A statement from Scotts said:  "No further stock will be dispatched to Solus. No further Growing Media orders will be invoiced by Solus."

Solus Garden and Leisure had issued a statement late on Wednesday afternoon saying that "regretfully" it was no longer in negotiations to join forces with the Scotts Company (UK) Ltd.

Solus CEO Mark Pearson said: “We are disappointed that our discussions with Scotts have not been fruitful but remain positive about the future of the company. 

"The Board and the Shareholders are pursuing a number of other options for the business and we will communicate our plans in due course.’’

The shock news of the Scotts-Solus split broke on Wednesday. Initially, it was thought an agreement between the two parties would be finalised by Easter. How dramatic and quickly things can changes in business.

If you have any worries about supplies to your garden centre let us know by emailing trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Derek Bunker - Alton Garden Centre

“It’s very sad that one of the trades’ best suppliers for many years is in trouble.  It is very difficult for anyone to know exactly what the situation is, but I like many others are obviously very concerned about future supplies, especially as we enter our busiest time.

I've been a loyal customer of Solus for many years and I'm saddened by the current situation.  No one likes to see a good supplier lost to the trade.  The sooner we can reach some conclusion on the future of Solus the better for all of us.   No one wants confusion at this time.

As a business it is extremely annoying that we now have to have direct accounts with so many suppliers, Scotts, Doff, Sinclair’s, Wolf Wilkinson, Hozelock, all of which we used to buy through Solus and received excellent delivery service and stock holding.

We are now at the vagaries of various transport systems around the country, some of which are pretty poor with service.   No other wholesaler has ever come close to the service and stockholding that Solus had.”

Martin Stewart – Stewarts Garden Centres

“Have we ever known a time of such large and fundamental change in our industry?

Garden Centre retailing is a massively complicated business with such a diverse mix of products to stock and sell, together with the perishable nature of our plants. The amount of change at suppliers and The Garden Centre Group needs following closely.

 A few months ago we started looking at the implications of the changes and sent members of the team to the Decco trade show earlier in the year.  If the supply of some items gets difficult then we will contemplate taking more deliveries direct which will impact on our storage space and cash.  Deliveries will have to be bigger than usual to make them worthwhile.

So far we are having a very steady Spring, it’s not too hot and not too cold, it’s right on the button.  Let’s hope this turmoil in the trade doesn’t cause us to suffer any damage to that steady business.

The situation at Solus is going to have ramifications right through the trade.

One thing is certain:  Glee will be fascinating this year, there will be so much to tie up going forward.”

Matthew Bent – Bents Garden Centre

“It is a worry if Solus are in difficulty, cannot supply product on an ongoing basis and especially if they cannot continue trading.  We encountered a similar situation with Spread many years ago and had to find alternative sources.”

Sam Bosworth – Bosworths Garden Centre and Chairman Choice Marketing

“Choice has an excellent relationship with Scott's and both are confident that there will be no interruption to supply of Scott's products to our retail outlets.  Both Scott's and Choice are working together to ensure continuity of supply.

Solus are also a major partner to the members of choice marketing, and whilst choice are currently unsure as to why the partnership between choice and Solus has failed, we can confirm that Solus have not reneged in any part of the deal currently in place, in terms of supply of product and financial contribution to the group.  However with Scott's products no longer available through Solus, choice marketing will need to monitor and adapt to the quickly changing supply chain.

Garden Centre Owner – name withheld

"Very disappointing news, having been persuaded to return to Solus as our main supplier for the 2014 season we are having to renegotiate deals in the middle of the season when the time should be spent on the shop floor with customers. 

The value of trade given to Solus so far will have a huge impact on our ability to now reach targeted rebates with alternative suppliers.  We understand other suppliers who use Solus for distribution have pulled out too, what does the future hold?  Will suppliers now be offering direct accounts?  Will the alternative wholesalers be able to cope with the additional demand for stock so close to Easter?"

