The final category of The Greatest Awards ON TOUR 2015, The Greatest Garden Centre Teams, is a culmination and aggregation of our experts views from the hundreds of visits made during this summer.  There were three awards for Gold, Silver and Bronze grouping the garden centres together as Large Garden Centre Teams, Small Garden Centre Teams and Garden Centre Teams that are part of Groups.

HTA Immediate Past President joined Carol Paris and Trevor Pfeiffer on stage to present the awards.

GTN's MD, Trevor Pfeifer said; "from our judging visits it’s clear our garden centre teams are people we should be proud of.  Performance at this level does not happen by chance, this is really where great teamwork is at it’s best."

"The Gold Winning small garden centre team are on the right track from The Old Railway Line in Wales."

The judges said of the Gold winning team froma group of centres, Haskins Roundstone; “they are setting high standards for professional garden centre retailing.”

HTA CEO, Carol Paris told HTA Futures dinner guests:  "There may have been close decisions for Bronze and Silver in the large team groupings but this year in The Greatest Awards there was a standout Gold winner – The Greatest Garden Centre team are from Bents!"

The Greatest Garden Centre Team of the Year Full Results, sponsored by the HTA

Finalists:

• Alton's
• Barton Grange
• Bents
• Chessington
• Coolings
• Cowells
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Gouldings
• Groves Bridport
• Haskins Roundstone
• Newbridge, Blue Diamond
• Perrywood
• Polhill
• St Peters
• The Old Railway Line
• Woodside Plant Centre
• Wyevale Percy Throwers

Bronze Award - Small centre:  Cowells

Bronze Award - Large centre:  Scotsdales

Bronze Award - Group of centres:  Wyevale Percy Throwers

Silver Award - Small centre:  Fron Goch

Silver Award - Large centre:  Barton Grange

Silver Award - Group of centres:  Newbridge, Blue Diamond

Gold Award – Small centre:  The Old Railway Line

Gold Award – Large centre:  Bents

Gold Award – Group of centres:  Haskins Roundstone

The winners of GTN's Greatest Garden Care Retail Team for 2015 are the team from Aylett Nurseries.  "A team that in our opinion are THE most knowledgeable garden care team in the business," commented awards co-presenter Trevor Pfeiffer. "They really know their stuff because they use all of the products and talk about them from the heart."



The team from Aylett Nurseries (above) beat off stiff competition from Barton Grange, Silver Award winners, and the garden cenre teams at Alton's and Chessington Garden centres who claimed Bronze Awards.

Carol Paris, HTA CEO and co-presenter of the Award at HTA Futures last week said "Garden Care retailing is fast taking on new dimensions with more information available to customers and a string desire amongst many plant teams to sell the right products with the right plants out in the planteria.  From what the expert judges learned this year, any supplier making their product more stockable and saleable from the plant benches will be on to a winner."

The Greatest Garden Care Retail Team of the Year - Full Results

Finalists:

• Alton's
• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Chessington
• Cowells
• Fresh@Burcot
• Fron Goch
• Scotsdales
• Van Hage Great Amwell
• Wyevale Percy Throwers 

Bronze Award:  Alton’s, Chessington

Silver Award:  Barton Grange

Gold Award:  Aylett Nurseries

No matter how great your plants, products and catering are, it is the overall customer service that really makes the difference.  Who makes coffee shop customers happy?  Who goes that extra mile to make their plant buying experience really special?  Who delivers the most love and passion in serving customers? 

When the judges scores were totalled for GTN's The Greatest Garden Centre Customer Service Team the outright winner was the team from Scotsdales, ahead of the teams at Fron Goch and Coolings who collected Silver Awards and the teams from Perrywood and Whitehall Lacock who were announced as Bronze Award winners.

"We looked at customer service and customer satisfaction across the whole garden centre, not just the customer information desk," said GTN MD Trevor Pfeiffer. "One of the stand out practices at Scotsdales was making sure the planteria staff always had a plant in their hands while advising customers.  What a great way of exuding confidence and expertise.  No wonder they sell so many plants and products."

