Hillview Garden Centres has formally completed the aquisition this week of The Garden Store business containing six sites. It will now have 9 garden centres in its portfolio...

Boyd J Douglas-Davies, Hillview Garden Centres CEO, said: “The Garden Store business has a reputation for great plants, superb value and wonderful customer service.

"The six Garden Store sites are an excellent addition to the Hillview Garden Centre business and I am looking forward to working with the management and staff to develop the sites further.

"I am delighted that the entire team are staying with Hillview Garden Centres as their skills and experience will benefit the whole group.” 

The management and administration teams will be relocating to the Hillview Retail Support Centre at Studley Castle, Warwickshire. All 90 staff are being retained. 

"This transaction is an important step in the growth of Hillview Garden Centres," said Nadav Livni, Managing Director of The Hillview Group.

"Having started our activities in 2011 with a single garden centre, we have successfully grown the portfolio to nine garden centres across the Midlands, under the leadership of Boyd Douglas-Davies.

"The Garden Store acquisition will further enhance our strategy of establishing a portfolio of “local champion” garden centres, which offer customers a family-friendly, retail destination experience, with an appealing product mix and knowledgeable staff. I am pleased to welcome Marcus and Neil to our management team."

Hillview Garden Centres was established in 2011 and owns Studley Garden Centre in Warwickshire, Hilltop Garden Centre in Oxfordshire, and Little Heath Garden Centre in Worcestershire. 

The Garden Store sites are... 

• Billing, Northampton 
• Charlecote, nr Stratford on Avon 
• Newton Regis, Tamworth, Staffs 
• Pavilion, Wolverhampton 
• Studley Green, High Wycombe 
• Burford House, Tenbury Wells 

As Glee opens its doors this weekend we’re waiting with baited breath to see all of the hundreds of new products that are ready to be unveiled.

GTN Bestsellers analyst Trevor Pfeiffer is among the judges for the Glee New Product Awards so we will be able to bring you the news of the winners hot off the press on Monday – make sure you look out for The Glee Daily News in your inbox.

We’re expecting to see many new garden tools at Glee. We know there is plenty of new watering equipment, and garden lighting is set to take on a new life. The key though is to find potential bestsellers for future years – that’s what we will be concentrating on.

If you find something at Glee you feel is a surefire bestseller for 2015 then make sure you let us know about it. Email trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

• Garden Products – up 13%
• Veg 2 Gro – down 7%
• Growing Media – up 10%
• All items index – down 6%

If you would like to subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Leading garden bird food brand Peckish is swooping in to give garden centres a major footfall boost this October half-term.

Peckish is calling on garden centres to partner with them to launch a new campaign for the wild bird season. The campaign, Go Wild With Peckish, encourages families to unplug from their digital devices for a day, in support of Britain's feathered friends. It will provide entertaining activities for garden centres nationwide to run, keeping retailers and families alike feeling chirpy.

Recent research* shows the average UK adult now spends more time using media than they do sleeping, and by 'media multi-talking' young adults pack a staggering 14 hours of media consumption into 9 hours of the day. It's now so difficult to switch off that nearly a third of working adults carry out work on holiday. 

As part of Go Wild With Peckish, the brand is providing garden centres with an activity pack to help give Britain's wild birds a hand during half-term. The pack includes guidance on activities to increase footfall, such as fun bird feeder and fat ball making sessions, and a bird spotting activity where giant cut out bird characters guide customers on a journey around the store. Goodie bags will also be provided for garden centres to issue to participants.

A major drawing competition is also running through garden centres and the Peckish website. Children who bring the wild birds in their garden to life through creative drawings can win prizes including a family day out and Peckish hampers. The Peckish website will also be packed with downloadable activities to help families connect with nature during half-term and bring more birds into their garden. Likewise, the trade website will include downloadable items and support for garden centres looking to hold the activities in their store.

Rachael Dickinson, Senior Brand Manager at Peckish said: "We're encouraging families to turn off their screens for a day during half-term and spend time together enjoying and learning about nature. Technology really helps us fit a lot into our lives, but it's also important to make time to switch off. The British wild bird population is in decline, so Go Wild With Peckish aims to be fun-filled whilst also encouraging future generations to do their best to help out wild birds thrive.

"We've had a fantastic response from our garden centre partners to Go Wild With Peckish. They'll receive a real boost from the increased footfall and customer participation in the activities and giveaways. To ensure they have extra customers flying through the door this half-term, garden centres should sign up at www.trade.gardenhealth.com or by emailing joingowild@gardenhealth.com."

