Cambridge garden centre operator Scotsdale will aim to double the turnover at their proposed Horningsea acquisition, GTN Xtra has learned.

Notcutts Garden Centres confirmed this week that they were negotiating with Scotsdales over the sale of the Cambridgeshire site. Completion is planned for 1 October 2013.

Scotsdales MD Caroline Owen (pictured) said she had approached Notcutts with an offer to buy “to strengthen our position in the Cambridge area”. The deal will give Scotsdales it’s third centre, with coverage both north and south of the city. They also own Fordham Garden Centre, near Ely, to the east.

Their nearest major competitor is Polhill’s Coton site to the west of the M11 near junction 13.

Mrs Owen says she will be targeting turnover of around £3m at the Notcutts site – almost double its current £1.6m.

Notcutts bought the site, previously Ansells Garden Centre, in 2003.

Like Notcutts, Scotsdales is a family owned business and has been operating in the Cambridge area for more than 40 years. Their HQ centre at Great Shelford is one of the UK’s largest single site independents, with an annual turnover in excess of £14m.

The proposed sale is considered represent a good opportunity for all parties. No redundancies are planned.

Meanwhiole, Notcutts say acquisition is still a key objective for their business. They say there are “several conversations ongoing with regards to the growth of the company and its sites”.

Andrew Staff, finance difrector and interim CEO at Notcutts, said: “When Scotsdales expressed an interest in the centre they made it clear that they were committed to the investment needed to develop the site. We feel this would be positive for the centre and being family owned means that Scotsdales would be a good fit for our colleagues working there”.

Here's the Top 30 most read stories from the Glee Daily News Preview issue, published on Wednesday 11th September. 

Terra Firma, owners of The Garden Centre Group, have declined to comment on speculation that they are about to acquire the Garden & Leisure Group.

When GTN Xtra contacted them yesterday, they issued the following statement:

“As a matter of policy, we never comment on speculation or rumour. Part of our strategy is to grow the business through acquisition, however, we are unable to make any comment  on future acquisitions."

However, sources believe an announcement can be expected soon.

As the children go back to school the total volume sales dips down, quite dramatically by 12%. But as the total volume index from the GTN Bestsellers Epos data is still up 25% on the same week last year, it emphasises the popularity of garden centres as places to shop and eat.

The change of season is really apparent in the Garden Products chart, and the poor weather may account for a slight downturn in sales year on year.

Growing Media volumes are however up on last year – once again indicating plenty of growing activity in mind if not being carried out.

This weekend the GTN Bestsellers team will be at Glee, producing the Glee Daily News. From all of the press notices we’ve received prior to the show it appears there will be plenty of new products to see. We’ll be keeping our eye out for good bets for next year’s charts. Do come and see us at Glee. The Glee Daily News office is in the Press Centre in Hall 5.

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

• Garden Products – down 11%
• Veg-2-Gro – down 36%
• Growing Media – up 7%
• All items index – up 25%

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here 

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Summer has been blown away as Autumn gets a grip on the weather...and our gardens.

With a chill in the air and the nights drawing in, gardeners’ attentions have been turning to the long months ahead.

One positive sign is that they’re still keen on lighting up their gardens, and that has been reflected in sales.

Gardman have two lighting products in the top three of the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart – Solar Spot Lights and Solar Mosaic Border Lights. The company also have the highest new entry in their Solar Galaxy Wind Spinner Light.

But when it comes to jobs around the garden they are very much Autumn tasks being carried out.

Westland Autumn Lawn Feeder and Moss Killer is a new entry, along with the Gardman Leaf and Grass Collector.

And Gardman have the highest re-entry with their Frostgard product.

Another notable newcomer to the chart is the Creative Products Buzz Off Bottle Top as wasps continue to be a nuisance, something we highlighted in our Tip of the Week (Aug 30), and Fiskars Hand Fork Red.

See the full GTN Garden Products Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

The 2014 Garden Centre Association will be in Blackpool, the association has announced.

It will run from 26-29 January at the Hilton Blackpool Hotel on the North Promenade Sea Front.

Iain Wylie, the GCA’s interim chief executive, said: “We have had lots of fun releasing clues as part of our guess the venue competition - and we’re pleased to announce 15 people guessed correctly and will receive a bottle of champagne in their room at the conference.”