The Greatest Garden Centre Customer Service Team of the Year - Full Results

Finalists:

• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Burston
• Coolings
• Fron Goch
• Perrywood
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Sunshine
• Whitehall Lacock 

Bronze Award:  Perrywood, Whitehall Lacock

Silver Award:  Fron Goch, Coolings

Gold Award:  Scotsdales

Colin Squire, chairman of Squires Garden Centres, was presented with the Pearson Memorial Medal at the HTA Garden Futures dinner at Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire.

The medal has been awarded annually by the HTA since 1930 in memory of the HTA's first general secretary, Charles Pearson, and aims to recognise outstanding contributions to horticulture.

HTA Chief Executive Carol Paris said Colin’s boundless enthusiasm, forward thinking and high business standards were ”an example to us all.”

Colin is celebrating his 60th year with the company founded by his father, D.J. Squire. He is a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture, a member of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners and founding member of the Garden Centre Association. His interest in garden design, developed in his early career, continues and he still designs the Squire’s exhibit at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

He has often been at the forefront of new developments in the UK. In the 1950’s, when plants were grown in open fields and couldn’t be lifted until autumn, Colin introduced container-grown plants at Squire’s. During the 1970’s, the Twickenham site was one of the very first garden centres in the UK to introduce a coffee shop.

Find out what the best are doing…and copy it! That was the advice offered to HTA Garden Future Conference delegates by leading retail consultant Dennis Reid.

Dennis, a former Olympic coach, has spent 30 years honing a measurable framework designed to transform under-performing retail businesses into world class operators.

Stressing the importance of understanding numbers and KPIs, he reminded his audience that improving conversion rates, average transaction values and traffic would make a dramatic difference to turnover and produced impressive spreadsheets to illustrate the point.

A master of the mantra – “If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room” and “It takes the same time to be average as it does to be the best, so why not plan to win” – he urged delegates not to put off  “changing things you know you need to change”.

Marketing must be educational as well as promotional. “You have a fantastic platform from which to teach people how to do it,” he said.

He encouraged retailers to produce a ‘business dashboard’ monitoring the week-by-week performances of employees across the business. “Standards are not negotiable,” he said. “If you observe something and do not address it, you condone it. Why would you not want to change it?”

During all of the expert visits to meet Garden Centres for GTN's The Greatest Awards ON TOUR 2015, we asked about the training initiatives they had been involved with this year across all parts of the garden retailing spectrum including catering.

From all the feedback, three training initiatives shone through as being of great benefit to the garden centre teams.  GCA Grow is being used more and more, Ian Boardman’s Love the Plot You’ve Got training is delivering tangible results as seen in the Love The Plot You've Got Award.

Guy Moreton from MorePeople, sponsors of The Greatest Training Initiative Award, joined HTA CEO Carol Paris and GTN MD Trevor Pfeiffer to present the Gold Award to the training Initiative that was rated most highly this year: Rising Stars run by the GCA and Westland.  The award was collected by Keith Nicholson, Westland Marketing Director.

The Greatest Garden Centre Training Team or Initiative of the Year, sponsored by MorePeople

Finalists:

• GCA Grow
• Love the Plot You’ve Got Master Classes
• Westland Rising Stars

 Gold Award – Westland Rising Stars

Economic benefits rather than ecological ones appear to be driving the consumer’s growing commitment to sustainability, according to Dominic Harrison, global trends director at the Futures Foundation.

He told HTA conference delegates that IPSOS/MORI research had shown that concerns about the environment peaked in 2007, when consumers ranked them higher than the economy, but the enthusiasm waned with the onset of the economic crash in 2008, with levels of personal concern falling from 56% to 44% between 2009 and 2014.

People were acting on their concerns by recycling more and saving energy, “but most of these things have economic benefits, so while commitment seems to be growing, it is economics, rather than ecology, that is driving it,:” he said.

He believed businesses should have a core position on sustainability but should not ignore the issues of cost, value pricing, quality and service.

Harrison offered insights on the likely rise of the “connected consumer”. By the end of the decade 90% of under 45s would own smartphones. There was a “different type of lifestyle” ahead, with 16% of adult users already possessing health-tracking apps. Homes and gardens were steadily becoming “connected”.

However, seven out of 10 people now agreed that the stresses of modern life meant that many people were less happy than they used to be, with one in five practising mindfulness or meditation. IKEA had identified that horticulture was an antidote modern lifestyle stresses.

