GIMA director Vicky Nuttall has revealed more details of the ‘Cultivating Retail’ event to be staged jointly with the HTA at Nottingham in November.
Aimed at retailers, suppliers and growers, this one-day conference and evening dinner will address business resilience, business promotion, supply chain, and will feature a special head-to-head debate. Designed to provide strong takeaway such as strategic advice and practical business solutions, the event aims to become a mainstay of the garden retail calendar.
More details can be found here
At the association’s recent AGM and Day Conference, Glynn Jones, deputy agent for The Bank of England Midlands Agency predicted that demand growth in the short term but there was is a strong case for global growth. He said UK exports were benefitting from robust global demand but import penetration continues to rise. Output growth was up slightly up, whilst manufacturing continued to support output growth in Q4 last year. The weather was undoubtedly impacting the economy, but the picture remained largely positive, although steps needed to be taken to ensure the gaps in commodity price rises, productivity growth and supply capacity were kept low.
Matthew Crate of Moneycorp, GIMA’s FX partner agency, said 75% of UK companies were still using their bank to make international payments. Moneycorp’s fee-free for GIMA members offered a much more competitive the rate of exchange, helping to cut through the confusion in a largely speculative market. He explained the different ways businesses could safeguard against volatile exchange rates, using the spot contract, ‘forward’ market orders and optional systems that enable businesses who deal with large quantities of foreign currency to make the right choices
Rebecca Hardy of Kidwell Solicitors outlined the ways in which businesses need to be GDPR-compliant by 25 May, when new regulations come into force. From addressing privacy statements, to online and data security and how database management needs to change, this special session provided food for thought for delegates.
Tony Blake, owner of St Peter’s Garden Centre, gave delegates an insight into his journey from inner city London to the Worcester countryside, where he set up a flourishing garden centre business and founded the influential Choice Marketing buying group.
He challenged suppliers to consider the ‘shop within a shop’ concept, where suppliers manage franchised product-specific sectors in store. He also believed fewer garden centres would be up for sale in the future thanks to successful succession planning by their owners.
Glee’s marketing manager Luke Murphy said the move to new halls within the NEC was set to provide a refreshed and revitalised 2018 event. An updated Pets at Glee section would help visitors to maximise this thriving part of garden retailing. Luke urged Glee exhibitors to maximise their online profile on gleebirmingham.com, which saw over 139,000 views of the Exhibitor Zone over past 12 month.