Gary Carvasso – Coolings Garden Centre

“It is true there are rumours that suggest Solus may struggle to stay credible and solvent with suppliers.  We hoped they continue for our sake, it can only damage the industry particularly as this crucial time of year if they ceased trading.  We should all support them as best we can, at the same time ensuring all our ‘Easter’ eggs are not in one basket!”


Charlie Groves – Groves Garden Centre

“Whilst we do use Solus as a supplier we gave our pre season (and so in season) orders to Decco this year largely because Decco can deliver to us twice a week, so the Scotts/Solus situation hasn’t affected us directly.

Having said that, of course competition and choice between wholesalers is always a good thing to ensure that we can get the best possible deal for our customers.  So Scotts not supplying Solus is not good at all.  Unfortunately Solus seem to be stocking less and less manufacturers and focusing on their own brands more and more which is making it more tricky to stock some of the more specialist essentials.  

At the moment it seems to be Decco who have the right formula for being a wholesaler; regular & frequent small deliveries from a range of manufacturers so that we can keep our shelves full during not only the busy season but during the quieter periods without having to commit to large quantities of stock.  This is particularly essential in seasons with unexpected starts or ends as it means that as retailers we can be more reactive to stocking the bigger brands if the weather turns good.

Nigel Wallis – Baytree Garden Centre

“I have to say that when Solus started to fall apart as in loose key members if staff, the people the industry has known and trusted for years, I thought here we go, Gardman all over again!  They don't know anybody, the people running it have not been in the garden centre trade,  so we started looking at Decco as an alternative and we decided to put Scott's through them and apart from an odd hiccup to do with EPOS we have not had a problem. 

As for Solus own brand, we have not had a problem yet and are covered with the Wilkinson Sword/Wolf ranges that do well for us.

I hope that Solus do not go pop owing their suppliers, but if Scott's have pulled out, Sinclair already have and hearsay is that others are going direct then it does not sound good.  But who knows?  As far as we are concerned, apart from Graham our rep, who is running it because we have heard nothing!

As long as we can get stock for the next 4 months to get through what looks like being a good season we will be fine and then we look forward to GLEE.  I think it is going to be very interesting!”

If you'd like to add your voice to the comments about the current situation, please use the comments link below, or e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

The UK’s number one selling weedkiller brand Roundup will soon be hitting the nation’s TV screens as its £2m consumer advertising campaign begins ahead of Easter.

For the past several years Roundup has committed to a multi-million pound national TV advertising campaign and 2014 is no exception. A wide mix of TV channels have been incorporated into the schedule, with Roundup being advertised between popular programmes on ITV, Channel 4 and Five, as well as the Republic of Ireland’s RTE and TV3. This year the TV adverts will be running from Easter weekend until mid-July, an extra 6 weeks, covering the key gardening and weeding season.

The advertising will focus primarily on Roundup’s award-winning Gel, which has continually dominated the list of best-selling weedkiller packs in the UK. The schedule also includes Roundup’s popular Pump ‘N Go system, another one of the brand’s industry-leading innovations.

The TV advertising is part of Roundup’s multi-platform, wide reaching consumer communications campaign for 2014, through which the nation’s gardeners will see Roundup in print, on social media and through attractive in-store POS and displays.

Gary Philpotts, Roundup Lawn and Garden UK Business Director, said: “With this heavy investment to drive demand for Roundup branded products, retailers will be able to take advantage of increased sales, particularly over the forthcoming Easter break and May bank holidays.

"With the high level of investment in this year’s longer campaign, which builds further on the support for the brand over the past few years, there is no doubt Roundup will once again be the brand everyone will be asking for and looking to buy.”

To find out more about the UK’s leading weed killer brand and how it can help you increase sales this season, visit www.roundup-garden.com/trade or call 01483 410334.

As a result of Spring-like conditions, the total volume sales in the GTN Bestsellers All Products index shows it has actually been the best March since 2009.

The last week of March was buoyed by a good Mothers’ Day. Total volume sales were up 43% on the same week last year, with plants, gifts and catering leading the way. As customers focussed on looking after Mum, gardening product and growing media sales tailed off slightly from the previous week.