He said the Hilton Blackpool was an ideal venue with excellent conference facilities, function room and facility for the Associates’ Exhibition.

Competition winners, each of whom will find a bottle of Champagne in their room, are: Jill Nicholson  (Gordale GC), Richard Pennell (Pennells Garden Centres), Boyd Douglas-Davies (Hillview Garden Centres), Peter Bensted (Polhill GC), William Blake (St Peters GC), Dennis Espley (Squires GC), Philip Mabon (Floramedia), Ian Ducker (Langlands Garden Centres), Conna Powles (Haskins Garden Centres), Paul Cooling (Coolings Garden Centres), Philippa McKean (Van Hage), Trevor Pfeiffer (Garden Trade News), Adam Taylor (Taylors Bulbs), Deanna Vine (CSY ) and Maryanne Stokes (Maryanne Stokes).

More than 300 delegates are expected to attend.

Information www.gca.org.uk  or call 0118 930 8918

Staff at the Haskins Garden Centre at Longham gave two of their colleagues an appropriate send off as they took time off to get married.

Linda Barlow and Ivan Gill from Bearwood first met when Ivan started work at the centre as goods in driver three years ago.  Linda, who has been a plants assistant at the centre for more than 13 years, found that their interest in gardening and horticulture became the start of a strong relationship. When Ivan proposed to her on one knee on Poole Quay, she immediately said yes.

The wedding was held in Kidderminster Register Office, close to Ivan’s family on Friday 6 Sept, when they were joined by some of their colleagues for an informal reception. Before they left for Kidderminster, Haskins’ chef de partie Tanya Judd presented a wedding cake as a wedding gift from the company, and general manager Simon Morris and team members created a ceremonial arch with garden forks and spades in honour of the couple.

“We wish Linda and Ivan a very happy life together and we are delighted that they will both continue to be a valued part of our team,” said Simon Morris.

Caption: (from left) Tanya Judd presents the wedding cake to Linda and Ivan with the guard of honour.

Every year there are products launched at Glee that become bestsellers, but how do you know just how big a bestseller they become and how much in-store promotion you should give them?

GTN Bestsellers is the answer. Every week Top 50 Bestsellers charts are published, compiled from garden centre Epos data, giving the best and most up to date garden centre trading information on the market.

If you’d have been a subscriber this year you’ll have known that Roundup Weedkiller Gel, launched at Glee 2011, was the No.1 best selling weed killer product for 25 weeks this year and topped the garden products chart for one week in May. And that Vitax Slug Gone, launched at Glee 2012, was the GTN Bestsellers New Product of the Year, featuring in the Top 50 for 12 weeks, reaching a highest position of No12.

Plus, you’ll have benefitted from the GTN Bestsellers Tip of the week – a gem of a sales idea every week derived from 5 years of GTN Bestsellers charts.

So what are you waiting for? You need to buy a subscription to GTN Bestsellers right now. For just £145.00, you get a printed GTN Bestsellers chart posted to you each week, full access to the GTN Bestsellers charts and the GTN Archive on-line and your own copy of Garden Trade News in the post each issue.

And there’s more!! 

If you take out a GTN Bestsellers subscription before Glee, we’ll send you, as a bonus, the GTN Bestsellers Charts for the critical sales periods through June July and August this year when, according to our gathered Epos data, sales of garden products were up year on year by 10.3%.

And there’s even more!!!

Buying a subscription now means you’ll get every issue with the GTN Bestsellers Christmas charts too. It’s an invaluable chart to follow as your Christmas sales build, allowing you to spot new trends, make changes to your promotions and POS.  And, be one more step ahead of the competition when it comes to your Christmas buying for 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?  To get your subscription to GTN Bestsellers up and running, simply subscribe online here

or contact us by phone on 01733 775700 or by e-mail: karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

GTN Bestsellers – Garden Centre Bestsellers, Guaranteed!

GIMA’s ‘Buyer Connect’ scheme – speed dating for buyers and sellers – has gone down a storm with memvers, the associoation;’s difrector, Neil Gow, reports.