Homebase is to double the number of employees training through its  Garden Academy.

Homebase trading director Jon Kemp told HTA Futures Conference delegates that gardening accounted for a third of the company’s £1.5 billion UK turnover. “We’re heavily weighted towards gardening and we are proud of our garden business,” he said. “We have great ideas and plans for it.” 

He said 1500 applicants had been interviewed for this year’s Garden Academy intake of 40 trainees and another 40 would join the scheme in January. “It’s infectious within the business,” he said.  “People want to be in the Academy, which shows there is an opportunity for lots more to get involved.” The trainees, who spend 200 hours with suppliers are part of their training, showed “absolute passion and will to succeed”.

Homebase’s key approach was to make gardening choices easier for customers, quoting project guides such as the one linked to their RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden designed by Adam Frost.

A panel of key garden industry players was quizzed on the role of the internet and social media, price deflation and the garden centres of the future at this week’s HTA Garden Futures Conference.

Matthew Bent (Bents Garden & Home), Sam Bosworth (Bosworth’s Garden Centre and director of Choice Marketing), Julian Winfield (Haskins Garden Centres) and Adrian Davey (commercial director, Hozelock) faced questions from trade journalist Matthew Appleby.

The answers suggested that garden centres were taking a softly-softy approach to e-commerce.

Julian Winfield said Haskins was taking a laid-back view until it could be sure it could make money from the internet.

Matthew Bent predicted e-commerce could grow to 10-15% of Bents’ business but the company saw the main role of the internet as a customer service, for information gathering. “To make e-commerce work you have to do it in a big way and do it well,” he added.

Sam Bosworth (pictured, left) believed that garden centres needed to be ready for increasing usage of the internet over the next 10 years.

Adrian Davey (pictured, right) confirmed that Hozelock did not use the internet transactionally but worked with garden centres on promoting its more specialised products.

On price points, Sam Bosworth expressed disappointment that some suppliers had de-speced products to meet price points during the recession. “We want to sell products that will last and live up to expectations,” he said.

Adrian Davey said: “It has to be about the quality. Customers will not remember the price if it is giving them what they want.”

Matthew Bent agreed that quality was key. “Returns are bad news for us and suppliers,” he added, giving solar lighting as an example.

Asked whether garden centres would all look the same in the future, Matthew Bent said: “I hope not!  I hope the industry retains its individuality – that will be the key to competing with Wyevale and Dobbies. We have to look outside the industry for inspiration.”

Julian Winfield: “I am happy for big groups to be around us because we have something different that stands out. Our businesses have evolved but there are things we do sell that perhaps we should not, like indoor furniture. It’s been successful for three or four years but I question it.”

Sam Bosworth: Choice (buying group) is trying to attract new members but we do not all want to be the same. We are all different and people are reluctant to be told what to buy but the range we buy [centrally] is relatively small. They’re the things we all would buy anyway. The things that differentiate us as independent businesses are plants, gifts and catering, which are difficult areas for us in which to work as a group.”

On the role of social media:

Julian Winfield: “We are looking at it. We have to change our view, because customers are communicating with us by email and Facebook.”

Matthew Bent: “We are targeting it more and more. When a customer found a piece of plastic in their food and posted it on Twitter, we were able to find out right away where she was in the store and sort it out.”

• Garden Products - down 5%
• Veg-2-Gro Products - up 21%
• Growing Media - down 18%
• All Items Index - down 10%

These figures not only come following what has been a very mixed summer, but also despite a period of significant change for the Centre, having just completed the second phase of an extensive 18 month build programme which has seen both major infrastructure changes and additional retail space.

Despite all the growth and expansion that has taken place over the years Bents has never forgotten its roots as plant people; a business that began with a love of gardening when Alfred and Margaret Bent started growing roses from the front garden of their terraced house, just yards away from the Centre’s current location. 

This love of gardening remains a central feature of the Centre’s success with its extensive on-site nursery operation demonstrating the commitment and passion it still has for plants.

Over 60% of all plants sold at Bents are grown and cared for on its on-site nursery where it focusses on varieties that are not as widely available on the open market and uses its expertise to grow bigger and stronger plants.  Bedding, summer colour and perennials all feature strongly in a growing operation that has expanded exponentially in the past 10 years.

