In This Issue
Sales drop after end of Lockdown 2
Over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards
Whistler Grills looks to recruit Retail Sales Manager
Plant sales below last year for first time in 27 weeks
Haskins to put team wellbeing first this Christmas  
Neudorff wins the German Sustainability Award 2021
Gardening grows Christmas cheer in tough times
Perrywood at Christmas 2020 - with correct photo gallery now...
Squires Badshot Lea - Christmas 2020
Federation webinar delivers crucial advice for UK exporters preparing for end of Brexit transition
Wyevale Nurseries donates new Mangave range to RHS Garden Wisley
Logistics firm Wincanton awarded new multi-channel contract by Dobbies
Compost supply deal for leading organic waste business
Perrywood Garden Centre raises over £10,000 for charity and ends the year with some Festive Cheer
GTN November issue now on-line
Special visitors are first to see Santa at Hillmount
Christmas product sales level out
Steady as you go for garden products
Floramedia continues to strengthen its Account Manager team
Still 30% up for growing media
The best of last week's
Is selling online the future for garden centres?
Alver Valley Garden Centre gets green light
Container issues continue to escalate at UK ports - watch ITV News Video featuring Steven Potter at Glencrest
Growing Media stars as November sees record total sales
elho demonstrates continued growth, innovation, and excellent customer support
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Barton Grange Christmas 2020 - Exclusive GTN Xtra Photo Tour
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
All the latest news from the world of pet products
Pet firm wins ‘product I can’t live without’ award
Natures Menu donates 1,000 meals to rehoming charity
Royal Canin and wellness expert team up to tackle pet obesity
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news.

Email trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 07973 504214

 

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Over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards

They’re back, all be it in a virtual form.  GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards are back for 2020 to celebrate all that’s great about garden centres at Christmas through the pages of GTN and the GTN Xtra e-mail newsletter and now we can announce there's over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won:

  • The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team – Sponsored by Woodlodge - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team – Sponsored by GTN Bestsellers -subscriptions worth £580 for the winner
  • The Greatest Festive Food Hall Team – Sponsored by Garden Radio – 1 years’ service with bespoke messages, worth over £500 for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – Sponsored by SOLEX - 2 x Hotel Rooms at SOLEX 2021 for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Pets Team – Sponsored by Smart Garden Products, Zöon -£500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Community/Charity Initiative – Sponsored by Kaemingk – A display from their UK showroom for the winner
  • The Greatest Social Media Christmas Marketing Idea – Sponsored by Glee – 2 x Hotel Rooms at Glee 2021 for the winner
  • The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Video – Sponsored by Premier Decorations - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Winter Garden Care Sales Team – Sponsored by Elho - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Covid Safe Christmas Display Team – Sponsored by Global Journey - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Group Garden Centre Christmas Team – Sponsored by DCUK - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team - Sponsored by Ascalon - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team – Sponsored by Kaemingk- A display from their UK showroom for the winner
  • The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team Sponsored by Festive - £500 stock for the winner

It's simple to take part, all you have to do is start taking photos of your displays and ideas now, remember to include a photo of the team, send an e-mail to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk, and we'll get back to you with more details.  We're also raising money for Greenfingers Charity to help create more gardens at Children's Hospices during 2021.

 

Here's more detail about the categories for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2020

  • Very important – As GTN’s Greatest Awards are all about the great teams of people working in garden centres we do need a photo of the team involved in every entry!

    The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team – Who has been “The Greatest” at maximising houseplant sales in the run up to Christmas 2020? What new houseplant merchandising ideas have you implemented this year?

    The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team – Which Outdoor Plant Sales team has been The Greatest at making the most of plant sales this Autumn and Winter?  Who has been the most creative in making real Christmas Tree purchases a great event despite the social distancing?

    The Greatest Festive Food Hall Team – As festive food sales in garden centres continue to grow, which garden centre team has been The Greatest at creating sumptuous Festive Food displays and maximising sales?

    The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – Who has made the most of the great opportunity to sell BBQ’s, firepits, canopies, outside heaters and garden furniture during this pandemic Christmas season?

    The Greatest Christmas Pets Team – We all love to spoil our pets at Christmas, so which garden centre Pets team have been The Greatest at merchandising pet products and services for Christmas 2020?

    The Greatest Christmas Community or Charity Initiative – Christmas is a time for giving, so this Award is for the garden centre team who have executed The Greatest Christy fundraising activity or local initiative that gives back to the community.

    The Greatest Social Media Christmas Marketing Idea – This year more than ever, Social Media has played such an important part in every garden centres marketing activity.  But who has created and executed The Greatest Christmas Social Media campaign?

    The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Video – The Christmas Video headlines may go to John Lewis but which garden centre has been super great in creating their very own Christmas video as part of their marketing activity?

    The Greatest Winter Garden Care Sales Team – With an estimated 3 million new gardeners this year there has never been a better time to merchandise gardening products as Christmas gifts.  Which garden centre Garden Care team has put their ‘Christmas jumpers’ on and really sold gardening to customers through the festive period?

    The Greatest Covid Safe Christmas Team – Being able to trade through Lockdown 2 meant every garden centre had to be at the top of its game for creating and maintaining a Covid safe retailing environment.  This special award will go to the team that went that extra mile to make customers and staff feel really safe.

    The Greatest Group Garden Centre Christmas Team – Who are The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Team overall from a garden centre that is part of a group of 10 or more centres?  The judges will be looking at your photo tour or video to see how you’ve made the most of Christmas as part of your garden centre group.

    The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team – In many ways small garden centres can have the real creative edge at Christmas so this award is for the team who made Christmas extra special for their customers in a small garden centre.  Send your photo tour now, plus a photo of the team of course!

    The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team – Probably the most competitive category in The Greatest Christmas Awards, which mid-sized garden centre team has made the most of Christmas and maximised sales despite all the social distancing requirements?

    The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team – Which of the large garden centres teams are The Greatest at Christmas in 2020.  Send us your photo tour and make sure you include all your Christmas areas and the teams as the judges will be looking at overall Christmas merchandising, not just your Christmas displays.

    The Greatest Christmas Supplier – This is an award that every garden centre who makes an entry in one of the categories above will have a chance to vote for.  It’s simply for the Christmas supplier they feel has been The Greatest for their business in this unique year.

We all love to see other centres displays and ideas, especially at Christmas, and as Lockdown 2 and travel restrictions make that difficult what better way to provide a solution for everyone than inviting garden centres to submit their own photos and videos as part of GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards.

  • Launch date:  GTN Xtra 16th November and GTN’s November print issue
  • Publication of photo’s and videos as they come in during December in GTN Xtra and GTN’s December issue.  Closing date for entries will be Thursday December 31st. 
  • Results announced:  GTN Xtra 24th January 2021 and as part of GTN’s January issue which includes our first ever Christmas Products Directory.

We’ve created a list of categories which we feel reflect Christmas trading for 2020 and we have a team of expert judges on standby to plough through all of the entries and hold video meetings with short listed teams before making their final decisions about the winners.

 

There are opportunities for suppliers to also be involved in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards by offering stock for Christmas 2021 as prizes for the winners.  Please contact alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk for more details.

 

So, what are you waiting for, get snapping and send an e-mail today to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk to get your entry registered.

 

As you'll see below in GTN Xtra we've already had one photo tour to publish, from Barton Grange, and here's an early entry we received from the team at the Old Railway Line Garden Centre

 

 

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