innovative products.

One of their early products was called the Babyllon Bowl.  Reviews by garden expert Dave Watkins grabbed the attention of other gurus  working in TV and garden magazines. It was just the start that the company needed. Many other innovative products followed including, Big Moss Sphagnum Moss, a new and easy way of using moss in hanging baskets.

The latest products are all part of the plant support range called Twisters Plant supports and Spirals Plant supports. They have been among the top selling products at Chelsea, Hampton Court, and Tatton Park Flower Shows for the past couple of years. Twisters plant supports is an extendable frame which can be used  for Clematis, Jasmine, Sweet  Peas, Runner Beans, etc.

It can also be used as a cage for growing tomatoes and fruits.  Both these plant support products were top sellers and were awarded the RHS Certificate of Commendations for the displays created on the stands. This is the top award that can be achieved for the trade stands at RHS Shows.

 Now that the sales potential of these products has been  tried and tested, including with OBI one of Europe’s biggest DIY and Garden retailers,  and the design and marketing perfected the Twister and Spiral range are ready to join the Babyllon Bowl and Big Moss products in the UK trade market place.

Garden Product retailers can expect 50% margins from stocking any of these products and can contact Jason Conway  at  Textice Ltd on 01604 821867 or by email Jason@babyllon.co.uk. Further details can also be seen on the website www.babyllon.co.uk  and details of all GIMA member companies are available on the GIMA website – www.gima.org.uk

Some may feel our comment last week about the conservative tastes of traditional gardeners looks a little foolish this week with the arrival in the chart of ‘Cosmic Purple’ carrot seeds from Thompson & Morgan. It’s the highest new entry at No.38, closely tailed by the first appearance of Cucumber ‘Jogger’ from the same seedsman.

However, good old carrot ‘Early Nantes 5’ (an improved Nantes type from Suttons), is the week’s second highest re-entry, pipped at the post only by T&M’s outdoor basil (back in at No.18).

T&M are also responsible for a couple of other fast movers - tomato ‘Sweet Aperitif’, which climbs 13 places to No.7, and tomato ‘Sweet Baby’, the week’s highest climber.

At the top, onion set sales are bringing tears to your eyes...of joy, naturally.

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

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While the bad weather may have put a brake on seed sales, forward-looking customers will still be preparing in earnest to sow veg and flower seeds over the next few weeks, so it’s reasonable to expect sales of growing media to increase in tandem with the desire. Seed and cutting composts will be a priority, so any POS focus on these willl repay the effort.

A clutch of sowing composts permeate this week’s chart, with Westland Gro-sure Seed & Cutting 30L gaining nine places with a volume increase of more than 50%. The 10L bag of the same medium also made progress and Arthur Bowers John Innes Seed 25L re-entered at No.25, while their 10L bag was a new entry.

Highest climber, though, was Westland’s Gro-Sure Vegetable Compost 50L. And the week’s highest new entry was the Gem Cambark Chunky-Chip Bark 70L, a sign that gardeners are in the mood for a tidy-up.

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.

Hollywood star Jude Law and Dr Who actor David Tennant have joined the growing list of household-name celebrities to support Garden Re-Leaf Day’s popular Gardening Quiz, by recording a round of questions.  The brain-teasing audio quiz is available as a customer event opportunity to any garden centre taking part in the annual fund-raising day in March.

The two stars join Skyfall’s ‘Miss Moneypenny’, actress Naomie Harris – currently on cinema screens as Winnie Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom – in presenting a section of the questions.  EastEnders cast members Danny Dyer (new Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter) and Patsy Palmer (fiery market trader Bianca Butcher) have also lent their familiar voices to the quiz, in addition to a round recorded by impressionist Alistair McGowan – in the vocal style of celebrities John Humphrys, David Mitchell, Matt Baker, Dara Ó Briain and Stephen Fry.

David Tennant, Naomie Harris and Alistair McGowan have agreed to support Garden Re-Leaf Day’s popular Gardening Quiz.

The quiz – which includes both general knowledge and gardening rounds – can be ordered by all retailers, suppliers and other organisations participating in Garden Re-Leaf Day; with funds raised going towards its chosen charity, Greenfingers. The production of the quiz and accompanying CDs are being provided by Garden Radio, as part of its support for Garden Re-Leaf Day.

The quiz is also a ready-made opportunity to boost customer footfall, as Garden Re-Leaf Day’s founder and Hillview Garden Centre CEO Boyd Douglas-Davies explains: “We’re enormously grateful that so many mainstream stars have supported this year’s Garden Re-Leaf Day quiz – it will be more popular than ever!  It’s a simple way for retailers both to take part in Garden Re-Leaf, and attract scores of customers in-store at the start of the spring gardening season.  You can make the event even more effective by running other sales promotions, refreshments and fund-raisers alongside. The organiser’s pack costs just £100 and is available by calling 01993 871456 or emailing pat@gca.org.uk”

Garden centres and suppliers across the UK are expected to take part in the third annual Garden Re-Leaf Day, held on Friday 14 March 2014 and across the weekend. Participants – who can run any number of nationally-coordinated or local fund-raising initiatives – are being urged to register their involvement as soon as possible by emailing the organising team at info@gardenreleaf.co.uk with an overview of your planned activities.  Your location and events will then be added to the Garden Re-Leaf Day website: www.gardenreleaf.co.uk.