Taller perennials such as Lupins have been hugely successful this year, grown on a commercial scale allowing for larger, more established plants which have been a striking feature on the Plant Area and received extremely well by customers, with strong sales supporting this approach.

Says Mark Downton, Horticultural Operations Manager:  “Almost 70% of all plants sold in the first six months of the year have come straight from our nursery, which would suggest that the amount of care and attention we invest in them prior to their journey to the shop floor has paid off.

“The growing operation is a very different set up to when the garden centre began.  Now the variety on offer is vast, with shrubs, herbaceous, roses, bedding and perennials all having a place. But the dedication and commitment to plant care and quality has never changed.  It’s one of the things we’re most proud of.”

STV is on track to sell over 10 million units of pest control products a year thanks to a dynamic marketing strategy that has built the winning combination of keen opening price points and value-added products into key ranges including The Big Cheese.

“The only way is up!” says STV managing director Edwin Allingham. “We’ve enjoyed tremendous growth in the past few years, with particularly strong sales coming through good quality independent garden and hardware outlets.

“In 2016 we‘re rolling out the new-look Ultra Power range under The Big Cheese and we’re confident this will take branded sales to the next level.”

Ultra Power products feature a money-back warranty on pack with an assurance of “Quick Results – Guaranteed” that encourages end-users to trade up.  Ultra Power trap sales alone grew by 74% in 2015, and with the addition of fast acting baits and bait stations, as well as electronic traps and repellents, STV believes this apex range is set fair for further strong growth next year.

The rollout kicked off at Glee where retailers gave the new livery and product variants a unanimous thumbs up.  STV is building distribution through selected wholesalers and cash and carries nationally and the range will be on show at regional trade fairs throughout the UK this Autumn.

A brand new category was judges and presented as part of GTN's The Greatest Awards ON TOUR 2015: The Greatest Inspiration to New Gardeners Team otherewise known as The Love the Plot You’ve Got Award that acknowledges and rewards the excellent execution in centres picking up on the GIMB's campaign this year.

At Barton Grange their implementaion was really special and resulted in increased sales of hundreds of products using a simple product numbering system in brilliant displays all around the centre.

The silver winners from St Peters in Worcester and the Bronze winners from Garden Wise in Dumfries also made the most of the campaign with displays and merchandise promotions around the whole centre.



Sadly due to a mix of illness, setting up for Christmas and the Westland golf tournament in Portugal none of our Love the Plot You’ve Got award winners were present at HTA Futures so Ian Boardman – whose training session inspired much of the retail activity and Chris Collins collected the award on their behalf.

The Greatest Inspiration for New Gardeners Team – Love The Plot You’ve Got Award - Full Results

Finalists

•             Barton Grange

•             Coolings

•             Garden Wise

•             Perrywood

•             St Peters

•             Simpsons

•             The Old Railway Line

•             Whitehall Lacock
 

Bronze Award – Garden Wise, Dumfries

Silver Award – St Peters, Worcester

Gold Award – Barton Grange

The ninth Love Your Plot Masterclass for garden centre teams saw delegates basking in the seasonal weather. They travelled from all over Scotland to discuss how to use the Love Your Plot principles in autumn and Christmas seasons to help the 30-45s use their space – however compact - in a fun way.

Things stirred in the glorious autumn sunshine at Glendoick Garden Centre.  What a superb location for a training day! Fantastic location, steeped in history and such friendly, welcoming staff.

Ian Boardman, who facilitated the day, said: “They really got stuck in. They looked at merchandising through customers’ eyes and explored how to inspire with plants and dry goods. They were impressed with the effects of effective POS signs and devised some great ones to use in the displays they built.”

Comments from those attending included “I enjoyed the workshop and left feeling we could improve our nursery with lots of ideas.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Rekindling old ideas, learning new concepts and how to implement them.”

“The displays we built were great. It showed what each person had taken in and what points they thought were important.”

Further Love Your Plot Masterclasses are to be held at

St Peters GC, Worcester on 6^th October

Coletta and Tyson, Beverley on 7^th October

Contact Ian Boardman for details or to book places at i.boardman@ibbis.co.uk

Retailers could make better use of technology to educate consumers in-store, a European trade association chief told HTA Garden Futures Conference delegates.