Whether this start to Spring becomes a really good garden centre retailing season or not now depends on the weather during April. Remember, we didn’t have a bad March in 2011 and then it went all wrong in April and May.

The Met Office reports in their forecast for the second half of April: “By day, temperatures are likely to be near or above average, so conditions are likely to feel quite pleasant in sunshine.”

Better get the outside catering areas all ready for action and add some garden furniture and BBQ merchandising around it!

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

• 
  Garden Products – up 14%
• 
  Veg-2-Gro – up 46%
• Growing Media – up 63%
• All items index – up 43%

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

Garden lights are the new drip feeders – they have become all year round bestsellers and are dominating the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products Chart with 13 items in the Top 50.


Gardman Starlight LED Light Strings sell more than Evergreen Complete 360 square metre packs to take the No 1 spot.


Smart Solar Mosaic Border Light is only new entry to the chart this week.


Gardman Crystal Ball Solar Lights are the highest climber.


Mothers’ Day gift sales pushes Scheurich Fushia Cover Pot back into the chart at No 16.

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

Napoleon Grills has finalised its programme of outdoor events for Spring and Summer. The Napoleon Grill Skills Theatre will be in attendance at several food festivals up and down the country with selling space given free of charge to local stockists.

Events confirmed include:

• Chester Racecourse Easter Food & Drink Festival
• Letchworth Food, Drink & Garden Festival
• The Herts Show
• Bath & West Show
• Shrewsbury Food & Drink Festival
• Essex Food & Drink Festival

In addition the company will be funding stand space for its stockists at both the

CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace and Grand Designs Live.

Martin Sobey, sales manager, comments: “It’s our policy to support our retailers as much as we can, we are in the barbecue business together and this is a great way to demonstrate that and to offer our partners additional sales opportunities.”

Visit http://www.napoleongrills.co.uk/ email info@napoleongrills.co.uk call 01676 522788, tweet @NapoleonGrills or contact us via facebook at Napoleon Grills UK to find out more or to become a stockist.

Gardening is the solution to wider issues such as obesity, flooding and air pollution, which can all be improved through urban greening. This was the message to come out of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) International Green City Conference held at One Great George Street earlier this week on 1^st April 2014, in London.

The conference, themed ‘Growing green and healthy places’, shared what the world could and should be like through the views of many great UK and international speakers. Prescribing gardening; Town and country must be married; ‘Non-obese-a-genic’ environments, and Making sure the power of brick does not overcome the power of green, were some of the insightful topics addressed.

Matthew Pencharz, Environment Advisor to the Mayor of London, told how green infrastructure is a key component of the city’s plans. £400 million has been invested since 2009 which has included parks and pocket gardens. By 2025, the aim is to increase London’s green space by 5% to make a quarter of the city green.

Annemarie Jorritsma, Mayor of Almere, The Netherlands, challenged people to participate in the search for the ideal green city. She shared of the green principles behind the building of Almere: cultivate diversity, connect place and context, combine city and nature and anticipate change.

Prescribing gardening for improved health, Sir Richard Thompson, President of the Royal College of Physicians, advised how and why green gardens are good for you. “A few minutes of viewing a green garden can improve a person’s physiology”, he said and added “There’s a gym outside your window,” referring to gardening as a form of exercise. The benefit of trees, particularly the ability of a single tree in an urban park to remove 48lbs of particulate matter from the air daily, was also highlighted.

Tom Butterworth, Natural England, discussed the benefits of green infrastructure surrounding issues such as air quality and flooding. 2.5% of all deaths, amounting to 48,000, are attributed to urban outdoor air pollution caused by particulate matter, which compares to 18,000 attributed to drugs and alcohol. In addition, 5.2 million houses which are currently at risk of flooding could be helped, as 50-62% of surface water caused by storms can be reduced by a single street tree.

People’s gardens make up 50% of the UK’s urban areas, highlighted Leigh Hunt, Principal Horticultural Advisor at the Royal Horticultural Society, adding that 90% of the UK’s residents live urban gardens. Collectively, using these gardens, people can make a difference to health, city temperature, bio-diversity and flooding.

