Tesco has appointed investment bank Greenhall & Co to sell its Dobbies Garden Centre business along with other non-core assets, according to Sky News.

It’s believed that Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis has hired Greenhall, a long-standing advisor to the company, to work on the sale of Dobbies as he focuses on reviving the core operations of Britain's biggest retailer.

Sky News sources said on Monday that Tesco also planned to sell Harris & Hoole, a chain of coffee shops it recently took full ownership of under an existing agreement with its other shareholders. Euphorium, a bakery business, is also likely to be closed.

Executives decided to close Nutricentre, a healthy living business, two weeks ago.

Dobbies was bought by Tesco in 2008, when the company was run by Sir Terry Leahy, the architect of its dominance of the UK grocery retail sector. It now has 35 garden centres across the UK, many of which are attached to Tesco stores, but recorded a  £48m loss in its 2014-15 financial year after writing down the value of its real estate.

A Tesco spokesman said the company did not comment on "rumour and speculation".

The need to inspire and educate the consumer to encourage spend has never been greater and with POS merchandising being an intrinsic part of this process Meadow View have re-designed their entire POS collection around this concept. 

All their POS now features awe-inspiring lifestyle shots of their products featured in simple effective schemes which have been designed to inspire the consumer, and strongly promote cross sales into other relating product areas.

These engaging photos have been created to encourage the consumer to not only buy gravel but rockery stone, pebbles, cobbles and even plants. 

This innovative POS is further aided by all the featured products’ suitability and benefits being listed in easy to read and legible fonts on each product board. Alongside this there are imperial and metric quantity tables, meaning all the relevant information is listed concisely in one place, to make the buying process effortless and instantaneous.

Each board also includes an image of the bag, making it simple for the customer to locate and identify the product in store. Furthermore each board has an individual QR code which links directly to an online help portal called go recreate which serves an excellent resource for how to use and lay the products, whilst showcasing inspirational gardening shots that help visualise which products will complement each other.

Stockists of the Meadow View Range of decorative aggregates, paving and stoneware are encouraged to think about linking products featured in each lifestyle shot to primarily make the buying process thought provoking and as simplistic as possible for the consumer which will strongly increase the potential of upselling into related product sectors.

Marketing Director Sarah Hill stated: “This is a very exciting time for Meadow View Stone and its loyal customers, who will immensely benefit from the increased sales potential this NEW POS is designed to capture. 

"An increase in our stand designs and POS height also addresses the demand for better visibility of our products in store meaning they are no longer an after-thought for perusing customers."

For further details of our NEW POS range please contact our Sales Director, Simon Routledge on 078910 42537 or Head Office on 01948 841607.

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

• Garden Products – up 10%
• Veg 2 Gro – up 12%
• Growing Media – up 34%
• All items index – up 27%

Two garden centres in London and Buckinghamshire are to close this year.

Leighton Buzzard Garden Centre in Bucks, opened in 1995 by Martin and Stuart Hammond, will close in the autumn. The brothers plan to retire to pursue other interests.

They said approaches from other operators interested in carrying on the £1m-plus turnover business had come to nothing and they could not justify the substantial investment required to develop the three-acre site. They said they would do all they can to help the centre’s two full-time and 10 part-time staff to find other jobs over the next few months.

Nine other businesses that rent premises on the site will continue to trade there. They include a children’s nursery, conservatory company, hot tub and pool supplier, aquatics centre, beauty therapist, pet shop, car wash, craft centre and dog groomers.

Phoebe’s Pet and Garden Centre at Catford will shut its doors in the summer after seasonal sales have finished. A stock sale is already being advertised on the website.

The centre started life as a nursery growing chrysanthemums for a flower shop run by a lady called Phoebe in the early 1900s and was developed as a garden centre by her grandson in 1978. A petshop added in 1988 was opened by Johnny Morris of BBC TV’s ‘Animal Magic’ fame.

The owners will continue their landscaping business but hope to sell the 9000 sq.ft.shop site.

Contactless card payments are not yet trusted by the majority of consumers, according to an online survey by business intelligence research consultancy Future Thinking.

The survey, conducted out by Toluna, asked more than 2300 people about their attitude to the system, which dispenses with the need for PIN numbers at the till.