Ronald van Veen, chairman of EFSA (the European Floral & Lifestyle Product Suppliers Association), whose members share data on design and lifestyle trends, said garden centres in the Netherlands were losing market share. “We are too slow in the garden business because things have changed so fast,” he said.

It was important to match trends information to stylish ideas and to use technology to present better information in stores, as demonstrated in EFSA’s 500 sq.m. concept store in Holland.  

“We think that if the store looks nice, it is enough,” he said. “But it is not.”

He believed retailers should see sustainability as an opportunity, not a threat.Te

‘Love Your Garden’s’ David Domoney and former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins have been awarded honorary membership of the HTA for their services to the industry.

David helped to raise awareness of the potential for community gardening through his ‘Cultivation Street’ initiative, backed by the HTA, while Chris was the front man this summer for the ‘Love the Plot You’ve Got’ promotion’s round-Britain roadshow, developed by the Garden Industry Marketing Board with HTA support.

In conference presentations from each, delegates learned how both campaigns had given gardening massive consumer exposure and created significant benefits for the industry’s suppliers and retailers.

Entrepreneur Will Butler-Adams, who gave the closing presentation at this week’s HTA Garden Futures Conference,  expressed surprise bordering on shock when no-one in the audience owned up to owning a Brompton folding bicycle.

For Will is the company’s chief executive of Brompton Bicycles, and has masterminded the company’s growth from a ‘cottage industry’ manufacturer to a £30 million turnover operation making 50,000 machines a year and running its own World Championships!

He delighted delegates with his stories of business derring-do. “I like to kick things over and see what happens,” he said.

He also divulged details of what he described as the company’s ‘Fuck it! Fund’ – a £250,000 contingency to bank roll next moves with no questions asked on when it all goes wrong.

He revealed that the company is working on a product he felt might encourage members of the audience to become Brompton owners….an electric bicycle. The original £20,000 budget had ballooned to £1.5 million.

Nuggets of business advice included:

• “Let your people get stuck in and have a go. There is so much potential to flog stuff out there. Be innovative, take some risks and get people to do stuff.”
• “Go into the cities. You as an industry need to be more outgoing. Work at the social side.”

This is a unique opportunity for anyone to either progress their career into senior management who have a passion to help people less fortunate than themselves or if you have a wealth of experience in running a plantarea but want to give back something to the community then this is the job for you.

Not only are we a well-established garden centre and Café serving the local community and surrounding area we also help disabled and disadvantaged youngsters get into work by training them in a real working environment.

Please send a CV and covering letter to Simon Harpin, Shaw Trust Palmer Gardens. Simon.harpin@shaw-trust.co.uk or visit Shaw Trust – vacancies – on our website vacancy number ST/3391.

The Person:

We are looking for motivated, dynamic, passionate and professional sales agents with experience in the gardening industry.

The Responsibilities:

• To research relevant retailers and identify new accounts for growth
• Work with the Kingfisher range to come up with a sales strategy
• Communicate with current and potential stockists to manage sales

The Requirements:

• A great sales person: tenacious, assertive, resilient, with initiative and ability to communicate well.
• Good knowledge of gardening wholesale business practices
• Excellent understanding of different stockists
• Likes working in a start-up environment, and has the passion to be an instrumental part in the growth of an emerging garden centre
• Has the firm grasp of the Kingfisher brand positioning and the ability to target stockists
• You will be well presented, trustworthy and love being with customers

The Position:

This is a freelance position. The sales agent will work independently in his/her own time.

Required experience:

• Sales – 1 year

Please send CV to Laura@bonningtonplastics.com

Bonnington Plastics Ltd, Kingfisher House, 9 Glaisdale Parkway, Nottingham, NG8 4GP

Telephone:  0115 985 4119

www.bonningtonplastics.com

Polhill Garden Centre

Gifts and Homeware Team Leader

London Road, Badgers Mount, Sevenoaks, Kent,TN14 7BD

An excellent opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and self motivated, hands-on Team Leader to take on the responsibility of the daily management of the Gift and Homeware Department.

The products include gift items, cookware, home interiors and furniture, children’s toys, cards and books.