Sponsored by Headline Partner, Frosts Landscape Construction Ltd, the day gave insight to  the likes of planners, local authorities, health authorities, and the horticultural industry, as they gathered to understand the benefits of plants and flowers, and to find the tools and ideas to take away to make their own cities greener.

“Too many people are living in cities that are the definition of what a green city is not. It is a false economy to cross off landscape investment for which future generations will pay the price. If we all take on board and apply what we heard at this (AIPH) International Green City Conference, we can make a massive improvement to this world,” comments Victor Krahn, President, AIPH.

For more details visit www.greencity-events.org. 

Kelkay's Build Mate range of 16 products was launched at Glee 2013 and has enjoyed an excellent response with many retailers acknowledging the extra sales opportunities that it has provided.

It has helped to drive significant profit increases for those retailers that have invested in this entirely new market sector.

With brighter skies comes warmer weather and the chance for homeowners to get their gardens ready for the summer.

As the UK's leading decorative aggregates supplier, Kelkay offers an extensive range of decorative and natural stone paving.

The Build Mate products now complete this offering providing a one stop shopping experience and allowing the consumer to buy all they need to improve their homes and gardens and complete their hard landscaping tasks.

Kelkay's Managing Director, Antony Harker said: “This new focused category has made stocking this range simple, easy and hassle free. With informative packaging providing clear instructions and trade secrets, retailers do not need to become DIY experts to sell this product and consumers can easily identify what products are required for the task at hand.”

Available now and supported by strong, attention grabbing point of sale, the 16 products in the Build Mate range include sand and cement, fix-a-post, concrete mix, building, sharp and kiln dried sand and 10mm and 20mm gravel among others. S.R.P from £2.50 a bag, on selected offers.

For more information on Kelkay's Build Mate range email salesenquiries@kelkay.co.uk or call 01405 869333.

Leading provider of wild bird care products, Gardman is introducing a series of strong in-store offers with savings of up to 35% designed to help garden centres entice shoppers in to store and then drive link sales. 

Already favourites with consumers Flip Top and Deluxe Steel feeders are now being offered in value packs at extremely attractive price points: just £19.99 for the deluxe feeder value pack, a saving of 35%; and only £8.99 for the flip top feeder set, a saving of 24%. 

Gardman has also devised a compelling link sell that means garden centres can offer their customers even better deals and so persuade them to trade up to a bigger purchase; a saving of up to 33% when buying a feeder set and its matching feeder station.  

“These in-store offers are incredibly competitive and will appeal to consumers, which is good news for our retail partners,” explained Gardman Sales Director, Duncan Ross. 

“To convey these offers clearly in store we’ve developed eye catching point of sale material that includes a quarter palette header and bus stop signs to draw attention to the cost saving and link sales.

“We recognise that the warmer winter has meant garden centres have had to work hard to entice shoppers into buying wild bird care products. Against this background we are working hard to help our retail partners drive sales and these great offers combined with the in-store theatre of the eye-catching packaging and point of sale materials will really help these products fly off the shelf.”

The Deluxe Steel feeders in the four pack are for Peanuts, Seed, Nyger Seed and Fat Snax and link sells to the Gardman Deluxe Feeding station.  The link sale is priced at £34.99, representing a saving of 33%.  The three pack Flip Top feeder set is for Peanut, Seed and Fat Snax and link sells to Gardman’s standard feeding station, offering consumers a compelling saving of 26%, priced at just £19.99.  

Retailers wishing to place an order should contact their agent.  

Premier Decorations’ managing director John Athwal raised over £11,500 by taking part in the 'Action for Children CEO Sleep-out' in Paternoster Square in the City of London.

By spending the night under the stars John wanted to raise awareness of youth homelessness in the UK and to help change the direction of vulnerable young people’s lives.

John commented: “It was a tough challenge but then I only had to sleep-out for one night. The homeless have to endure this day after day, night after night.

"I am extremely grateful for all the support myself and my fellow CEOs received. Our aim is to ensure that Action for Children will be able to continue helping children and families to get back on their feet and be safe.”