“Within in minutes of the details being released to exhibitors to the show, bookings were already flooding in” Gow said. “We are approaching 500 requests from exhibitors for the 10-minute one-to-one, slots with the panel of buyers we have. With only 95 slots available, most exhibitors are getting an appointment with their first choice appointment but some will not. Some exhibitors are requesting eight or more appointments but we are sharing them out so everybody gets one and a few of the early bookers will get a couple of slots. We have closed the opportunity already because of its overwhelming  success.”

Gow puts the popularity of this new idea down to the sheer numbers of new products and new exhibitors at Glee this year, which must be music to the ears of every show visitor. “Sometimes buyers struggle to find new, and particularly the smaller, suppliers in big exhibitions like Glee,” Gow added. Between the New Product Awards and Buyer Connect, visitors are in for a real treat this year.”

He said the volume of new products was proof of the tenacity of manufacturers who continue to invest heavily in NPD, marketing and attending events such as Glee to demonstrate their innovation to buyers.  “Over and above those who are generously giving up their time to take part in Buyer Connect, I hope all buyers will show their commitment to their industry by supporting Glee and its exhibitors.”

 Grazers, suppliers of a trace element spray that protects plants against damage from pests such as rabbits and pigeons, have launched a slug and snail formulation for the retail market.

A bio-stimulant RTU spray designed to strengthen plant growth, it’s the first ‘doesn’t kill, doesn’t attract pests’ product and, say the suppliers, has no detrimental effect on the environment.

Grazers G2 Slug and Snail won an award for Best New Retail Product at the Four Oaks trade show earlier this month.

The parent product proved its worth on plants commonly grazed by the rabbits, deer, geese and pigeon. The new product boosts plants to minimise or eliminate damage from slugs and snails, using an entirely natural trace element formulation. It leaves molluscs available in the food chain for garden favourites like song thrushes and hedgehogs.

It can be applied to young plants where foliage is particularly vulnerable to pests and is suitable for grass, shrubs, perennials, roses, conifers, soft fruit bushes, vegetable and salad plants and bedding. It has no effect on the surrounding soil and is safe for humans, pets and garden wildlife.

A 750 ml spray bottle (SRP £6.99) will treat up to 30 metres square. Grazers say independent laboratory tests and garden trials on young cabbage and hosta plants showed 70% less damage than untreated plants one week after treatment.

Information www.grazers.co.uk

Simpsons Garden Centre in Inverness and Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre in Dumfries (pictured above) celebrated success in the Garden Centre Association's Best in Area Scottish Awards.

The results for Scotland were announced during a ceremony on Monday at Gouldings Garden Centre in Clyde Valley.

GCA Chairman, Peter Burks said: “We would like to congratulate all of our members who picked up awards on the night. It was the biggest turnout we’ve ever had for a GCA awards ceremony in Scotland.

“The winner of the Best Garden Centre for the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category was Simpsons Garden Centre in Inverness and the winner in the Garden Centre (GC) category was Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre in Dumfries.”

Other awards presented included Best Plant Area for The Mains of Drum Garden Centre (GC) in Aberdeenshire and Simpsons Garden Centre (DGC), Best Customer Service for Caulders Garden Centre in Kirkintilloch, Creativity and Innovation for Simpsons Garden Centre, Best Indoor Lifestyle for The Mains of Drum Garden Centre (GC) and Raemoir Garden Centre (DGC) in Aberdeenshire and Best Outdoor Living for Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre (GC) and Raemoir Garden Centre (DGC).

The winners for Northern Ireland were also announced during the evening. All categories were won by Creative Gardens Donaghadee. Creative Gardens Bushmills scooped the Inspectors Choice award.

The awards are decided by the results of the annual inspections, which take place at all GCA garden centres. Garden centres have no advance warning about when their inspection will take place and they do not have the option to turn away the inspector.

The Best Garden Centre and Best Destination Garden Centre awards went to the members that scored the highest overall mark in the area in their annual inspections.

The three top scoring centres overall, nationally, in both the Destination Garden Centre and Garden Centre categories will be re-inspected before the titles of Garden Centre of the Year and Destination Garden Centre of the Year are announced at the GCA annual conference taking place from January 26 until 29, 2014.

Andy Campbell, GCA Standards Inspector, who was responsible for inspecting GCA garden centres in Scotland, said: “I would like to say a huge congratulations to all of the winners this year. The standards were extremely high so it is a great achievement for everyone.”

