Hannah Mason started her garden centre career as a member of the Sunday Team at Chessington Garden Centre. Now she is one of five finalists in the Garden Centre Association Rising Stars Programme, sponsored by Westland Horticulture.
Hannah joined Chessington 3 years ago on the tills as part of the Sunday Team and then became full time in the shop. A year ago she became shop supervisor for all gardening items - chemicals, compost, pots, tools, etc – and is responsible for a team of 3 during the week and up to 10 at the weekend.
Nominated for Rising Stars by her MD, Jolyon Martin, Hannah told GTN Xtra; “it was a big surprise when I was selected. I don’t work with him day to day so it was a shock, but a nice shock.”
Jolyon says that different thinking as a key benefit of the Rising Stars programme as a result of Hannah’s involvement. “Us oldies can get quite boring. We get staid in our ways and the youngsters coming through have a different way of thinking. As long as we embrace their ideas they will be empowered and move forward with the business. If we ignore them they will just leave.”
Hannah has grown in confidence during the course of the Rising Stars programme. “The scheme has really helped me. I’ve learned a lot from it and it’s made me think outside the box and learn to think more about what the customer sees. A year ago I wouldn’t have been able to ask my boss to do these things, let alone now think of these ideas and have him say yes to them.”
“I’m looking forward to presenting my action plan and results at the GCA Conference. Customers have found it easier to shop the categories I’ve worked on and after some scepticism from other departments my colleagues all agreed “it looks good.”
If anyone is undecided about entering Rising Stars next year, Hannah says: “Do it. It’s been so much fun to have ideas, be able to do them and to realise that if I like the look of something and it’s good, then customers will like it too.”
Jolyon has no doubt about the value of the scheme: “Put them forward and they will benefit. You will see the team grow.”
Hannah, along with the other four finalists for 2014, will be presenting at the GCA Conference in January. Delegates will then be able to vote for the winner of Rising Stars 2014.
The five finalists of the Garden Centre Association Rising Stars Programme, sponsored by Westland Horticulture, are: Kirsty Clark (Perrywood GC), Matthew Fay (Stewarts Garden-Lands, Christchurch), Lisa Waim (Haskins Snowhill), Hannah Mason (Chessington) and Cerys Williams (Perrywood) have all made it through to the final challenge, where they will present at the GCA Conference in Chester on 26 January. The overall winner will be chosen by conference delegates.
The results are the culmination of an eight month programme in which candidates attended three merchandising Masterclasses run by IBBIS director and training facilitator Ian Boardman. Thanks to Ian’s efforts, many of the Rising Stars went on to increase sales in their departments by keeping hotspots fresh, creating clear signage and organising themed displays throughout the year.
Ian Boardman said: “All the Rising Stars who took part in the programme were top notch and I’d like to thank every single one of them for their efforts and praise them for the progress they have made. The results of their achievements in their workplace prove they are all stars in their own right!”
Keith Nicholson, Marketing Director for Westland Horticulture said: “On behalf of Westland I’d like to congratulate the Rising Stars finalists for getting this far. We now face a very exciting GCA conference final where delegates will get the chance to vote for the winner – Rising Star of the Year 2014.”
GCA chief executive Iain Wylie said: “The five finalists have some really exciting presentations prepared for delegates. It is always the highlight of the GCA conference and this year will definitely not disappoint.”
Twenty-eight of the most aspiring young representatives of the horticultural industry kicked off the Rising Stars Programme earlier this year.
The original list of 28 was whittled down to 10 in September before the final five were chosen.
GTN Xtra will be featuring a spotlight on all five over the coming weeks.
Planting even more magic for 2015
FOR guaranteed planting success, look no further than Gro-Sure® Planting Magic!
Planting Magic was the first of its kind to market and helped reinvigorate the plant food category. New for 2015 is a 700g bag, enough for 20 handfuls to tempt new consumers.
Gro-Sure is also delighted to announce that an increased investment of £1 million will be spent on TV advertising for 2015. The TV advert, featuring the much-loved Charlie Dimmock shows consumers just how easy it is to use Planting Magic to deliver spectacular results!
Containing the perfect mix of fast acting and slow release feeds, seaweed for soil conditioning, plus special moisture controlling granules to give new plants the best possible start for spectacular results. It goes on looking after plants for the whole season, so roses, trees, shrubs, bedding, herbaceous plants and even fruits and vegetables will flourish.
Appealing to all consumers and driving link sales through a range of innovative outdoor and indoor point of sale, it’s already one of the leading plant feeds in the UK*
*GfK Panelmarket GB, Plant Fertilisers, Jan–Jun 2014 Hitlist, Sales Value