Over 100,000 young people are homeless in the UK today, either living on the street, in temporary accommodation, or Sofa Surfing.

Of these 100,000 young people one in seven will experience a form of sexual or physical abuse, one in three will attempt to take their own life, and only one in 10 are reported as missing by parents or carers.

Young people today have borne the brunt of the economic downturn, experiencing increased unemployment, increasing rents and a dramatic increase in the cost of living.

Families are being put under a huge amount of pressure that affects relationships resulting in the fact that two-thirds of children become homeless because of family breakdown.

Action for Children provides services across the UK for young people who simply have nowhere else to turn. The charity supports over 300,000 children, parents and carers each year, helping vulnerable families, children with disabilities, young carers and care leavers.

They have a fostering and adoption service and the support that is offered to everyone has a massive impact on their future prospects.The support that Action for Children offers these young people is absolutely vital if they are to take the opportunities available to them today.

Donations can still be made at http://www.justgiving.com/JohnAthwal

This new campaign, initiated by Fleuroselect’s Home Garden Association, is designed to promote the use of Sunflowers to home gardeners with the objective of boosting volume sales of Sunflower seed and plant products for producers, suppliers and retailers.

To support the campaign, there will be high profile consumer media activity in all major European countries during the main selling period, commencing early in 2015.

A wide range of marketing materials is being produced to support the campaign. These materials are available free of charge to the campaign participants and include:

• a specially designed ‘Year of the Sunflower’ logo, available in English, German, Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish which can be used on seed packaging or plant labels, and any other marketing materials
• a library of stunning Sunflower images
• a specially commissioned instructional video showing consumers how to sow and use Sunflowers in their gardens, available in six languages
• website banners and also QR codes to link retail POS materials to the video
• template consumer press releases in six languages
• consumer advertising templates in six languages
• a range of high impact point of sale materials for effective displays in retail stores (available at additional cost from the campaign partner Floramedia BV)

Commenting on the pre-launch at the IPM in Essen, Germany, Sally van der Horst, the Fleuroselect Secretary General said: “The response we received to our new Year of the Sunflower campaign was extraordinary. Everyone we spoke to at the IPM, including breeders, seed and young plant producers, suppliers and retailers, said that they would certainly consider including the campaign as part of their own 2015 marketing activities. We now know that 2015 really will be - The Year of the Sunflower!”

For more information, please visit the Fleuroselect Home Garden website www.homegardenassociation.com or contact Fleuroselect directly: info@fleuroselect.com

Garden centres looking to run a full Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) or labelling system without the effort of building a plant database can now do so with the help of Easitill...

The company’s expert EPoS team has created a database containing more than 20,000 plant records and descriptions and 15,000 photographs to help garden centres create plant labels and EPoS systems.

Managing Director, Rob Gardner explained: “Our database includes ornamentals, trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, aquatics, vegetables, fruits, ferns, wildflowers, orchids, palms, cacti, mosses, hedging and houseplants. 

“We’ve created the resource so that garden centres can run a full EPoS System without the effort of building a plant product database. The Plant Database System can be used in conjunction with our new drag and drop label designer software within Easitill EPoS or as a free-standing labelling system.

“Any garden centres looking to set up a website quickly can use our plant descriptions and images to create their own plant catalogue or garden shop online.”

The plant labels can be provided as an integrated package or separately.

Easitill are the UK distributor for Floralabels who are the leading horticultural label media manufacturer for great quality and durability.

The family-run business, has assisted garden centres with their EPoS requirements since 1988.

It helps small to medium-sized garden centres and plant nurseries with EPoS, website, mobile and mail order solutions to improve the profitability and quality of their business operations.

Rob added: “Garden centres can use our plant information as it is or edit it. Our database is a great way to save time and money for anyone looking at setting up an online route to market.”

Easitill’s EPoS and labelling software is created in-house specifically for garden centres and plant nurseries.

For further details, please call Easitill on 01604 882030, email support@easitill.co.ukor visit www.easitill-horticultural.co.uk.

