Wyevale Garden Centres has appointed Caroline Linger as Head of Garden. 

Caroline will lead key garden categories including garden furniture, with a remit to strengthen WGC’s customer offer through new and innovative products.

She joins from The Co-operative Pharmacy where she was responsible for driving the 'Over the Counter' strategy of the Healthcare and Beauty offer for the Co-operative pharmacy.

A veteran of the retail sector, her previous experience includes roles at Argos, Dunelm, Halfords, and Frosts Garden Centres, where she was integral in developing the Garden and Home proposition and driving profitable sales growth. She worked for Frosts from 2005 to 2009.

Dan Zinner, Trading Director at Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “It is my pleasure to welcome Caroline to our Trading team. As a proven retail professional with experience at a number of top retailers as well as garden centre experience, she will add buying and supply chain strength to play a key role in enhancing our customer offer.

"I am delighted that we continue to add talent to a growing team that has the passion and credentials to deliver inspiration and products of the highest quality to our customers.” 

Last month GTN Xtra were the first to announce that Head of Horticultures Tim Clapp was leaving the company.

Wyevale Garden Centres, formerly The Garden Centre Group, is the nation’s largest group of garden centres, with 141 centres across the country. It recently bought Moreton Park Garden Centre from Shropshire Leisure Group.

Ninety per cent of Wyevale Garden Centres’ plant stock is British-grown, and much of this stock is grown in its own nurseries.

The company employs more than 5,000 staff and runs its own gardening membership club, The Gardening Club, which has more than 2.5 million members. For more information visit www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk 

Wyevale Garden Centres has moved away from being a plant- and horticultural-based business to more like a leisure company, Guy Hands has told the Evening Standard.

Hands, whose Terra Firma company owns WGC, formerly The Garden Centre Group said in an interview with the newspaper:

“We tend to go for businesses where there’s a strong transformational element to them.

"Something like The Garden Centre Group is a good example of that where we’ve moved it from being plant- and horticultural-based to making it more like a leisure company.

“We’re two years into it, earnings have doubled and the management team believe they can double earnings again over the next three or four years, so the business is doing very well.”

It’s that time of the year again. As you complete your Christmas Displays and start selling your Christmas events (or sell out if you’ve had them on-line already) now is the moment to nominate your teams in The Greatest Christmas Awards.

The Greatest Awards team of experts will be out on the road twice this Christmas season, once at the start of November to visit Christmas Display teams and then again in December to meet the teams behind The Greatest Santa events of the year.

Here are the categories you need to nominate your teams for:

• The Greatest Christmas Display Team – awards for small centre, mid sized centre, destination centre and a centre that is part of a group.
• The Greatest Grotto Team – regional and national awards for small and large centre teams.
• The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – for exceptional BBQ sales in the run up to Christmas.
• The Greatest Miniature Christmas Display Team – for teams excelling at displays and sales of miniature Christmas scenes and even the new craze of Fairy Gardening.
• The Greatest Catering with Santa Team – for teams that create those truly memorable meals with Santa.
• The Greatest Festive Plant Sales Team – for plant teams who enter into the festive spirit and maximise sales of plants and trees while centre footfall is at it’s highest.

There will also be the chance for your customers to vote for your total garden centre team as The Greatest Garden Centre at Christmas 2014.  Just send your nominations and register for the public voting by e-mail to trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk.

The Greatest Christmas Awards will be presented at The Greatest Christmas Party, sponsored by Premier Decorations, on Sunday 11th January in The Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.  Watch this space for ticket details.

Growing media sales volumes are still strong, according to GTN Bestsellers Epos data, as gardeners continue to enjoy the dry and warm conditions. Figures issued by the Met Office suggest we’ve just experienced the driest September on record.

It’s great to know that gardening activity is driving sales of compost but there are signs in this week’s Bestsellers charts that things are starting to move indoors.

For instance, orchid growing is very much in the minds of garden centre customers with three of the biggest movers in the Garden Products chart being orchid-related products.

The highest climber in the Growing Media Top 50 is also an orchid growing compost. Let’s hope that the good weather continues and gardeners stay active...indoors and out.

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

• Garden Products – down 27%
• Veg 2 Gro – down 36%
• Growing Media – up 23%
• All items index – down 12%

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

Our Client is grower of quality Nursery Stock destined for the major multiples and garden centre chains. They are currently seeking a driven and experienced Nursery Site Manager who can assist in the culture of quality stock. 

The ideal person will possess:

Knowledge and training within a horticultural discipline preferably from a commercial production background 

Excellent record of managing and supervising staff

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including good IT skills

A strong team builder and player with initiative, drive and enthusiasm who can progress within the company. 

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV quoting reference #6666 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Our client is an exciting e-commerce business who source and supply a range wonderful garden products and plants to a discerning mail-order audience across the UK.

They wish to appoint a dynamic E-commerce Manager- Ideally a person with some plant knowledge and good e-commerce experience to run their e-mail marketing, social media and to provide horticultural content to our website.

Someone with fabulous communication skills, real entrepreneurial characteristics, creative flare, drive and with plenty of get up and go!  

Please call Dianne Saunders on 07929 013910 or apply with your CV quoting reference 6653 to info@morepeople.co.uk

I am currently looking for an experienced garden centre management candidate to join the team of a large independent garden centre. 

This position will sit underneath the centre manager alongside another assistant manager and will be part of the senior leadership team of the site. 

Excellent cross department experience would be beneficial as there will be multiple areas covered by this role. IT and Horticultural experience would be ideal. 

Man management skills are key and experience managing teams must be evidenced in your experience.

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV, quoting reference #6658 to info@morepeople.co.uk

My client is a large independent garden centre with an award winning pedigree.

This vacancy will be working alongside the centre management team and will have direct responsibility for the product range of this department. I am looking for an ambitious individual who wants to have a sense of ownership over the retail area. 

Retail experience is a must and garden centre retail experience is preferred.

Applicants must have experience of staff management, with a minimum of 1-2 years experience, and be able to lead and inspire a team of up to 13 staff.

They must also have proven buying experience and an ability to successfully negotiate with suppliers.

They must operate with good standards of merchandising and presentation, coupled with an element of creativity. 

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV, quoting reference #6609 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Taylors Bulbs Mushroom Kit (small) is the highest climber in the GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart this week. It moves up 19 places to No 21.

• The highest re-entry is Taylors Asparagus Connovers Colossal at No 17.
• Taylors also dominate the top of the chart, filling the first seven places with onion sets and garlic.
• Thompson & Morgan also have three re-entries, headed by Spinach Perpetual at No 28.

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

There is still evidence in the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart that gardeners are still active on their plots, but they’re now turning their attention to indoors as orchid products take over the top spots.

Growth Technology Orchid Myst (100 ml) jumps six places to take over the No 1 position.

Bestsellers favourite Fito Drip Feeder for Orchids takes second position away from a Gardman lighting product.

The highest climber this week, moving up 42 places, is Growth Technology Orchid Pot Clear.

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

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.