The Garden Centre Group has announced a clutch of appointments designed to give the 140-centre chain a further injection of high street expertise.

TGCG’s trading director Dan Zinner said the appointments would help to expand the division’s commercial capabilities and improve the customer offer. “As leader in the garden centre industry, TGCG aspires to bring the best of the retail industry to the gardening world,” Zinner added. “We are building a trading team that brings passion about retail and leadership in commercial best practices, as well as some of the industry’s deepest expertise in the horticulture category.”

Stuart Heritage joins from Dixons Retail as head of category commercial management. He will work with suppliers across categories to explore new opportunities and initiatives.

Anita Morrison, who joins from Britvic as head of decision support, will also work across category teams to advise and support on complex pricing and promotional decisions.

Other appointments are designed to  bolster the group’s horticultural expertise. Mairi Devlin, a category manager, who has joined from Homebase, has more than a decade of experience in garden buying. David Mitchell, who joins from Waitrose as a specialist plants buyer, has long track record in horticultural and agricultural buying.

Tim Clapp, TGCG’s head of horticulture said: “Gardening is at the heart of our business, and we have assembled a horticulture team of unparalleled strength, including some of the most experienced buyers in the industry, to make sure our customers have access to the finest plants, flowers and supplies in the UK.”

Will the Easter Bunny push the green line up so we see sales volumes in April at the same or higher levels than 2012 – or will the heat drop out of the market?  If the Easter weeks perform close to Easter in 2011, the last time there was a late Easter, then we will definitely be on for a great year.

Judging by the trolley loads of plants sold at the garden centres we visited last weekend, coupled with a decent forecast, the demand and desire is there from customers.  If only we could all trade on Easter Sunday!

Let’s hope the HTA make headway with their lobbying campaign to government on the issue.  As Head of Horticulture Raoul Curtis-Machin says in the HTA statement; “Full closure on Easter Sunday means that garden centres lose a whole trading day during peak planting season whilst families are seeking to spend time together preparing their garden for the year ahead.

“The Sunday Trading Act only applies to England and Wales, thus Scottish garden centres can open without these restrictions. The Scottish example shows that deregulated Sunday trading hours do not disrupt family life or undermine Sunday as special, and can work and benefit garden centres and their customers.”

If you have views on Easter Sunday trading, let us know: e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

4 Garden Products – down 2%

4 Veg-2-Gro – up 26%

4 Growing Media – up 7%

The new Notcutts Tunbridge Wells garden centre at Pembury was officially opened last week by Caroline Notcutt, the founder’s great grand-daughter, and the town’s Mayor and Mayoress.

The new 25,000 sq.ft.state-of-the-art centre has an extensive covered planteria, a 190-seater restaurant serving locally sourced produce, a butchery in the food department, a children’s play area and a pet department.

A ‘living wall’ greets customers at the entrance and rear of the building, which also features a bandstand area for demonstrations and enhanced disabled access. Eco-friendly features include solar panels, movement sensor taps to save water and a low energy ambient lighting system.

Caroline Notcutt, a non-executive director with the 19-centre group, cut the ribbon, together with the Mayor, Councillor Dr Ronen Basu and the Mayoress, Mrs Sue Basu.

Thje opening was followed by a week-end of events, including performances by the Mardi Gras jazz band and the Swinging Little Big Band; face painting, food tastings and birds of prey displays.

Solus Garden & Leisure say they are “making good progress” in talks with potential new business partners following the collapse of merger negotiations with Scotts UK.

Solus CEO Mark Pearson said the level of interest had been high, reflecting the value placed on the unique position that Solus occupies in the UK gardening market, and the potential for development opportunities internationally. With strategic support from Grant Thornton, the company would be meeting with the interested parties over the next few weeks.

In a press statement, Pearson said sales of Solus’s own brands and service levels were performing well in the crucial Easter trading period, as were orders for third party products which continue to be sold by Solus.

 “We’d like to take this opportunity to express our thanks and gratitude to customers and suppliers who are working with us and have made public and private statements of support for the company,” Pearson added.

 “I’d especially like to thank our loyal Solus staff who are working hard to ensure our customers receive the high level of support they deserve at this time.”

Former GIMA director Neil Gow has joined the Glee team as a consultant.

He will lead the development of new initiatives planned for the 2014 show, including a new focus on plants. He will also co-ordinate an inward mission of international garden retailers, showcasing examples of British garden centre best practice, as well as developing the show’s new product awards.