More than 30% of respondents said they never pay by contactless because they don’t trust it, with men less likely than women to trust the system (by a margin of 6%).

Age plays a key role in usage – 22% of under 35’s never pay by Contactless compared to 43% of over 55’s.

Around 14% said they didn’t even know if their cards were contactless.

More than one in four thought the current limit of £30 per contactless transaction should continue to be the maximum for contactless payment.

Which? Gardening has named Thompson & Morgan’s peat-based 'incredicompost'  as best overall compost for sowing seeds and raising young plants.

T&M say they launched the compost, a blend of 80% Irish peat and 20% wood fibre, in March 2015 because  customers’ were incfreasingly disappointed with other blends on the market. The compost was launched alongside incredibloom® and incredicrop® fertilisers.

Which? Gardening gave incredicompost a score of 95% for sowing seeds, well ahead of the next best performer, which scored 80%. For raising young plants incredicompost scored 90%, leading to a Which? ‘Best Buy’.

Two seed varieties, antirrhinum and cabbage, were sown in the Which? trial and two plant varieties, fibrous begonias and tomatoes.

In another Which? Gardening compost test looking at container performance, incredicompost was listed as a recommended product.

T&M’s horticultural director Paul Hansord said: “We always knew we were on to a winner with our first move into the compost market. Our aim with incredicompost has been to develop a premium-quality product that brings consistency and reliability back to the market – something that has been missing since the increased use of green waste materials in a bid to reduce peat content in many well-known brands. Gardeners are keen to reduce their peat use but many have reported poor results with green-waste products.”

He adds: “To reduce the peat in our blend we have instead included wood fibre, sourced from Irish saw mills, actually making use of a surplus by-product. This wood fibre is graded by chip size, so each time we make a new batch we can guarantee consistency from our ingredients, leading to consistent performance from the compost, no matter the time of year or which ‘batch’ our customers are supplied from.”

Incredicompost contains trace elements, minerals, a wetting agent and a little pre-mixed fertiliser for early growth but is sold with a sachet of incredibloom for mixing in at planting time to feed plants for around seven months

When GTN Xtra checked online, typical prices were £9.99 for a 25-litre pack (very.co.uk) and £14.99 plus £4.99 shipping for 70 litres (greenfingers.com).

Full coverage of the compost trials can be found in the Jan/Feb 2016 and April 2016 issues of Which? Gardening.

GIMA’s Innovators Seed Corn Fund (GISCF), set up in 2014 to encourage new businesses, designers and innovators to enter the garden retail market, has helped its 2015 winner to unexpected first-year success.

Dan Robson, founder of Green Digit, was the recipient of last year’s £5,000 prize fund plus business support and made his debut at Glee 2015 to launch his SeedCell concept to the trade. Each seeds is encased in its own natural-pulp cell, packaged together to make a ‘wheel of seeds’, easily snapped off and pushed directly into the soil.

Glee, he says, has been pivotal for the business, which has snowballed ever since. “The GIMA team were really hands-on, introducing us to key retailers and influencers throughout the show. Of course we wanted to make sales and develop routes to market, but for us our main aim was to introduce the SeedCell concept to the market, possibly gaining some insight into how we can further develop our offering. Little did we know what impact our three days at Glee would have on our business.”

Since Glee 2015, says Dan, he and his colleagues have been on “a rollercoaster ride”. The concept for SeedCell was sown in June 2014, with the first finished item coming off the production line in July last year. Since then, they have launched a Christmas-themed SeedCell (grow your own Christmas Tree) and secured listings in more than 175 stockists. Homebase are to list it shortly, while B&Q are planning a trial across 120 stores. “These are opportunities we never imagined would be possible in year one of business,” Dan said.

SeedCell is now also stocked in Germany, Switzerland, France and Dubai and he hopes to appoint a distributor for the United States.

A move into new premises last September, fitted out with food-grade production lines, will enable further new product development, with vegetable varieties like courgette and cucumber in the pipeline.

“It’s safe to say that winning the GIMA Innovators Seed Corn Fund has opened doors for us that we never imagined would be possible at the beginning of our journey,” added Dan. “The award has not only been a great conversation starter with key retailers, but the business support that comes as part of the prize package has been invaluable. We are really excited about what the future holds for us, and have no doubt that the garden retail industry will be seeing a lot more from Green Digit and SeedCell!”