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

The owners of Ned Yates have decided to close the garden centre in Wilmslow, Cheshire, to focus efforts on their landscaping business.

Owner and Director, Trevor Jacques, and son, Jon Jacques, are restructuring the business to concentrate on managing the sustained growth of Jacques Landscapes which will continue to operate from the Moor Lane site.

Both Ned Yates Garden Centre and the Seedhouse Restaurant will cease trading in late Spring and, in preparation for the closure, the garden centre will be staging a stock clearance with special offers on all products.

The family run garden design, construction and maintenance company, which currently employs over thirty horticultural and landscaping experts, has seen a significant increase in demand from both domestic and commercial customers. As a result, Jacques Landscapes will expand its business offering and employ an additional six staff.

Trevor Jacques said "The landscaping side of our business is growing substantially and we are widely acknowledged as one of the leading providers in the North West. There is the need and desire to expand this offering whilst continuing to consistently deliver work of the highest standard, for which we are renowned. Therefore we have made the difficult decision to close Ned Yates Garden Centre."

He added "We want to thank all the loyal customers and friends who have visited us over the years. We will continue to offer horticultural advice and expertise as part of the Jacques Landscapes service."

Ned Yates was established in 1965 as 'Ned Yates Walk Around Nurseries and Garden Store' and has occupied the same site on Moor Lane since.

Over half of the GTN Bestsellers Veg 2 Gro chart are young veg plants this week, and that’s even before Suttons’ bestselling grafted veg plants are delivered into stores.


Quantil Tomato Moneymaker moves to pole position.


Fifteen tomato lines make it into the Top 50.


Tumbling Tom Yellow is the highest chart new entry.
Cucumber plants are the highest placed re-entry.


Runner bean seeds, Scarlet Emporer, are the highest climber in the chart.

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

Increased sales of top soil and John Innes-based multipurpose composts are strong indicators that gardeners are already hardening off their young plants and getting ready to plant out.


Arthur Bowers MP with John Innes, 35 litres, moves up to the top of the chart.


Scotts Tomorite Giant Planters moves up to No 3 on the back of high tomato plant sales.


Arthur Bowers Top Soil moves up from 20 to No 7, joining Westland Top Soil in the Top 10 Growing Media Bestsellers.

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

Hard on the heels of completing the aquisition of it's 140th garden centre, Terra Firma announced last night a new centralised retail operations structure for The Garden Centre Group with a senior leadership team of directors and managers with experience from other retailers including Marks & Spencer, Pret a Manger, EAT, Matalan, Asda Walmart, Budgens and Londis working alongside existing TGCG retail managers.

The announcement in full reads:

The Garden Centre Group announces centralised retail operations structure

1 April 2014 – The Garden Centre Group is pleased to announce its new centralised retail operations structure. Under the new structure, retail operations will be led by six Regional Operations Directors, each supported by Area Managers at the sub-regional level. Regional Operations Directors will report to Colin Hughes, Retail Operations Director for the Group.

The reorganisation streamlines the reporting structure within the Group, moving from twelve geographical groups to six peer groups of similar size and product range. In addition, to improve integration and operations across groups, the team includes a Head of Integration Operations and Central Operations Manager.

Colin Hughes, Retail Operations Director, said: “The new structure has been designed to improve communications across our current regions and centres, share learning and create synergies between similar centres and peer groups. This reorganisation will drive improved commercial performance, and ensure that appropriate levels of management resource are available in the right places and to support the right activities. I am pleased to have such a strong team of experienced retailers, horticulturalists and leaders to support our retail function across our estate.”

The senior leadership team within the Retail structure includes:

- Retail Operations Director – Colin Hughes

- Central Operations Manager – Jeremy Byfleet

- Head of Integration Operations – James Cockrell

- Regional Operations Director – Chris Brannigan

- Regional Operations Director – Symon Wooldridge

- Regional Operations Director – Stefan Swiatyj

- Regional Operations Director – Daniel Webb

- Regional Operations Director – David Longmore

- Regional Operations Director – Melanie Evans

About The Garden Centre Group

The Garden Centre Group, the nation’s largest group of garden centres, has 140 centres across the country, including Blooms Garden Centres, Country Gardens and Wyevale Garden Centres. Ninety per cent of The Garden Centre Group's plant stock is British-grown, and much of this stock is grown in their own nurseries. The Garden Centre Group employs more than 5,000 staff and runs its own gardening membership club, The Gardening Club, which has more than 2 million members. For more information about The Garden Centre Group, visit www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk

As part of Elho's focus on the UK garden centre market they have added Louise Cross to their UK team.