 “I have always believed Glee to be a vital part of our industry for both exhibitors and retailers,” Gow said. “It should be viewed by all manufacturers and suppliers as the leading showcase for innovation and business development. For retailers, particularly the independent outlets, it is a vital source for getting to see suppliers and new products. I hope that my involvement will further strengthen Glee’s offering, and I look forward to cementing these new initiatives as a must-see part of the show in 2014 and beyond.”

i2i’s Matthew Mein, Glee event manager, added: “Neil is a respected and knowledgeable figurehead of the industry and we’ve no doubt that his involvement will benefit Glee significantly. With experience as a retailer, and also from his time at GIMA, Neil has a very clear understanding of what matters to both manufacturers and retailers – something that will no doubt stand the show in good stead for the coming months.”

Glee 2014, the show’s 40th year, sees it move to a new location within the NEC’s Halls 17 – 20, creating opportunities for a major new-look.

For exhibiting information, call 0207 728 4623

Barrus have officially opened their new garden tools distribution centre at Bicester.

The £2.5m  facility was opened by Gabriella Hart and Olivia Newall, granddaughters of EP Barrus chairman Robert Glen, who is the grandson of the company’s founder.

The new building houses six new computer-controlled parts picking machines and other upgrades to the production and servicing areas.

The 8000sq ft. centre is a clear span building to maximise floor space and provides dedicated storage for WOLF-Garten garden hand and powered tools and Wilkinson Sword garden tools. It services more than 1500 outlets including garden centres, garden machinery specialist dealers and major national retailers, with over 400 individual product lines available. Barrus are aiming to have 70% of all orders processed electronically by the latter part of the 2014 season.

The Kardex Shuttles, the latest technology in automated high bay storage and handling systems, are capable of carrying more than 22,000 product lines with a combined capacity of around 17 tonnes. The main distribution facility has moved from Bicester Garrison to the former RAF/USAF base at Upper Heyford providing a combined facility of more than 2 million cubic feet of warehousing.

MD Robert Muir said: “The garden tool business has gone from strength to strength for Barrus since the introduction of the WOLF-Garten brand in 2009 and Wilkinson Sword in 2010.

“Our modern, new facility and the investment in spare parts systems will assist in increasing our efficiencies and more importantly the service we provide to all our customers.”

The arrival of Suttons’ grafted veg plants last week loosened Quantil’s grip on the Veg2Gro chart in the GTN Bestsellers data, taking five of the top 10 places, with two more within the top 40.  Tomato ‘Sweet Petit’ was the ultimate winner. 

• Tomato ‘Tumbling Tom Yellow’ provided consolation for Quantil, however, proving the week’s highest climber after a rise of nine places to No.37.
• Sweet Potatoes (below right) are clearly no flash in the pan – the ‘Beauregard’ variety from Suttons re-entered at No.21.

See the full GTN Bestsellers Chart and our GTN Bestsellers Tips that are guaranteed to increase your sales, every week, by buying a subscription to GTN Bestsellers.  To subscribe click here

UK retail design experts HPW Architecture have created a leading European nursery’s first garden centre...

The Hampshire-based practice was appointed by German horticulture giant Worlein to create a store which reflected the company’s 100 years of experience supplying the landscaping industry and distinguished it from competitors.

The new centre has a 4,000sqm heated retail space, 6,000sqm plant-area with a 2,000sqm covered walkway and a car-park, on the site of Worlein’s pre-existing nursery and headquarters in Diessen near Munich. The structure itself was supplied by Wolf-haus, the European leaders in pre-fabricated construction, for whom it was their first garden centre project.

The unique €3.5 million pre-fabricated structure boasts a highly sustainable specification, super-insulated shell, integral skylights, natural ventilation and, unlike most other garden centres in Germany and the UK, was built using a lot of timber in-keeping with the niursery’s horticultural values.

HPW also created new branding and signage, including bespoke signage manufactured in the UK and then constructed on site in Germany.

The retail area allows sales space for boutique gifts and furniture, a full spectrum of plants from bedding to 16m mature trees, as well as a 250-cover restaurant which will open later this year.

Worlein owner Ludwig Worlein said: “We are incredibly excited to be opening our first ever garden centre. For more than a century my family’s business has been at the forefront of the landscaping industry but moving into the consumer market represents a new challenge. We have valued the experience and expertise of the HPW Architecture team, without which we wouldn’t have such a masterfully designed store.”

Garden centres and nurseries can now print their own bed cards using a web-based bed card service run by Joy of Plants.

More than 9,200 UK plants (photos and full text) are featured on the database, including ornamentals, trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, aquatics, fruits, ferns, wildflowers, orchids, palms, cacti, hedging and houseplants. Bed cards can be printed and laminated, or printed on polyester sheets, and are available in A5 and A4 sizes which both fit Green Magic bed card holders.