Peckish provides quality food for garden birds and enhances the enjoyment of feeding them. It helps bring more birds, colour and bird song into Britain's gardens.

For more information about Go Wild With Peckish, visit www.trade.gardenhealth.com or follow @PeckishBirdFood for the latest Twitter updates. Garden centres can sign up for Go Wild With Peckish directly by emailing joingowild@gardenhealth.com.

*Ofcom, The Communications Market Report, August 2014

Grimsby Garden Centre – formerly Alfords Garden Centre – plans to undergo a complete transformation – creating up to 20 new jobs in the area...

A branch of Maidenhead Aquatics opened earlier this year and Edinburgh Woollen Mill will open in the centre next month.

If planning permission is granted, the garden centre will undergo a large-scale redevelopment, including:

• The demolition of an existing building and construction of a new two-story structure to house an extended sales area.
• Extension to the cafe/restaurant to house a new bar and toilets.
• New outdoor cafe seating area.
• A new children's play area.
• New cycle shelter. 
• Relocation of the customer car park to accommodate 70 vehicles and two coaches.
• New signage.
• New plant room housing a biomass boiler.

The centre has been owned by husband and wife team Dee and Peter Skiba since 1993 and has expanded a number of times since its launch as a small nursery.

Dee said: "We are very excited about taking the centre forward. We have been on an adventure since we opened here back in 1993 and this is the next stage of that journey for us.

"The new building alone will be almost 8,000 square feet.

"We are delighted that Maidenhead Aquatics has joined us and Edinburgh Woollen Mill is joining us, and the new building would provide us with room for new craft centres, too."

There’s evidence in the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart this week that gardeners are starting their Autumn lawn care treatment. 

The highest climber is the Scotts Evergreen Autumn Spreader (110 sq m), which has jumped 27 places.

Suttons Rapid Green Self-Repair Lawn Seed (30 sq m) is the  highest new entry at No 31.

And it’s not just lawns that are getting attention. Gardeners are clearing their paths of weeds with Bayer’s Ready to Use path weedkiller, a newcomer in this weeks charts.

Fito Drip Feeder for Orchids returns to the chart this week.

If you would like to subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Fiskars SmartFit has extended its range with two new cutting tools for 2014 with the introduction of a telescopic lopper and a telescopic hedge shear.

Clever orange extension buttons on the handles deliver easy incremental extensions from 665mm to 915mm on the loppers, and 675mm to 925mm on the hedge shears. Lightweight, yet sturdy, the adjustability of these tools help gardeners go that extra distance when cutting high or low.

All SmartFit blades are made from durable carbon steel with a friction reducing coating for smooth cutting. The Fiskars SoftGrip™ handles ensure a solid assured grip, good shock absorbing abilities and extra comfort. Knowing that weight is important, the FiberComp™ handles are light and sturdy, so the tools are not heavy in the hand. The telescopic lopper weighs an impressively light 1030g, with the hedge shear at just 980g.

Fiskars SmartFit range of products all come with a permanent holster, making them easy to store, protecting the blades and ensuring they are safe to move around the garden.

The Fiskars SmartFit range is an extension of the original Fiskars SmartFit pruner introduced in 2013 with its adjustable cutting aperture for thicker or thinner branches.

As one of the few ambidextrous pruners on the market, SmartFit's user-friendly design is achieved through the carefully considered ergonomic handle to enable optimal cutting from a number of different grips. The versatility of this pruner is achieved with the handy orange lever mechanism at the fulcrum. With one click the user can double the blade aperture from the standard 12mm capacity up to 24mm in diameter. Fiskars SmartFit can actually be called ‘two pruners in one' as it fits both smaller and large hands and cuts both thinner and thicker branches.

Recommended retail prices are:

• SmartFit™ Pruner Bypass P68 £19.99
• SmartFit™ Telescopic Lopper L86 £49.99
• SmartFit™ Telescopic Hedge Shear HS86 £44.99 

For more information contact: W: www.fiskars.co.uk E: ukinfo@fiskars.com T: 0115 927 733

An amazing 266 new products will be showcased when the doors to PATS Harrogate open on Sunday (September 14).

The record number of entries to the popular New Product Showcase is a positive sign that PATS exhibitors are really excited about their latest products and can’t wait to show them to visiting retailers and buyers.