GIMA director Vicky Nuttall said: “It’s great to hear that the GISCF has played a part in this success story, however we can’t take all the credit – far from it!  The SeedCell is quite simply a great product. During the judging process for the 2015 GISCF, the judges were unanimous in their verdict that the product’s simplicity, coupled with the design and creative flair with which it had been put together, combine to create a concept that has been well thought out and delivers a finished, shelf-ready product all wrapped up in a competitive price point. Not only this, but the SeedCell is designed to make growing-your-own accessible to all, and firmly flies the flag for true British innovation with its proud ‘Made in Britain’ status. That is a lot wrapped up in a single product – an impressive feat that we are only too happy to support.”

More than 150 garden centres, including some of UK’s leading destination sites, have joined the Cultivation Street ambassador scheme.

Webbs, Bents, Hillier’s, Haskins, Barton Grange, Ayletts, Notcutts, Dobbies, Millbrook, Frosts, Scotsdale, Altons and Klondyke are among those who have already pledged their support.

The Ambassador Scheme was launched by Cultivation Street founder David Domoney at the GCA Conference in January. Domoney is now calling on even more garden centres to sign so there is national coverage of Ambassadors. “It’s a marvellous scheme that engages garden centres with their local community gardeners and school gardens,” he said. “It’s free to the garden centres and it carries huge weight with national publicity behind it.”

The scheme has the backing of the HTA, whose chief executive, Carol Paris, said: “The ambassador scheme puts garden centres at the heart of their communities and then continues to support them with regular newsletters advice, ideas and national publicity. The garden industry with Cultivation Street can make a real difference by encouraging and connecting with new gardeners”

To become a Cultivation Street Ambassador, the garden centre must nominate one member of staff to be the point of contact for their local community and school gardeners. The Cultivation Street team will support that member of staff with regular newsletters, briefing packs and advice on how build relationship with local gardening projects.

The scheme is designed to nurture stronger and more supportive relationships between garden centres and their local communities. It is part of the Cultivation Street campaign to promote community and school gardening, organised by David Domoney and sponsored by the HTA and National Garden Gift Vouchers.

The Ambassador Scheme aims to encourage garden centres to offer support and advice to local community gardening projects. In return, the communities will build closer relationships with garden centres and provide them with progress updates.

Garden centres can register to join at here

Alternatively, contact the Cultivation Street hotline on 01926 641997 or click here to email

Deco-Pak is to separate its aggregates and wild birdcare ranges on adjacent stands at Glee this year.

Visitors will be able to see the company’s newly expanded Heritage Birdhouse and Wildlife Collection in full, including its specially designed merchandisers and brand new point of sale.

By splitting the two offerings, the family-run company is hoping to facilitate buying decisions for garden centre, department store and gift buyers.

Deco Pak’s general manager, Rod Slater, said: “The additional exhibition space is an extra expense for us - but one we are confident will allow us to provide visitors with the best possible experience. The introduction of our birdhouse range in 2013 was a risky move away from our core aggregate business but it has more than proved to have been a savvy decision. We now have a product offering that stretches across a range of retailers – from garden centres and builders merchants, to department stores, supermarkets and gift stores – helping us to further build our profits and long-term future.

 “Trade shows like Glee are all about showcasing products as they might be sold. For retailers it will be much better for them to view the ranges separately, as they would in-store, making buying decisions that much easier. Our goal this year is to make sure our retail partners choose the right ranges to suit their business, pick up inspiration from our examples of retail theatre and generally get more out of the show than ever before.”

Find out more on the website www.deco-pak.co.uk or call the sales support team on 01422 204394.

Westland Horticulture will be sponsoring The Garden Village at Northern Ireland’s largest agricultural event, The Balmoral Show.

With extensive knowledge in horticulture and firm local roots, Westland is the perfect fit for the Show, which this year will be in keeping with NI’s Year of Food and Drink and more specifically, plot to plate eating.