For further information, call 0118 930 8918 or visit www.gca.org.uk. Alternatively, please log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociationorfollow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.

The full list of winners are:

Scotland

Best Garden Centre: Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre (GC) and Simpsons Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Customer Service: Caulders Garden Centre in Kirkintilloch

Best Garden Products Retailer: Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre (GC) and Simpsons Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Environment and Community: Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre

Best Creativity and Innovation: Simpsons Garden Centre

Most Improved: Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre

Best Plant Area: The Mains of Drum Garden Centre (GC) and Simpsons Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Restaurant: The Mains of Drum Garden Centre (GC) and Simpsons Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle: The Mains of Drum Garden Centre (GC) and Raemoir Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Outdoor Living: Garden Wise Plant & Garden Centre (GC) and Raemoir Garden Centre (DGC)

Inspectors Choice: Klondyke Mayfield Garden Centre in Kelso.

Northern Ireland

All categories awarded to Creative Gardens Donaghadee

Inspectors Choice: Creative Gardens Bushmills.

Picture above: Pat Adams, Administrator at the Garden Centre Association, presents the team from Gouldings Garden Centre with their awards.

People working in the horticulture industry are being challenged to test their gardening knowledge by running their own HortAid quiz to raise money for Perennial, UK horticulture’s trade charity.

It’s part of the first ever HortAid fundraising week, which runs from 21-29 September 2013. Famous celebrity gardeners, including Joe Swift, Christine Walkden and Toby Buckland, have supplied the questions and answers for the quiz.

HortAid was conceived as a fun opportunity to give people working in horticulture a focus to becom more involved with the only charity dedicated to helping people in the trade.

Toby Buckland said: “It’s good to know that gardeners facing trouble always have somewhere to turn. Please help us to make sure we can always be there for everyone who works in horticulture.’’

Joe Swift added: “Perennial does a fantastic job looking after people and families of those who have dedicated their lives to horticulture, gardens, plants and the environment – something we all benefit from.”

For details on how to run a HortAid quiz, as well as other activities, Perennial has created an online fundraising kit. In addition to the quiz, it contains posters, tips and print-off ideas such as a gnome sweepstake or a make your own HortAid 2013 money box for collecting spare change. Or you could organise a Raspberries and Roses garden party – the kit contains some recipes.

Download at www.hortaid.org.uk

Have you thought about…creating synergy between front & back of house?

It’s natural to devote a large chunk of your restaurant budget to front of house, because this is what entices your customers into the space. However, all too often, this comes at the expense of investment in the kitchen. The key is to ensure that both areas work in synergy together to provide a great customer experience.

Think about workflow: consider the journey between back and front of house. Where possible plan the kitchen with separate entrance and exit routes to allow for the free flow of staff, food and ‘dirties’.

Align your kitchen design to your restaurant or café menu: to achieve maximum operational efficiency, think carefully about selecting the right equipment to suit your food offer. If badly executed, it can adversely affect the quality of service and the overall customer experience,

Bring your kitchen front of house: if space allows, include an open pass, which allows your customers to see their food being prepared and gives you a wonderful opportunity to showcase the quality and freshness of your produce.

Contact the Catering Design Group at: info@cateringdesign.co.uk

http://www.cateringdesign.co.uk/  or visit us at Glee Stand: 5K20-L25

Each day of the show, Glee Daily News will be walking around in search of visitors wearing an “I’ve thought about it!” pink badge. We’ll be picking one lucky visitor at random every day to win a bottle of champagne courtesy of Catering Design Group. For your chance to win, simply pick up your badge from the Catering Design Group stand within the Catering Zone at Stand No. 5K20-L25.

The badges form part of an innovative idea from the team at CDG who have been providing garden centres with a range of solutions, hints and tips in the run up to the show around the theme: “Have you thought about…” They have covered solutions to problems with queuing, acoustics, sustainability and creating synergy between front and back of house.  

Family owned Hillmount Garden Centre, located in the Castlereagh Hills, is the only garden centre in Northern Ireland to have been awarded four-star quality status by Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

Alan Mercer, managing director of Hillmount Garden Centre, said:  “Achieving four-star quality status by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is testament to the commitment, drive and hard work that we all put in to the business.  Our business has been in our family since 1940 and we are constantly striving to make Hillmount a desirable place to visit.