All the products entered by 90 of the 170 exhibiting companies will be judged by a panel of independent pet retailers on Sunday morning, and the winners of each category will be announced at lunchtime.

“It’s great to see so many exhibitors putting their new products forward,” said organiser Annie Foord. “Speaking to visitors, we know that a lot of them head to the Showcase first. They can see all the latest items in one place, and once they’ve seen what they like, they then head off to the stand of the manufacturer or supplier of that product to discuss it in more detail.”

There are seven categories in the New Product Showcase – cat, dog accessory, dog food or treat, bird, small animal, pet care, and grooming – and past winners admit that winning an award can certainly increase the profile of the items to the trade.

The Showcase is designed to help visitors to find easily the latest and most exciting products to hit the pet trade, as they are gathered together in one, extensive display in Hall B. There is an information card beside each product, giving details such as suggested retail price and where in the show you’ll find the item’s exhibitor.

With a record number of new products and exhibitors attending PATS Harrogate this year, the exhibition is set to draw an equally impressive amount of visitors.

The organisers have also secured a strong line-up of speakers for two days of seminars designed to give pet retailers ahead-of-the-game ideas on new lines, new approaches and new profit potential.

The free-to-attend series of seminars will cover topics including: an insight into the life-saving abilities of medical detection dogs; pay-offs and penalties in the dog-human relationship; retailing RAW pet foods; 30 ways to improve your business in 30 minutes; and what customers are saying about your pet business online.

There will also be live grooming demonstrations from Groom Team England experts, and lots of show offers to complete two full days of activities for visiting retailers and buyers.

PATS features free entry, free catalogue and a free park-and-ride scheme. A full and up-to-date list of exhibitors is available on the website www.patshow.co.uk, where visitors still have time to register to attend.

Opening times

• Sunday, 14^th September 2014: 9.00am-5.00pm
• Monday, 15^th September 2014: 9.00am-4.00pm

Environment Minister Lord de Mauley attended a Roundtable on Ornamentals on 1 September at Hatfield House, hosted by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), to discuss overcoming barriers to competitiveness and growth.

The Roundtable included representatives from a number of organisations in the ornamentals sector, including the RHS, the Horticultural Development Company, the Horticultural Trades Association, the Horticulture Innovation Partnership, the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Lantra, the NFU and YoungHort.

The purpose of the meeting was to find ways to increase the competitiveness of the sector by joint working, and attendees discussed barriers facing competitiveness; opportunities for growth; and attracting young people to the sector.

Attendees discussed some of the barriers to competition, including the market structure, perception of ornamentals industry, skills and recruitment. The importance of raising the industry’s profile was emphasised. They also identified opportunities for more cooperative working, and increasing the export market. The group agreed the need to better promote the benefits of the ornamental sector in terms of the environment and long term sustainability.

Lord de Mauley offered to help by communicating with other government departments about the importance of ornamentals in achieving their policy outcomes, such as jobs, careers, import displacement/exports, health benefits and tourism.

Representatives from Lantra and YoungHort stressed skills shortage and the need for 19,000 new entrants to ornamentals and production horticulture by 2020. YoungHort referenced a recent survey which found that gardening was in the top five hobbies of 25-30 yr olds, but explained that yet there was a lack of awareness of careers in horticulture. To address this gap, they are working to educate career advisers, parents and teachers about career opportunities, and have fifteen ambassadors that go into schools to promote the industry.

The Roundtable agreed to develop a concrete action plan by 1 April 2015. To achieve this ambitious goal they agreed to establish four action-groups to focus on

•             Promotion and perception of the industry, which will be chaired by Carol Paris (HTA)

•             Quality of Employment Opportunities, which will be chaired Martin Emmett (HDC)

•             Supply Chain, chairman – to be agreed

•             Policy impacts and benefits, chaired by Chris Hartfield (NFU)

The Roundtable plan to reconvene in December to discuss progress with a final meeting by April 2015.

Bradley Barton Primary School of Newton Abbot has been named the winner of the Stewart Garden Schools Campaign 2014. The Devon school collected the first prize of £1,100 for its Wizard of Oz inspired garden.

The pupils at Bradley Barton Primary School created an outdoor world based on the popular musical, complete with scarecrows, floral rainbows and woodland made of peas. They also created a wormery to break down old leaves for garden compost.

As part of Bradley Barton Primary School’s curriculum, students spend two hours in the garden every week.