The successful candidate will possess outstanding retail knowledge in a similar environment, display attention to detail and flair for display and possess a real passion for providing outstanding customer service.

The main duties include:

• Assisting customers
• Daily ordering
• Merchandising
• Displays
• Maintaining high levels of shop floor and customer service standards
• Managing a small friendly team
• Some heavy lifting involved

Hours: 4 weekdays and alternate weekends

Assistant Manager, Studley Garden Centre

This is a great time to join Studley Garden Centre, part of the Hillview Garden Centres group, as we're about to embark on an investment programme that is aimed to double the store's turnover.

We're looking for a strong individual, ideally with a garden centre background. You'll be shop floor based but required to assist with some of the site administration, budgets etc so need to be computer literate.
Most importantly you'll be a great retailer and team leader.

Send CV and covering letter to Paul Williams, GC Manager Studley Garden Centre, paul.w@studleygardencentre.co.uk

• Analyse tender documentation and prepare costs for the client  
• Adhering to tight deadlines  
• Understand client requirements and discuss cost estimates with the ability to offer alternatives for the benefit of both client and employer  
• Assisting the Commercial Sales Manager with duties  
• Identifying and introducing potential new clients  
• Assist the Sales Team with Technical Enquiries.

• Overseeing the implementation of contracts to strict deadlines and budgets
• Assisting in development and bidding for new works
• Liaison with clients
• Implementation and management of health & safety and quality procedures
• Supervision of Teams
• Maintaining contract files

Sundries Assistant | Garden Centres | Large Group (ref:BP7650)

Location: Hampshire
Salary: £18,000 - £20,000
Date: 14 Sep 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

My client is a large garden centre group based throughout Great Britain. The business prides itself on its mix of high quality large destination centre and more boutique offerings. They are a recognisable brand and are expanding.

The Role

This role will take on a number two position in the busy garden sundries department. The role will revolve around providing excellent customer service, maintaining merchandising standards and ad hoc management of the department. 

The Person 

I am seeking an experienced retailer preferably from a garden retail background. You will have good product knowledge with garden sundries and will be looking to find a role with potential to progress and real day one responsibilities.

Plant Area Supervisor (refBP7649)

Location: Hampshire
Salary: £18,000 - £20,000
Date: 14 Sep 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

My client is a large garden centre group based throughout Great Britain. The business prides itself on its mix of high quality large destination centre and more boutique offerings. They are a recognisable brand and are expanding.

The Role

This role will be instrumental to plantarea leadership team, deputising for the planteria manager and managing a team of passionate plants people. 
You will be responsible for the maintenance and care of the stock but first and foremost you will be managing the customer experience through your department.

The Person

We need a talented and ambitious retailer. The ideal candidate will be looking to step up into this role and will be looking to be a leader. 
Plant knowledge is essential to the role however is does not need to be supported by an academic qualification. A good level of self taught plant knowledge would be acceptable. 
Visual merchandising experience is preferred.

Chapel Garden Centre is a freehold circa 8 acre (3.23 hectare) garden centre located on the A52.  The garden centre had been owned and operated by the Stevenson family for over 25 years.  Included with the sale was a detached 3 bedroom property.

At the same time it was announced that Claremont Garden Centre, in Maldon, Essex has been sold to The Maldon and Danbury Home & Garden Centre.

Claremont Garden Centre is a freehold circa 5.589 acre (2.262 hectare) garden centre located on the A414.  The garden centre had been owned and operated by Mr. & Mrs. Bradley for over 18 years.  Mr. & Mrs. Bradley are retiring.

Alexander Mackie Associates Ltd. would like to wish the new purchasers and their vendors all their best wishes for the future.

The garden industry will benefit from the current ‘Goldilocks scenario’ of low inflation, rising wages, high spending power and more older people gardening, BBC Radio’s business and economics presenter Simon Jacks told HTA conference delegates.

But, he warned, rising house prices represented a dark cloud on the horizon, with fewer people able to afford to buy their own homes and more renters. “In 20 to 30 years time, the problem you will face is that people who don’t own homes, don’t have gardens,” he said. 