“We have adopted goats and reindeer, developed the first BBQ Academy to be located in a garden centre anywhere in Ireland and invested in increasing the capacity of our restaurant, ‘The Gardeners Rest’, to accommodate 100 diners.  We have increased our plant offering to more than 25,000 and we host a monthly ‘Kids Gardening Club’ which has been growing in attendance every month since it started at Easter.  This autumn we will host the first drive-in movie at Hillmount and we are hoping to beat last year’s £23,000 fundraising effort for charity with our ever-popular Santa’s Grotto this Christmas.

“Recognition by NITB assures our visitors that we are operating Hillmount at an excellent level.”

NITB’s Quality Grading Scheme has four primary objectives: providing visitors with the means to identify Visitor Attractions which provide the desired quality of facilities and services; helping attraction operators market themselves more effectively by providing an official independent endorsement of their Visitor Attraction; encouraging and acknowledging improvements in standards throughout the industry; and improving the performance of the Visitor Attraction.

Caroline Adams, NITB Quality and Standards Manager said: “This is the first garden centre to achieve four-star status through NITB’s Quality Grading Scheme, which is designed to give visitors a clear idea of the high standards of hospitality, service and facilities they can expect during their visit.

“I commend the Mercer family for their vision and innovation which will undoubtedly raise the bar in providing a new quality visitor experience in the Garden Centre offering and I would encourage other centres to follow Hillmount’s example and become quality assured.”

Hillmount is located in the Castlereagh Hills and was established by the Mercer family in 1940.  The garden centre boasts more than 25,000 plants, a BBQ Academy and the 220 seater Gardeners Rest Restaurant.  For more information, log onto www.hillmount.co.uk or www.facebook.com/hillmountgardencentre.

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 and on the GTN website www.gardentradenews.co.uk.

Every week we give sales volume comparisons with 2011 as well as 2012 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, or subscribe on-line here

or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

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

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this 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.

Unwins Sprouting Seeds Wheatgrass are a newcomer in the Veg-2-Gro chart along with the company’s Gro-Sure Spinach Tirza F1.

A third new entry comes in the form of Allensmore Thyme.

There are 13 re-entries this week, headed by Hawkesmill Strawberry Pegasus (9cm). Hawkesmill also have Strawberry Cambridge Favourite returning to the Top 50.

Quantil have a number of products moving up the chart. Curly Kale has jumped 31 places and is now placed in the Top 10, while Onion Yellow Globe re-enters after seeing a 50% increase in sales.

Seed companies Suttons and Thompson & Morgan are well represented. Suttons Cabbage Wheelers Imperial and T&M Lettuce Artic King have both seen sales increase by 100%. At the top of the chart Taylors Garlic Marco retains No 1 spot.

See the full GTN Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

There has been a slow down in growing media sales compared to last week, but volumes are still higher than the corresponding period in 2012 (up 6.9%) and 2011 (up 25%).

Notable performances this week are:

• Scotts Miracle-Gro Eco Sense Bulb Compost (20 litres) re-enters the chart after 100% increase.
• Westland Bed and Border Chipped Bark (70 litres) is the highest re-entry.
• Gem Cambark Chunky Chip Bark (70 litres) is another returning product.
• Arthur Bowers Clavering Horse Manure (50 litres) is the highest new entry.

See the full GTN Growing Media Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £145.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business. Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Horticulturalists,  garden centre owners and growers from all over Scotland joined a large gathering of mourners at the funeral in Greenock of Cardwell Garden Centre owner Eric Gallagher who died in August after a short illness.

Mr Gallagher, who started his business in a small nursery in Gourock 50 years ago, dedicated his life to the remarkable growth of the business to its present  position as one of the leading, award-winning garden centres in Scotland.

Situated in the outskirts of Gourock at Lunderston Bay, the garden centre attracts visitors from all over Scotland and has become a major tourist attraction in Inverclyde.  ts popular Patio Restaurant can accommodate  up to 300 diners. The garden centre is designed like a miniature park with more than 100,000 square feet of covered display areas and walkways.  The  centre`s 10-acre nursery produces many of the shrubs, hardy plants and bedding plants all grown to the highest standards demanded by Mr Gallagher.