The Stewart Garden Schools campaign challenges schools to show creativity and inspiration using Stewart Garden kits. Other entrants in this year’s campaign studied growing seeds and explored the differences between electric and non-electric propagators.

Pippa Greenwood, BBC Gardeners’ Question Time panellist, BBC Gardeners’ World columnist and judge for the campaign, said: “We were impressed with all the entries; however Bradley Barton’s was especially striking. The whole process linked in with other areas of the school's teaching and National Curriculum. This made learning fun, valuable and memorable.”

In total, 100 schools across the UK, from the Isle of Wight to Stirling, participated in the Stewart Garden Schools Campaign with Pippa Greenwood 2014. The aim of the competition, which was launched in 2012, is to encourage pupils to get involved in grow your own.

Participating schools received a garden kit worth over £400. Inside the kits were three varieties of easy-grow vegetable seeds from Pippa Greenwood’s own range. Compost was donated by participating garden centres and professional grower's specialist, J Arthur Bowers. Pupils received a booklet produced by Stewart Garden. Also supporting the Stewart Garden Schools Campaign 2014 was the global electronics company, Brother, who supplied its sophisticated GL200 garden label printer.

The nine runners up, who received £500 each, with £100 of each prize donated by J Arthur Bowers, are:

Aqueduct Primary School, Telford

Cherry Tree Primary School, Lymm

Great Arley School, Thornton Cleveleys

Hook Lane Primary School, Welling

Long Sutton County Primary School, Long Sutton

Lough View Integrated Primary School, Belfast

Stourport Primary School, Stourport-on-Severn

Westonzoyland Community Primary School, Bridgwater

Wilden All Saints CofE Primary School, Stourport-on-Severn

Pippa Greenwood is one of Britain’s most popular gardening columnists, a respected author and regular broadcaster. Pippa’s writing commitments include BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and a monthly page in NFU Countryside Magazine. For eighteen years, Pippa was the gardening columnist for The Mirror newspaper. 

For more information about Stewart Garden, visit www.stewart-garden.co.uk.

Wyevale Nurseries based in Hereford is looking for a full-time Sales Executive within the Amenity Sales Department to join its team and is struggling to find a suitable applicant.

Adam Dunnett, Sales and Marketing Director at Wyevale Nurseries, said: “Ideally we would want to take someone on with amenity sales experience but as this type of person seems to be rare we would certainly consider someone without direct sales experience but who was/has been involved in the commercial amenity sector, maybe as a buyer or estimator.

“The amenity sales sector accounts for 70% of our business and this is an incredibly important appointment for us and is therefore really frustrating that so far we haven’t found a suitable candidate. We have been searching since May and would love to hear from anyone who thinks this position is well suited to them.

“We had a high calibre of people applying to take on a garden centre sales role this spring and wondered if the lack of interest in amenity is something to do with the perception people have as we are possibly seen as more retail orientated when the truth is the opposite or is it a general industry issue? I do know that several other amenity nurseries have really struggled to find sales people recently.

“We are looking for someone who ideally has sales experience, is a great communicator, negotiator and team player. They will need to work well under pressure and to deadlines and be self-motivated.”

The job will include preparing quotes and tenders, managing contracts won, liaising with production, buyers and supply chains to ensure the customers’ expectations are exceeded. The appointed person will also have to visit customers and trade shows.

The salary will depend on experience and other benefits are also included such as a company car and fuel costs. 

For an application form for the position, please email adam@wyevale-nurseries.co.uk.

Wyevale Nurseries is one of the largest family-run wholesale nurseries in the UK. It was established in 1928 by Harry Williamson, a horticulturist and entrepreneur. It became the company it is today under the leadership of his son, Peter, who sadly passed away in 2011.

The Williamsons’ saw the opportunity to sell their product to an undeveloped retail market, creating one of the first garden centres, followed by a chain. In 1987, the retail side needed to expand and the 19 garden centres were sold as a PLC.

The family then turned its focus to Wyevale Nurseries Ltd. It continues to be a family-run business with ownership and joint chairmanship currently being held by the third generation, Heather and Simeon Williamson, with plans for the fourth generation to takeover in the future.

Wyevale Nurseries has a significant product range and is regularly introducing new plants. It offers a large variety of trees, shrubs, hedging, herbaceous and specimen plants to garden centres, landscape contractors, local authorities, foresters and landowners.

Our client is a leading UK retailer looking to appoint an experienced horticulture Buyer to contribute to the garden plant 3 year plan.  

