Key topics impacting the industry will be in the spotlight at next month’s Cultivating Retail Conference at Nottingham (Tuesday 19 November 2019, East Midlands Conference Centre).

Fifteen-minute hot seat sessions will cover a range of subjects providing the latest updates and opportunities to look at what businesses need to be doing now to ensure that we have a robust, viable and relevant industry fit for the future.

These expert-led insights, chaired by conference host and broadcaster Daisy McAndrew (pictured), include:

• BIOSECURITY: Alistair Yeomans, Horticultural Consultant, will talk about the Plant Health Management Standard and how adopting Plant Healthy principles helps businesses mitigate threats from pests and diseases.  
• GROWING MEDIA: Consumer peat reduction usage targets will be missed. Steve Harper, Responsible Sourcing lead, will focus on where we are now, what the industry’s answer is to this pressing issue, and what the obstacles are in preventing us quickly achieving this goal.
• PLASTICS: Stuart Foster, RECOUP, will give an overview of some of the latest RECOUP initiatives and opportunities, including the latest work in the horticulture sector.
• CHEMICALS: Adam Speed, Crop Protection Association (CPA), will be giving an update on the garden care chemicals sector and the future of the industry.
• LABOUR AND SKILLS: James Mallick, Pro-Force, has extensive experience of sourcing and managing workforces for major horticulture business and will discuss the challenges around the sustainability of seasonal labour. 
• TECHNOLOGY: Chris Corby, Corby + Fellas, will demonstrate how technology can make your business more sustainable whilst ensuring it remains viable.
• ENERGY: Ben Wilby, HTA Utilities, will talk through getting sustainable energy coming into your business and give tips to make your usage more efficient.
• WATER: Kevin Barefoot, HTA Utilities, talks through steps that you can take to improve your water efficiency to make your business more sustainable.

Cultivating Retail highlights the opportunities as well as the threats and also provides answers and examples you can apply. Senior leaders and managers aiming to increase the financial and environmental performance of their businesses should attend or recommend the conference to empowered deputies or colleagues. No business in horticulture can afford to be caught behind the curve.

Click here  for further programme information and to book places.