Louise has joined the company in the position of area sales representative in the south east.

This move follows another recent recruit Gary Fisher in the north of England as part of an invest plan to grow the UK.

Howard Scott, sales manager Elho, said: "Louise will give us the customer focus we need to help drive sales in both existing and new customers. It is an exciting time at present for Elho as we continue to innovate in pottery in the UK."

Visit www.elho.com for more information on the company.

Retailers can take advantage of margins of 50% with Town & Country’s latest Clip Strip Gloves Promotion featuring some of the brand’s best-selling glove products.

Each promotional deal comprises six Clip Strip displays featuring a total of 72 pairs of gloves - 12 pairs each of the Master Gardener, Aquasure, Classics, Taskmaster, Weedmaster and Essentials - in a mix of men’s and ladies sizes.

The cost of each deal is just £114.96, with the RRP on the gloves ranging from £2.99 to £5.99.

This offers retailers excellent margin and profit potential and provides them with a collection of gloves suitable for all the major gardening tasks and guaranteed to sell as the season gets into full swing.

Clip Strip merchandising displays are the ideal format for impulse purchases as they can be positioned at numerous, strategic locations around the store to provide consumers with quick and easy access to products they might otherwise have overlooked.

For further details, get in touch with your Town & Country sales representative or contact Town & Country on 01530 830990 or email sales@townandco.com

Eight students are celebrating after being selected to compete in the semi finals of the WorldSkills UK competition.

Organising partner, the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) are delighted to announce that students from College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise Greenmount Campus (CAFRE), Reaseheath College, Bishop Burton College and Sparsholt College will compete in the Landscape Gardening heats at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in July.

The lucky eight are Dean Thomson, Jonathan Buchanan, Ronan McLarnon and Robert Wylie from CAFRE,  Richard Carden from Reaseheath College, Samuel Birks from Bishop Burton College, as well as Andrew Hannam and Aaron Cunningham from Sparsholt College.

They will now go on to the heats at RHS Tatton where they will be required to build a 2mx6m garden designed by award-winning Alexandra Froggatt.

The 2014 event has seen a record number of entries into the Landscape Gardening competition.  Those that entered were put through a tough theory test and the top eight were selected after a tie breaker exercise. 

The winners go on to The Skills Show at the Birmingham NEC in November where finalists compete to be named the ‘Best in the UK’ in front of 70,000 people. 

Outstanding national finalists from this year’s WorldSkills UK National Competition Cycle, who meet the qualifying criteria, could be selected for a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent the UK in their chosen skill at the international WorldSkills Competition.

Judges for the Landscape Gardening competition include award winning APL Chairman, Mark Gregory who has over 120 show gardens to his name, garden designer and four times RHS gold medal winner Adam Frost, Jody Lidgard, who has run his own landscaping firm for over 18 years and 2011 WorldSkillsUK medal winner Simon Abbott.

The WorldSkills UK competition which is part of a set of over 70 UK wide skills competitions ranging from landscape gardening to engineering, electronics to the arts; all of which are designed by industry experts and targeted at apprentices, college and university students, trainees and employees.

Mark Gregory, judge and APL Chairman said: “Congratulations to the students who have made it through to the semi finals at RHS Tatton.  WorldSkillsUK is the biggest secret that people don’t know about. The competitions inspire young people and adults to be ambitious in their pursuit of skills to the highest level. The APL are delighted to be organising partner and this demonstrates our on-going pledge of encouraging landscaping excellence and raising the profile of vocational skills.”

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 the link below.

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for last week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products Bestsellers chart for last week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for last 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.