If you are thinking of adding soft play to your offering, Boyd Douglas-Davies from the Hillview Group will cover the high and low points through the first year of operating a Soft Play centre in a garden centre. Since opening the Soft Play Barn at Hilltop Garden Store on 1^st October 2014, they have learnt a lot one year on!

Boyd J Douglas-Davies is Chief Executive of Hillview Garden Centres Ltd. The business acquired its first garden centre in September 2011 and now has 9 sites across the Midlands and is looking to add a significant number of centres to its portfolio. Prior to setting up HGC, Boyd was CEO of Webbs of Wychbold, the award winning garden centre in Worcestershire. In 2011 he created Garden Re-Leaf Day; a national day of activities for Gardeners, Garden Centres and Giving. 

Since its inception it has generated a huge amount of PR for the industry and raised over £270,000 for the Greenfingers Charity.  He is passionate about garden centres and relishes challenges that require creative solutions. In 2014 Hillview Garden Centres opened its first Soft Play Barn – a charged for Soft Play and Cafe Bar at Hilltop Garden Store in the Cotswolds. He has plans to open a number of these units in the next year. 

If you want to understand the ups and downs of adding soft play to your mix, book your place at The HTA Marketing Forum now.  GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.