His pursuit of quality produce has been recognised with many awards including The Royal Caledonian  Highland Society Certificate of Merit and a series of awards from the Chamber of Commerce.  He was also a past chairman of the Garden Centre Association.  In his commitment to the promotion of gardening, Mr Gallagher  became the principal sponsor of Inverclyde Council’s annual Gardenfest competition, with special sections for schools and youth groups.  The Floralfest competition also attracts entries for containers and hanging baskets. He was always a popular member of the judging panel in these competitions, ready to give friendly advice whenever called upon.

A huge number of charities have been supported over the years  by Mr Gallagher and his garden centre. Among the beneficiaries are The Scottish National Vegetable Society, Strathclyde Leek and Onion Show, local Horticultural Societies, Ardgowan Hospice, Marie Currie, RNLI, Red Cross, Barnados, SSPCC, SSPCA and most of the local schools in Inverclyde. In recognition of this work Rotary International awarded Mr Gallagher their Paul Harris Award.

Cardwell Garden Centre has always been a family business and will continue to be run by his sons Drew and Kieran and daughter Stephanie.  Mr Gallagher`s wife, Isobel, who used to run the centre’s Patio Restaurant, retired a number of years ago.

An image taken by Mr Gallagher is featured on the 'December' page of the Cardwell Garden Centre 2014 Calendar, sales of which will raise funds for the  Ardgowan Hospice in Greenock, Inverlcyde. Mr Gallagher was a keen photographer and rarely left the house without a camera. Pictures for the remaining 11 months were chosen from dozens of submissions by members of Cardwell's Reward Club. 

The David Colegrave Foundation (DCF) opens its annual scholarship season this month with ten scholarships up for grabs.

Horticultural students have two months to apply for a chance to boost their career by way of funding and work experience provided by the foundation and the opportunity for company sponsorship.

Flower seed breeders Floranova will award £1,500 to a student who is interested in a research career.

Jeff Colegrave, chairman of both the DCF and Floranova said: “It is important for the future of British horticulture that we as an industry support both fundamental and applied research that will give our companies a competitive edge in an increasingly globalised market. At Floranova we invest significant amounts of money into plant breeding and associated support activities and are always keen to identify bright people who have a keen interest in pursuing careers in horticultural research.”

New to the collection of scholarships for this year is the British Protected Ornamentals Association Peter Seabrook Bursary of £5,000, over five years, to a student(s) studying commercial horticulture.

The complete list of scholarships on offer is:

Student Scholarships – £1000 scholarship for up to five students taking horticulture courses across the UK.

The Garden Centre Group Scholarships – £1,500 and paid work experience in a GCG garden centre for two students who are interested in a career in garden centre retailing.

The Floranova Ornamental Horticulture Research Scholarship – £1,500 and work experience for a student who is keen to pursue a research career in the horticultural industry.

The Ball Colegrave Scholarship – £2,500 to enable a student or an employee in the early stages of their career at a commercial Bedding Plant Nursery to fund travel to Europe in order to develop their experience in bedding plant production and marketing.

British Protected Ornamentals Association Peter Seabrook Bursary – £1,000 a year for five years to a student(s) studying commercial horticulture.

Students should get their applications in by these deadlines: 8 November 2013 for Student Scholarships and 31 January 2014 for Sponsored Scholarships.

Information: www.davidcolegravefoundation.org.uk and click on scholarships.

The Garden Centre Association will have a stand at Glee next week  where existing members and those interested in finding out more can drop by.

GCA chairman Peter Burks said: “Glee is the largest horticultural industry exhibition and therefore so of our members will be attending. Not only is it a great opportunity for garden centre staff to find out the latest horticultural news and see the newest products on offer, it’s also a chance to catch up with other GCA members.

“We are also looking forward to chatting to anyone who would like to find out more about the association and will have an information pack available for garden centres and suppliers interested in membership.

The GCA stand (5G47) is located in Hall 5, near the GIMA village, where seating and drinks facilities are available.

Information www.gca.org.uk or call 0118 930 8918

A team of oarsmen from Webbs garden centres at Wychbold and West Hagley rowed theit way to victory in a dragon boat race for charity.

The Pershore Phoenix Dragon Boat race and fun day was held to raise funds for Acorns Children’s Hospice, one of the garden centre’s chosen charities this year.

The Webbs win beat their previous event best – they came third last year.