As in its first two years, Garden Re-Leaf Day’s nominated charity in 2014 is Greenfingers; the nationwide charity dedicated to building gardens in children’s hospices around the UK. Since 2012 Garden Re-Leaf Day participants have raised more than £116,000 for the cause; enabling several life-enhancing hospice gardens to be created.    

In December it was announced that garden centres taking part in Garden Re-Leaf Day can also win a ‘money-can’t buy’, footfall-boosting visit to their garden centre by popular ITV gardener David Domoney on Sunday 16 March 2014 (the Sunday immediately after Garden Re-Leaf Day). David is offering a series of 30-minute expert talks on that date to the garden centre that wins Garden Re-Leaf Day’s new, free to enter ‘Gardening Date with David’ competition – which has a closing date of Friday 7 February 2014.

Any garden retailer registering their participation in Garden Re-Leaf Day by 7 February is eligible to enter. To register for Garden Re-Leaf Day and enter the ‘Gardening Date with David’ competition, email info@gardenreleaf.co.uk by 7 February with your garden centre details, also stating in 200 words or less, how you would make the most of David’s visit on 16 March as part of Garden Re-Leaf Day.  The best idea wins him.

TV presenter and gardening journalist Richard Jackson, an active supporter of both Greenfingers and Garden Re-Leaf Day, confirmed: “The quiz and David Domoney competition are both fantastic, easy ways of taking part in Garden Re-Leaf Day this year; benefiting both your business and the Greenfingers charity. Everyone wins, so let’s make this a record-breaking year!”

The Hillview Group have entered into a strategic alliance with The Garden Store and Burford House Garden Store, with the intention of acquiring the businesses.

“This is a very exciting step for Hillview Garden Centres. I'm looking forward to working with the team at The Garden Store and developing the well established business over the next few years," said Boyd J Douglas-Davies, CEO, Hillview Garden Centres.

“The Garden Store team are very enthusiastic to be working with Boyd and the team at Hillview to maximise each of the store's potential," added Marcus Eyles and Neil Stevens, Directors of Garden Store. 

Nadav Livni, Managing Director of The Hillview Group, said: “This is a significant step for both parties, which will give Boyd the opportunity to collaborate with Marcus, Neil and the team at Garden Store and Burford House on exciting new plans.

"This transaction is part of our long-term growth strategy for Hillview Garden Centres – to establish a portfolio of 'local champion' centres, which offer customers a retail destination experience, with an appealing product mix and friendly knowledgeable staff.” 

Hillview Garden Centres was established in 2011 and owns Studley Garden Centre, Warwickshire and Hilltop Garden Centre, Oxfordshire.

The Garden Store has 6 centres at:

• Billing, Northampton
• Charlecote, nr Stratford on Avon
• Newton Regis, Tamworth, Staffs
• Pavillion, Wolverhampton 
• Studley Green, High Wycombe
• Burford House, Tenbury Wells

A Bayer Garden team is taking to the road this February to provide technical and sales training to garden centre staff across the country. 

The delegates will learn about Bayer Garden’s proven new in-store sales strategy for weedkillers.  They will also get a better understanding of new generation neonicotinoids and how they differ to imidacloprid. They will also and learn about common weeds, pests and diseases and their control.  The team will also aid in training garden centre staff on the Sustainable Use Directive, which is coming into force in November 2015.

“The greater the knowledge of garden centre staff, the easier their jobs, particularly with the advent of the Sustainable Use Directive and gardeners’ questions about the appropriate use of garden chemicals,” said Alison Mulvaney, Product Manager of Bayer Garden.  “Our training days have been designed to give staff the information they need to help their customers and boost sales. 

“In particular, understanding our new weedkiller strategy will really benefit garden centres and their staff.  The simplified Bayer Garden range, new packaging and radically different fixture layout have been proven to boost sales.  Shoppers’ questions are answered at the fixture helping them arrive at the purchase decision, freeing up staff, and finally merchandising the selves is quicker and simpler, again saving time.”

Attendees of the roadshows will be able to enter a merchandising competition. This is to take their learnings regarding the weedkiller segmentation part of the roadshow and create the most effective weedkiller fixture in their garden centre.

The training days are taking place in Cambridge (18 February), Leeds (20 February), Guildford (25 February) and Birmingham (27February).  

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

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

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

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

or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products 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.