Garden Centre Association members that believe they have the next up-and-coming stars of horticultural visual merchandising in their midst are being invited to sign them up to the Glee Talent Store.

Glee Talent Store in collaboration with the GCA is looking for garden centre staff to take on a short course in visual merchandising, branding and retail, which includes training from industry experts.

Peter Burks, Chief Executive at the GCA, said: “The application process for our new Glee Talent Store programme is now open and if garden centre managers or owners have a member of staff who has a keen interest in visual merchandising, they can put them forward for the process.

“The programme kicks off with a hands-on training day, where participants will be given the chance to engage with experts from across the industry, including Debbie Flowerday, a Visual Merchandise Consultant who has worked with the likes of Selfridges, Gucci, and John Lewis and Michael Perry aka Mr Plant Geek, plant expert and leading horticultural influencer.”

Participants will then have the chance to put what they’ve learnt into practice and design their own pop-up store, to be brought to life at Glee 2023.

Peter added: “It’s the ultimate industry showcase for emerging retailers and is a great opportunity for garden centre staff to learn from the best.”

Glee will take place at the NEC Birmingham from June 27 until 29, 2023.

To apply/nominate, please visit https://bit.ly/3XNko8X. The deadline for entries is February 22, 2023.

Matthew Mein, Event Director at Glee, said: “Visual merchandising is key to effective retailing. It has the power to entice and inspire consumers at the point of sale, with different components appealing to and engaging a diverse mix of shoppers. Recognising this individuality, we wanted to create something that celebrated these differences and encouraged visual merchandisers from across the garden retail sector to get involved. The Glee Talent Store is a great way for these talented and vital team members to celebrate their skills, and we’re incredibly excited about what they’ll be showing us in June.

“We’re also especially hoping that the Glee Talent Store will provide an outlet for younger visual merchandisers to shine. As an industry, we know that there is a deficit of younger workers and hope that this new feature can help to create a career path for the next generation.”

The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide.

Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

For further information, please visit www.gca.org.uk.