With a horticultural/plant science background, you will have expert live product knowledge and an understanding of the plant types consumers wish to buy to help decorate their homes and landscape their gardens.  

You will have experience in product development by analysing and translating consumer trends and have strong supplier relationships to follow through on this NPD process.  

Having financial responsibility for each product category, you will be accountable for the sales budget and subsequent forecasts.  

Stakeholder management will be key as you plan customer focussed and profitable range plans.  

You will have strong buying skills, a strategic outlook and be a natural influencer/motivator. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic and customer focussed company where you will be able to make a large impact across the organisation through your well researched promotional plans.     

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV quoting reference #6607 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Our client is an award winning mailorder / e-commerce business who have a high and longstanding reputation of providing the amateur gardener with outstanding varieties of fruit and vegetables. They are currently seeking a top buyer who can buy, range plan and category manage. Someone who is retail commercial aware and can build on their current success and continue to stimulate growth in the 'Grow your own' sector. 

The ideal candidate will have considerable experience within the e-commerce and or retail buying. Have experience within the live plants and horticultural sector and preferable at chain or supermarket level. Must be a superb team leader who can lead from the front.

Please call Dianne Saunders on 07929 013910 or apply with your CV quoting reference 6536 to info@morepeople.co.uk

A buyer is being sought to join the seasonal team at this leading UK retailer's Head Office.  

Responsible for various garden and leisure products, you will be responsible for contributing to the category strategies by working closely with the supply base and Merchandising teams to deliver on the sales budget.  

A quick thinker and with an eye for innovative development, you will be instrumental in determining the category promotional plans by interpreting the customer insight data with the Marketing team.  

A dynamic and strong negotiator, you will build strong relationships with suppliers as you set and agree trading terms.  

You will have a passion for retail and the ability to work on short, medium and long term plans.  

You will be joining a very dynamic and multi-channel retailer as they continually strive to develop and deliver their product offerings to their well researched consumer base.   

Please call 01780 480530 and speak to Gillian Muir or apply with your CV, quoting reference #6600 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Our client is an award winning mailorder / e-commerce business who have a high and longstanding reputation of providing the amateur gardener with outstanding varieties of fruit and vegetables.

They are currently seeking a Junior Buyer to form part of their buying team. Ideally someone from a good horticultural background who is keen and driven and can work within this fast paced business that buys seeds, onion sets, live-plants and garden sundries for a catalogue driven market. 

The ideal candidate will have 2-3 years post college experience within a retail or commercial horticultural business. Experience of buying is desirable but not essential. Good IT and communication skills.

Please call Dianne Saunders on 07929 013910 or apply with your CV quoting reference 6537 to info@morepeople.co.uk

Taylors Bulbs take all the accolades in the GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart this week with their garlic and onion varieties.

• Garlic Marco was top of the chart a year ago, and it returns to No 1 spot this time round, climbing 41 places.
• Onion Sets Radar is the highest re-entry at No 2, while Red Winter Onions (50 bulb pack) is the highest new entry.
• Farplants Thymus Foxley and Taylors Horeradish are also new entries.

If you would like to subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Sales of growing media are significantly up on last week, and noticeably higher than the same period in 2012 and 2013.

One of the best performers is the new entry of Westland Multi Purpose Compost with John  Innes (60 litres).

Arthur Bowers John Innes No 3 (20 litres) is the highest climber, moving up 24 places to No 16.

Scotts Miracle Gro Potting Mix (40 litres) is the highest re-entry at No 26.

If you would like to subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Six men have been arrested on suspicion of burglary after a ram-raid at Hayes Garden World in Rothay Road in Ambleside.

Elho are happy to announce that Rebecca Rose has joined the business as sales representative for the South West area.

Rebecca joins from Doff Portland and will be at Glee to welcome current and new customers.

Howard Scott, UK sales manager, said: “We are continuing to invest in our UK team and Rebecca joining will help fuel our ambition of growing the UK pottery market even more. We look forward to welcoming all visitors to Elho booth at Glee.”

Elho are at Glee this year with 67 innovations and new trend colours for the 2015 season. You can find them in Hall 19 on Stand G06.

Strong spring and early summer results at Gardman have driven further investment with the appointment of three talented new recruits in sales and category management. Combined, Senior National Sales Manager in the independent sector Lolly Lee, Sales Account Manager Louise Gibbs and Category Manager Marie Williams bring expertise in the FMCG, luxury goods and gardening sectors. 