This year is the 148th Balmoral Show, which attracts crowds of over 90,000 visitors over the three day event from May 11-13. It will provide a dedicated area for green fingered enthusiasts and is set to provide more spectacle with the exciting addition of an edible garden. There will be a polytunnel erected and filled with edible produce providing a visually interesting and informative display for the general public.

Keith Nicholson, Marketing Director for Westland said: “Westland was founded 25 years ago in Granville in Northern Ireland and since then we’ve become one of the biggest garden manufacturers in the UK and Ireland.

“We’re delighted to be pledging our support to the Balmoral Show. This year’s theme, the Year of Food and Drink fits really well with all our brands, but specifically, Gro-Sure, Unwins and Marshalls Seeds. It’s our aim to get more people growing and enjoying their home-grown produce.”

• The ideal candidate will understand both the category and customers, possess strong  communication and negotiation skills and have a passion and enthusiasm for customers and products.
• They should an excellent team player focused on driving sales and profitability.

• Manage and motivate the Team and further their development.
• Inspire the customer experience.
• Show the team what good selling looks like.
• Issue resolution with customers.
• Local PR Events
• Operations Management of the tills to ensure safe banking.
• Click and Collect - ensure that this is fulfilled to the customers expectation so they continue to use this service.
• Customer Liaison

To apply for this role click here

Wyevale Garden Centres this week announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer.

Anthony Jones is replacing Nils Steinmeyer, who was appointed by parent company Terra Firma in 2013 and who will stay on for a three-month handover period.

Jones previously worked for Waterford-Wedgwood-Royal Doulton, also a private equity-backed business.

Recently-appointed chief executive Roger Mclaughlan said he was pleased to have Jones take on the role.  “Anthony has over 20 years of experience within a range of retail and consumer environments and he brings a wealth of experience to WGC that extends across business transformation, in addition to finance," he added.

Chairman Stephen Murphy said: "Nils has been instrumental in the transformation of WGC during his tenure and I’d like to thank him for his significant contribution and efforts in positioning the business for its next phase of growth." 

• Gardman Hanging Basket Coco Liner (35cm) has jumped 32 places to No 10 to become the highest climber in the Top 50.
• Growth Technology Orchid Pot Clear (15cm) is the highest re-entry at No 14.
• Gardman Solar Mini Ice Orb moves up two places to the top spot, taking over from Smart Solar Eureka! Lightbulb Lantern.

• Quantil Courgette (8cm) is the highest re-entry at No 11.
• The highest climber is Farplants Strawberry Red Gauntlet (9cm), which has moved up 29 places to No 21.
• Quantil Tomato Gardeners Delight has taken over the top spot, moving up nine places.
• Volumes for Veg-2-Gro sales have risen 59.3% on the previous week. They’re also higher than the same week in 2015 (+11.7%) and 2014 (+20.9%).

• Scotts Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost (56 litres) is the highest climber, moving up 25 places to No 20.
• Westland Gro-Sure All Purpose Compost (50 litres) is the highest re-entry at No 24.
• Scotts Levington Multipurpose + John Innes (56 litres) retains the top spot for another week.

Centurion Europe, the leading supplier of hardware, DIY and gardening products, has further expanded its sales management team with the appointment of Daniel McKane as Head of Field Sales.

With over 20 years of experience in all aspects of sales management, Daniel brings with him a strong track record of successful sales and business development. Having overseen a number of business to business sales teams in his previous roleat The Be Modern Group, Daniel will now be responsible for managing Centurion’s nationwide field sales team.

Daniel said: "Centurion is renowned for its brilliant customer service skills and I am looking forward to further developing the potential of both the field sales team and the business itself."

Peter Stone, sales and marketing director at Centurion said: “We aredelighted to have Daniel on board with us and are confident that his wealth of experience and sales force management skills will prove to be highly beneficial to the company as a whole.”

For more information on Centurion’s full range of 27,000 products, including DIY, hardware, plumbing and electrical accessories, visit www.centurioneurope.co.uk or call 01302 788700.

Pictured: Centurion’s newly appointed Head of Field Sales, Daniel McKane and Peter Stone.

Barbecue cooking is all the rage in the UK and whilst simple kettle and drum style appliances remain hugely popular, all singing and dancing, high tech multi-function models are increasing in demand.