His presentation was a mixed bag of good news and bad. The “massive issue” of the EU referendum promised at least 18 months of uncertainty, he said, but most businesses he had spoken to would prefer Britain to stay in, but in a reformed Europe. While leaving the EU would be an “elegant solution” to the current refugee crisis, the country would lose out on trade deals and nullified trade agreements.

The rising age of first-time buyers, possibly to their 40s, in the housing market was of particular relevance to the garden industry, and the ratio of house prices to earnings would remain elevated, Jack predicted.

Floralis Boskoop combines the Presentation days Autumn and more with the start of the root ball season at the Cash & Carry.

Besides shrubs and conifers with root ball, high lights during the presentation Autumn and more will also be typical autumn seasonal products such as Leucothoe, Gaultheria, Calluna, Nandina and     Skimmia.

Both landscapers and garden centres can also become acquainted with the wide range nursery stock of Floralis Boskoop.

When:                                 October  13^rd till 15^th, 2015

Opening hours:                 7.30 am till 5 pm

Location: Cash & Carry Floralis Boskoop, Denemarkenlaan 9 at Hazerswoude (The Netherlands)

More information: www.floralisboskoop.nl

• Growth Technology Orchid Myst 100ml is the No 1 bestselling line this week.
• Growth Technology Orchid Focus Bloom Fertiliser, 300ml, is the highest new entry at No 11.
• Growth Technology Clear Orchid Pots, 12 cm, are the highest re-entry at No 5.

• Growth Technology Orchid Focus Medium Compost, 3 litres, moves up 15 places to No 2.
• Growise Multipurpose with John Innes, 56 litres is the highest climber, up 33 places to No 10.
• GroWise Landscape Mini Bark Chip is the highest re-entry at No 29.

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

• Onion Sets Radar remains at No 1 for the second week.
• French Garlic Cristo is the highest chart re-entry at No 7.
• Outside the Top 10, Quantil Onion Yellow Globe is the highest climber, up 26 places to No 18.

Family owned Highfield Garden World in Gloucestershire has created and filled a new General Manager role to help the business cope with recent rapid expansion. 

Owned and run by the Greenway family since 1987, Highfield has seen in the region of a 50% increase in its turnover and number of employees in the last 18 months.   What started as a small mail order garden nursery is now a large scale retail enterprise employing 120 people and with a turnover which has rocketed from £3.5m to £5.5m since the launch of a new restaurant and retail development in 2014. 

MD Tim Greenway commented;  “Business has been very good and we have expanded more rapidly than ever over the last year and a half.  The new restaurant and retail development has brought in lots of new customers, and given our existing customers more reasons to come in more often, which is just what we wanted.  But of course more customers, more staff, more shop floor and more turnover all mean more work, and it had become clear that we needed to boost our management team.” 

The role has been filled by Tim Armstrong – formerly a regional manager for World of Water.  It was through his position within World of Water that he came to know the Greenways and Highfield.  Tim Greenway continued;  “We’ve known Tim 15 years in his capacity as regional manager for World of Water – the first concession to come to Highfield back in 1995.  Not only does Tim already know the business, the site and many of the staff, he also brings a clutch of extra skills and new ideas to the table.” 

Tim Armstrong himself commented; “I am delighted to be appointed General Manager of Highfield Garden World. I am really looking forward to the challenge that this new role will bring and excited to be involved in the future plans for the company.”

We may have been basking in some welcome Autumnal sunshine last week, but that hasn’t stopped Christmas tree farmers from around the country gearing up for their most important annual event.

Up to 100 of Britain’s top growers are preparing to pitch their best Nordman, Spruce or Fir as part of the all important contest to find whose tree will take pride of place at the Prime Minister’s residence.

Staged every year by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, the event takes place this time on Tuesday 20^th October at Hole Park Estate in Cranbrook, Kent.

Open to Association members aged 18 to 80, the competitioninvolves each tree being assessed and judged by fellow growers, with the winner then granted the honour of delivering a 20ft tree to Downing Street in time for the festive season.

Each farmer, who will have spent around 10 years nurturing the tree to full ‘competition’ height, is able to enter categories including Best Nordman, Best Other Fir, Best Pine, Best Norway Spruce, Best Other Spruce, Best Container Grown, and Best Festive Wreath.

Finalists can submit only one tree into each category, and trees entered must be commercially cultivated and be 1.8 metres ( +/- 400mms) high from base to tip. Each will be judged for foliage, colour, shape and marketability.