Users already signed up include Longacres, Garsons, Van Hage, Pennells, Raglan and Arboretum.

Ben Thompson, director of Garsons in Surrey said: “We were searching for a solution to our planteria and house plant department bed cards, preferably one that would suit our own point of sale templates. As we were already working with the team at Joy of Plants, using their Plant Finder web plug-in and app, we were delighted they mentioned bed cards were to become available. The system is now live, and crucially it is very simple to use. In the first few weeks we have produced over 750 A5 plant information cards – and new plants are being added all the time. I would highly recommend this package to other garden centres and nurseries.”

The bed cards complement other Joy of Plants plant information services, enabling consistency across in-store, website and smartphone usage.

James Pennell of Pennells garden centres in Lincoln and Cleethorpes said: “The Joy of Plants bed cards are great. We opted for the default layout which features our logo prominently, good quality photos of the plants and simple and clear breakdowns of the important information customers look for, such as height and spread. The tool is really simple to use and we had little issue using our existing hardware for printing bed cards.”

Lauren Webb, deputy manager at Brunswick Organic Nursery in York (a small registered charity that offers purposeful work and training to people with learning disabilities, see left) said: “As a small charity, we have wanted for a long time to improve the information for our customers and the bed card tool has finally helped us to do this. We wanted a system that was easy to use, quick and most importantly, provided our customers with clear, accurate and useful information about the plants that we sell. The bed card tool does all these things for us and it has been a delight for us to see the printed cards starting to go up around our nursery.”

Contacts: Terri Jones (MD) 07717 532323 Email: terri@joyofplants.com

Ben Roden (left) of Mr Fothergill's has raised more than £1000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society by walking over burning coals at an Ipswich, Suffolk, hotel.

He was one of 19 people, including the town's member of Parliament Ben Gummer (right), who undertook the Firewalk Challenge at the Belstead Brook Hotel, raising a total of more than £8000.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ben, who was diagnosed with the illness in 2010, made the 20ft walk across hot coals of more than 1200°F. “It was really good! I'd love to do it again, “ Ben said. “The Firewalk was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences." Colleagues at Mr Fothergill's contributed more than £750 to Ben's total.

Half of the £8000 raised will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society's national research programme, while the remainder will be spent on grants and support for local people living with the condition. More than 100,000 people in the UK have MS, with most being diagnosed in their 20s or 30s.

For more information log on at www.msscociety.org.uk

Picture: Ben Roden (left) and Ben Gummer MP

Gardeners in East Lothian are being invited to bring old or unwanted tools to a new re-cycling point at Dunbar Garden Centre.

The donated tools will be refurbished by women in custody at HMP Edinburgh, as part of The Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed project, and then distributed to local schools and community gardeners.

Jim Shields and Craig Widdowson, who run the project at the prison, and Nick Donaghey, manager at Dunbar Garden Centre, launched the scheme at the Spott Road centre with local Tools Shed co-ordinators Andrew and Angela Davies.

Picture shows Jim Shields, Regimes Manager at HMP Edinburgh and Nick Donaghey, manager of Dunbar Garden Centre with Ava Thornburn and Rowan Robertson (in the wheeliebin), pupils at Dunbar Primary School.

They were joined by children and staff from Countess After School Club in Dunbar and the Ridge Project in Belhaven, who were presented with items from the Tools Shed workshop.

"Not only will this help the local community and schools but it is a great way for gardeners to dispose of their old, unwanted tools,” said Nick Donaghey. “ So many of us have broken tools at the back of the garden shed that are forgotten about, so we are encouraging gardeners to bring these tools to us, a simple way of ‘spring cleaning' your garden shed.”

James Shields, regimes manager at HMP Edinburgh, said: “The Tools Shed project has provided an ideal opportunity for HMP Edinburgh to develop positive and beneficial links with community groups in the capital, and I’m delighted that we are extending the project to include East Lothian.

“Participating in the project boosts the skills and well-being of the women involved in HMP Edinburgh, and it’s fantastic to see them contributing to communities and enabling the work of these local groups to continue.”

David Shreeve, The Conservation Foundation’s Director, said: “Tools Shed has been steadily growing over the years and we now work with a number of prisons around the country.

“We’re delighted that it’s proving so successful in Scotland, thanks in no small part to the enthusiasm and commitment of the governor, staff and inmates at HMP Edinburgh and the support we receive from garden centres and other horticultural organisations in and around Edinburgh. It’s great to have Dunbar Garden Centre on board now.”