Pravin Patel of Premier Decorations, which specialises in every type of barbecue, explains: “People in the UK are fast adopting Mediterranean lifestyles and cooking and eating outdoors is becoming part of everyday living. This means that families are investing in top end, permanent outdoor cooking appliances which are completely versatile and can be used the whole year round.”

Premier’s Fontana Forni range of outdoor ovens are a prime example and the Fontana Pizza and Cucina is a multi function wood burning oven combining traditions from around the world in just one product. This appliance is a barbecue, oven, grill and smoker and efficiently cooks with either charcoal or wood providing a professional result every time. Made from anthracite painted galvanized steel and stainless steel the FontanaPizza and Cucina is easy to light thanks to a combustion chamber specifically created to facilitate the operation and ensure a steady and uniform heat distribution. It is alsopossible to adjust the intensity of the flame and a practical system for ash recovery and disposal makes cleaning easy.

For those who want instant outdoor cooking at the touch of a button, Premier’s Fontanagas fired ovens are the ideal solution. The Margherita Pizza Oven is just as aesthetically pleasing as the Pizza and Cucina, but cooking is done by direct contact with gas fired burners. The stainless steel structure of the chamber allows the oven to reach the desired temperature in just a few minutes.

For the traditionalist, there is also a range of both Direct and Indirect wood burning ovens available.

Pravin continues: “High tech outdoor ovens not only provide a professional and efficient method of cooking but make the most of outdoor space bringing the garden into the home. Owning an appliance like this makes a real fashion statement allowing families to enjoy cooking and dining outside and bring a little bit of the Mediterranean culture to the British home.”

For more information about Premier’s range of indoor and outdoor lighting solutions email: sales@premierdec.com or call 020 8624 5555.

A new garden centre could be built on green belt land at Hutton near Brentwood, creating 20 jobs, according to the Brentwood Gazette.

Planning permission granted in August 2012 expired last year, leading to a fresh application for a single-block rectangular building plus 27 parking spaces.

The application says the centre would open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and from noon to 4pm on Sunday and Bank Holidays.

The 0.7-acre plot of land was reported to have been listed for sale online at a cost of £175,000.

• Cardiff, a Wyevale garden centre on 9 April, 11am to 1pm
• Cadbury, a Wyevale garden centre on 9 April, 3pm to 5pm
• Bicester, a Wyevale garden centre on 10 April, 10.30am to 12.30pm
• World’s End, a Wyevale garden centre on 10 April, 2.30 pm to 4.30pm
• Percy Thrower’s, a Wyevale garden centre on 16 April, 11am to 1pm
• Bridgemere, a Wyevale garden centre on 16 April, 3pm to 5pm

• In 7 days plants will have healthier, greener leaves.
• Within 4 weeks the plants will be bigger with stronger roots for better growth.]
• There will be amazing results in 6 weeks, plants producing up to 70%* more flowers.
• Flowers will last longer, plants blooming throughout the season.

Squire’s Garden Centre in Twickenham is supporting Stroke Awareness Day this month by offering free blood pressure checks. 

The Stroke Association in conjunction with the local Rotary Club will offer the checks to customers visiting the site on 24 April in a bid to raise awareness of the link between high blood pressure and strokes.

High blood pressure is a contributing factor to 54% of all strokes. Last year almost three in every 10 people who had their blood pressure taken at a “Know Your Blood Pressure” event were advised to see their GP for a follow up.

It’s estimated that around 16 million people in the UK have high blood pressure and around a third are unaware of this.

• With its emphasis on catering and food, will the new Rosebourne project point the way for the next generation of garden centres?
• Generation Game spotlight on Brookside Garden Centre in Kent.
• Pavers – the big step towards boosting revenues and footfall.
• Open days at Europlants and Classiflora Zelari.
• Launch of GTN's Greatest Awards - how to enter.
• Malcolm Scott special on garden centre catering.
• Property advice from Gilbert Evans.
• Review and pictures from Garden Re-Leaf Day.
• The next pet product betsellers from PATS Sandown.
• The Wonderful Wildlife World.
• Build sales by developing a playground – top advice from John Stanley.
• GIMA column - Positive mood will help us face challenges ahead.

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.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2014 as well as 2015 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 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.