Aside from pitching trees for the big judgment day, growers can also put forward their example of the perfect wreath. The winner of this category will see a design of their creation hanging on the door of Number 10 for the full Christmas season.

Harry Brightwell, secretary of the British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association, said: “Every year we remark how the standard of British REAL trees seems to be getting better and better, and the competition really does give us a great opportunity to applaud the year-round work put in by dedicated growers.

We’re now into the 17^th year of our nationwide competition and are all eagerly awaiting the evidence of what our peers in tree growing have been up to over the last 12 months in terms of ensuring the very best specimens available.”

Last year’s competition was won by Colin Griffith, of Dinmore Hill Christmas Trees in Wellington, Hereford. He had the honour of delivering a tree to Downing Street and seeing the lights switched on as part of a small ceremony outside Number 10.

Mr Brightwell added: “Our aim is always to help people recognise the incredible amount of year-round work which goes into creating the perfect British real tree.”

To follow progress around the competition at Hole Park Estate, follow the Association on twitter @BCTGA.

Crest Garden made a huge impact at Glee with their impressive ranges of Kent & Stowe garden tools, Flopro watering and Plantpak by Crest propagation.

The brands came to the market just over a year ago with md Nick Davies promising products with a real point of difference supported by first rate marketing support. Twelve months down the line, it is clear that Crest Garden has already established itself as a leading player in the garden market. Top flight industry professionals in product development, consumer marketing and customer focussed sales delivered a polished presentation at Glee 2015.

The extended range of Kent & Stowe garden tools was showcased at Glee including the all new ‘Garden Life’ range, for the lighter way to garden. Research has identified a preference for lighter weight tools among ladies, younger gardeners, people with restricted movement or mobility issues and those who simply prefer a lighter tool.

Natalie Searle, Marketing Manager commented “Garden Life tools are up to 40% lighter and are perfectly weighted, balanced and proportioned making them more comfortable and manoeuvrable in tight spaces. The design, craftsmanship and quality are exactly the same as our full size products”. There are eight stainless steel digging and cultivation tools plus secateurs that can all be displayed on a custom built merchandiser with impactful POS.

‘Bringing water to life’ is the proposition offered by Flopro, the innovative new range of garden watering hoses, carts, reels, guns, sprinklers and accessories combining functionality, ergonomic styling and fresh new colours. The smart new Cube by Flopro brings a completely new look to hose storage. The set includes either 20m or 35m hose, watering nozzle, connectors, wall bracket and ground hooks. An exceptional feature of the Cube is the stainless steel internal coil for ultra smooth glide retraction, strength and longevity.

www.crest-garden.com

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

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

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2013 as well as 2014 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.

Torwood Garden Centre in Tarbert, Falkirk has been voted Cafe of the Year by readers of the areas local newspaper.  "Everyone is over the moon with the award," owner John Stevenson told GTN Xtra, "as you can see from the picture (above) of the team led by cafe manager Lindsey Miller with the award."

This is how the Falkirk Herald reported on the win for Blossoms Cafe at Torwood Garden Centre:

The winner of the Falkirk Herald Cafe of the Year competition as voted for by readers is Blossoms Bistro in Torwood Garden Centre.

The popular eatery in Larbert received the most votes in the hotly contested competition, pipping Roasted and Toasted in Falkirk High Street and Antonio’s Deli in Grahams Road, Falkirk into second and third place.

Cafe of the Year was determined solely by votes from readers of the Falkirk Herald, and Blossoms were delighted to be named as winners.

The cafe offers home cooking, sandwiches and soups as well as a huge range of home made cakes. The afternoon teas are very popular

Lindsey, who has been at Blossoms for 12 years while Torwood Garden Centre has been owned by the Stevenson family for 60 years.

Three generations have owned the centre, which was based in Torwood but is now housed in a Victorian walled garden at Central Park in Larbert and the business sells plants, garden furniture, pet supplies and gifts.

Lindsey said: “We have a great team here and are focused on the customer. We all give it everything to make sure people have a good time.

“We are lucky to have a beautiful location and fantastic team.

“Winning Cafe of the Year is just amazing, it’s been a real boost.”