Tools Shed was piloted initially with HMP Wandsworth before being extended to other prisons. Currently tools are being repaired at Morton Hall IRC, High Down Prison in Surrey, Northumberland, Dartmoor, Cardiff, Parc and Wandsworth Prisons, as well as at HMP Edinburgh. 

It's time to enter your teams into the 2014 Greatest Awards – and we have some different and exciting new opportunities for your this year.

With the event taking place alongside SOLEX, the foremost outdoor leisure exhibition in the UK, we have introduced some new categories for the garden centre sales and display teams to get their teeth into...

• The Greatest BBQ Sales Team
• The Greatest Outdoor Furniture Sales Team
• The Greatest Garden Decor and Lighting Sales Team

Popular categories also available to enter are:

• The Greatest Planteria Sales Team
• The Greatest Garden Care Sales Team
• The Greatest Home Interiors Display Team
• The Greatest Garden Centre Merchandising Team

To register free for any or all of these categories, email trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

The Greatest Awards 2014 are produced in association with SOLEX...

and sponsored by Weber

Due to the unrivalled success of our e-mail newsletter publishing operation we need now need to expand our sales team.

We’re looking for the ideal person to take on the sales of our unique mix of banners, buttons, Webitorials and E-mail Advertorial special issues for Pet Trade Xtra, GTN Xtra and GTN Food Xtra.

If you have telephone and face to face sales experience, have a good understanding of digital media and an interest in either the pet, gardening or catering markets then joining our team could be the ideal opportunity for you.

Our company is renowned for producing excellent b2b editorially led products that fully engage with our audiences and provide real results for our advertisers and commercial partners.

To find out more about this great opportunity, please send an e-mail to Trevor Pfeiffer making your case to be interviewed, together with your current CV.  E-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk.

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid, newly-appointed Secretary of State for Culture and the Arts following the resignation of Maria Miller, demonstrated his artistic skills recently when he painted a picture on the Greatest Garden Mural at a garden centre in his constituency..

The former Treasury financial secretary’s lack of experience in the field he now controls was the source of much critical comment – so our picture of him at Fresh@Burcot Garden Centre with a paintbrush in his hand is evidence for the defence! This what he painted (left)...

Fresh created a 32 ft long mural depicting a garden as a way of raising funds for childrens’ hospice gardens on Garden Re-Leaf Day. “Sajid Javid came along on launch day and joined us and the Fund Raising Manager from Acorns (Hospice), Dee McCann, in painting a picture on the mural” Said garden centre owner Nicci Gow. “Little did we know then, only a few days later the artistic skills he showed in painting an apple tree on our mural would be spotted by the Prime Minister and see him promoted to his first Cabinet post.”

Roundup® has announced that the 2014 Roundup Academy, the free-to-use online training portal designed to equip retail staff with a better understanding of weed control and Roundup products, is now up and running for the year ahead.

Launched in the UK in 2012, the Roundup Academy has proven its value to retailers with nearly 3,000 staff signing up and many having now completed all modules and becoming ‘Masters of Roundup’.

As well as benefitting from an increased knowledge of weed control, everyone who completes all modules will receive a free multi tool torch, as well as an enamel lapel badge to let customers know they are an expert in weed control.

Roundup has also organised a prize draw for the end of July, when everyone who has completed all modules will be entered into a draw to win a 2014 Apple iPad Air.

For new staff and those who haven't enrolled previously, the training offers valuable guidance on how to spot weeds, methods of control and advice on which products give the best solution. All of this results in improved knowledge and confidence when advising customers. For retailers this in-depth understanding of the category that can be imparted to customers will help to secure sales and encourage repeat buying behaviour.

For retail staff that have already signed up, they will be able to login again to refresh their weeding knowledge. They will also be eligible to enter the prize draw if they complete all four modules.

New for 2014, the Roundup Academy has a refreshed look with some new questions and has been updated so it can be used on all devices including computers, laptops, smart phones and tablets.

Gary Philpotts, Lawn and Garden UK Business Director said: “The Academy is going from strength to strength and it has been great to see so many of our retail customers and their staff keen to come on board and increase their knowledge of products that can easily add value to their business.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the ease of use of the Academy, and the 2014 refreshed design is much more straight forward to navigate and use, as well as being optimised for use across all devices. We hope this will encourage even more participants to increase their product knowledge ready for sharing this advice with their customers, with a view to securing sales.”