“Our strategy of trading consumers up to high quality premium brands through consistent marketing investment has driven our results ahead of expectations enabling further expansion in the sales team,” explained Stewart Hainsworth, chief executive of Gardman.  “Key to our continued ability to deliver on this strategy is the skills and ability of our team.  Louise, Lolly and Marie bring valuable expertise that will help us go on developing our consumer brands and build compelling offers for our retail partners.”

Lolly Lee joins from Sutton Seeds where she was National Sales Manager working with all independent garden centre retailers, independent buying groups including Choice, Tillington, Blue Diamond, Future Marketing Group, Klondyke and Hilliers as well as key accounts including the RHS, Kew and the Eden Project.  

Prior to joining Gardman, Louise Gibbs was national account manager at Fiskars UK Ltd where she was responsible for B&Q plc, The Garden Centre Group, Robert Dyas, Asda and Morrisons.  She has also worked at Unilever for global brands including Ben & Jerry, Magnum and Cornetto.  

Marie Williams joins from London-based Brand Addition Ltd where she was responsible for product sourcing, quality and delivery on behalf of world leading brands including Clarins, La Prairie, L’Oreal and Estee Lauder.  At Gardman she will identify trends in garden living and home styles, filter them according to customer preferences and then develop ranges.  This includes the development of a new range of Garden & Home Co range of doormats, wall art, clocks, candle hardware and water features, which consumers will love.  

Encouraged by strong sales of gardening and cookery guru Sarah Raven's flower collections in the past two seasons, Johnsons has launched her Kitchen Garden range for the 2014/15 season in a similarly eye-catching livery which will appeal to imaginative cooks and to both experienced and new vegetable gardeners. 

Passionate about all matters relating to gardening and to food, and with an expert knowledge of both, Sarah's belief there is nothing more rewarding than using produce fresh from the garden to enhance any cooking is the inspiration for the range.

Sarah Raven's Kitchen Garden range comprises 16 vegetable collection packs, each of six varieties, segmented into four categories with varieties specially chosen by Sarah for their outstanding flavour. 

The four divisions are Classic Collections, full of traditional favourites, Productive Collections, great for making the most of available space, Patio and Borders Collections for any size of garden, and Foodie's Collections specially chosen for superb flavours and texture.

The double-size packets have great visual impact and include an introductory message and growing advice from Sarah.  Each has a RRP of £5.99.  Sarah Raven's Kitchen Garden range is displayed on a dedicated, free-standing unit which can be easily moved to maximise sales.

To find out more about Sarah Raven's Kitchen Garden range and the full Johnsons offer, log on at www.johnsons-trade.com or telephone 01638 554111.

Primrose.co.uk has added a significant range of ericaceous plants including Rhododendron and Azalea to its website, supplied by Millais Nurseries. Camellia and Magnolia will soon follow, taking the total number of plants available on Primrose.co.uk to over 3000.

According to Head of Plants, Chris Webb: “Primrose.co.uk provides nurseries with a simple route to the online market – at minimum effort and no financial risk. We’re here to make it easy for a grower to get online and to get their plants in front of as many online shoppers as possible. The Nursery should be free to do what they do best –growing great plants.

"We work with some fabulous growers who can quite understandably struggle to keep up with the latest innovations, but it’s our job to handle the technical stuff and to create the perfect environment for gardeners to shop online.  That’s why we get over 10 million visits from gardeners every year, and why those customers have made us the largest online gardening specialist in the UK.”

David Millais owner of Millais Nurseries says: “We decided to join Primrose.co.uk because it gives us the opportunity to sell to a significantly larger customer base and benefit from the exposure that Primrose can achieve through their on-line marketing activities, their print ads and their TV campaigns - something we don’t have the time or the expertise for.”

Chris Webb adds: “Plant quality is the main thing we consider when looking to partner with a nursery, everything else we can help with, whether it’s ranging, optimum plan size, packaging or delivery. Some nurseries still think the internet is their enemy – but that’s no longer the case whereas in fact for nurseries that have taken the plunge, online can now be their biggest customer.”

Chris believes there are still huge opportunities, but warns “If you’re not online yet, you need to move fast – otherwise it could be too late to catch up.”

• Crate of silver coloured terracotta geese
• Hear No Evil Monkey 
• See No Evil Monkey
• Speak No Evil Monkey
• Terracotta pigs, truck, worm

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.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2012 as well as 2013 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, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

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

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products 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.