The Academy is found at www.roundup-academy.com . Participants can log in using their unique code, available from Roundup sales representatives, managers and customer services team. If you haven’t received a code, call your rep or 01483 410334. Anyone who has previously registered will be asked to update their login password.

*Terms and conditions apply and can be found online at www.roundup-academy.com/trade/terms

The 2 in 1 Paving Brush from Creative Products moved up 28 places to top the  GTN Bestsellers garden products chart, outselling seasonal favourite Tomorite.

Only one new entry this week – Kaemingk’s Glass Tealight Holder with Hanger, in at No.44.

Gardman’s Wall Basket Coco Liner 40cm is the week’s highest re-entry, at No.26

Gardman’s Solar Stainless Steel Border Light is the highest climber.

GTN Bestsellers is not the only commentator predicting a potential bumper Easter for garden centres...

Analysts at Barclaycard have watched DIY and garden spending surge in the first quarter of 2014, with garden centres up 22 per cent year on year – a trend they expect to continue over the Easter break, given the good weather forecast.

A strong housing market is helping to drive growth. Chris Wood, MD at Barclaycard, said:  “The number of houses sold in the UK has grown by nearly 25 per since the Help to Buy programme was implemented last April along with growing economic confidence, and that is having a positive knock on for DIY stores and garden centres. They are both bucking the wider retail spending trend which has seen much lower growth at 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

“The good weather forecast for much of the Easter weekend means both categories are likely to continue their strong start to the year. Whether it’s for a fresh coat of paint, new garden furniture or a full kitchen remodel, homeowners will be hunting out great deals as stores compete to draw shoppers in on what is traditionally an important weekend for both sectors.”

And that’s even without Easter Sunday opening….

Last week GTN Xtra spotted a new lawncare product bubbling under the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products Top 50 - Mo Bacter Moss Killer & Lawn Feed 7.5kg (barcode 541075010469). At Ayletts Garden Centre last weekend, retail manager Chris Thomas told us that following product training and trialling by his team last year, Mo Bacter has become this year’s runaway success in lawncare products. “The moss gorges itself on the potassium, dies and then the bacteria digest all of the dead moss, meaning there is no scarifying to do,” Chris said. “We’ve all tried it and it works so well we are really pleased to recommend it to our customers.”

Supplier: DJ Turfcare, www.djturfcare.co.uk

Levington and Arthur Bowers multi-purpose composts were huge sellers last week, with GTN Bestsellers data showing Levington MP with added JI at No.1 for another week and JAB MP the highest new entry at No.16.

• Shamrock MP 50L also performed strongly, shooting up 28 chart places to No.6, making it the highest climber.
• Arthur Bowers 100L Bark Chips was the highest re-entry.
• Westland’s 60L Tomato Planter jumped 15 places to No.34.

See the full GTN Bestsellers Chart and our GTN Bestsellers Tips that are guaranteed to increase your sales, every week, by buying a subscription to GTN Bestsellers.  To subscribe click here

This week saw the start of the BBC’s new Big Allotment Challenge six-part series, in which nine pairs of allotmenteers are put through their paces as they grow, harvest, pickle and preserve.

Having an allotment is growing more and more popular as people find pleasure in ‘growing their own’ and keeping the cost of their food costs down. Inspired by the programme, many first time allotment holders and old hands will be ready to go over the Easter period. 

The McTimoney Chiropractic Association (MCA) is advising new allotmenteers to make sure beforer theystart that their tools are right for them and to ask for advice at their local garden centre about the height of spade, hoe or fork they should be using. There are lighter ranges, long-handled ranges and those with ergonomic handles.

They have also produced the following list of hints and tips that garden centres might like to use for the benefit of customers:

• Try putting together a daily stretching programme.  Stretching increases flexibility and strength, so digging, raking or weeding becomes easier as you increase your core strength. The MCA has a useful free leaflet which shows and describes a wide range of back exercises.
• Take it steadily! Don’t try and dig the entire plot in one go. Give yourself regular breaks, say every 20 minutes.  Warm up with the gentler activities.
• Try and swap activities regularly and intersperse digging with raking or gentle weeding so you have a balance of high input activity with gentler tasks.  Also, try and swap sides regularly so you don’t do all the work on one side of your body.
• If you have a lot of watering to do, balance yourself by carrying two watering cans of roughly the same weight.  Don’t heave large bags of compost, instead use your wheelbarrow to move them.  Pick items up with bent knees and a straight back.
• Try and design an allotment with your back in mind. Raised beds are all the rage at the moment and reduce the amount of bending you need to do.
• If you do have a potting shed or greenhouse, make sure that work benches are the correct height to avoid stooping.

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 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, 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.