• Alan Roper of Blue Diamond
• Amanda Sizer Barrett of Gardenex/PetQuip
• Bob Hewitt of Klondyke
• Iain Wylie of the GCA
• Ian Boardman, GCA chief inspector
• John McDowell of Westland
• Neil Gow of GIMA
• Nick Davies of Solus
• Roger Crookes, consultant and GCA inspector

The centres – at Bournemouth, Southampton, Worthing and Crawley – enjoyed a 24% sales lift compared to December 2011.

CE Julian Winfield said December had helped to make up for sales lost through this year’s poor spring and summer weather.

 “We went all out to create our biggest and best Christmas display and thanks to everyone involved, all the planning and hard work paid off,” he said. Gift departments enjoyed a dramatic 36% rise.  “Our year end is in February and there is a chance that we may still hit our target turnover of £31 million,” Winfield added.

The company hope to acquire a fifth garden centre in 2013.

Basildon pet shop and garden centre operators Manor Koi have been fined £5,300 for failing to dispose of asbestos properly.

Directors Martin and Michael Green pleaded guilty at Basildon Magistrates Court to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009.

The court was asked to take into account that the firm was facing financial hardship and had co-operatied fully with the investigation.

In addition to the fines, full costs of £1,021 were awarded to the council, plus a £15 victim surcharge.

The offences came to light in June 2011 after sheet material from demolished buildings on the site had been crushed and spread across land by vehicles over three to four weeks. Tests showed the material was ‘white asbestos’. The waste was later safely removed from the site after interverntion by council officers.

Councillor Richard Moore, Basildon Council cabinet member with responsibility for environmental health, said: "Sometimes, as a last resort and in the best interests of the general public, we are left with no choice but to prosecute."

Steve Harper is leaving his role as managing director of Vital Earth after five years in the post.

He joined in 2007 to create, launch and establish the new brand and expand the company’s production capabilities.

Vital Earth became the first peat-free compost to outperform peat-based compost in trials by Gardening Which? in 2010. It subsequently it gained significant market share and a string of awards for products like RSPB No Peat MultiPurpose, Chicken Poo fertiliser and the Vital Earth commercial grower range. Earlier this year, Steve handed the responsibility for growing Vital Earth sales to Bord Na Móna in a distribution agreement for the UK.

On the operational side, Steve consolidated the Vital Earth GB Limited and its patented green waste compost process onto one £12 million state of the art site at Ashbourne, Derbyshire and then expanded production.  The Ashbourne plant is now the UK's largest compost site and Viotal Earth GB is recognised as a leader in green waste composting.

Steve said the company was in good shape for the future. “Therefore, the time is right to leave,” he said. “I am looking forward to a new challenge and to making an equally positive impact with another business.”

* STOP PRESS: GTN has learned that, in an urelated move, Maryanne Stokes, Vital Earth’s sales and marketing manager, is also leaving ther company.

Westland’s quirky TV ad for Peckish bird food will reach millions of consumers from Monday (7 January), when it is due to be screened across ITV, Channel 5 and Sky.

The ad, featuring the voice of comedian Matt Lucas, shows two CGI-animated birds queuing with hundreds of others eager to sample Peckish Complete 5-in-1 bird feed mix.

Rachael Dickinson, senior brand manager at Westland, said the commercial produced a great response from consumers after its initial screening early last year.  “The characters became a huge hit and we saw Peckish products flying off the shelves," she said.

Peckish Complete 5 in 1 is designed to offer consumers an easy choice when feeding garden birds.  The mix attracts up to 16 species and contains Calvita, a nutritional supplement.  The 2kg pack has an easy-to-pour spout.

The Peckish brand has been supported in 2012/13 by a £1m campaign targeting more than 17 million consumers. 

You can view the TV ad at www.peckishbirdfood.com or on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=T11ZIukqQ40)

Having earned the reputation as The Greatest Christmas Party Ever, it will be a too-good-to-miss event. On the night the awards will be announced and given out to the deserved winners.

Before the winners are announced you’ll be able to enjoy a superb three-course meal with wine. Just take a look at the menu on offer:

Starter: Smoked salmon and prawn tian with a cucumber, dill and lime salsa

Main course: Medallions of beef fillet in Madeira sauce, celeriac mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables and green beans

Desert: Warm pear and almond tart with vanilla ice cream

Followed by: Coffee and mints

The Awards Party is a great opportunity to relax with industry friends and colleagues, and then dance to the City Lights band. One of the best bands in the North, City Lights are a six piece line-up guaranteed to keep the party going.

Garden centres throughout the country will be hoping to pick up one or several of the following awards:

The Greatest Christmas ‘Sizzle’

The Greatest Christmas Grotto Team

The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team

The Greatest Christmas Display Team

The Greatest Garden Centre Festive Catering Team

The Greatest Christmas Supplier

The Greatest Garden Centre at Christmas

To buy tickets to The Greatest Christmas Party Ever click here or call 01733 775700



Below, pictures from last year's party...

The garden centres with teams that are finalists in The Greatest Christmas Awards 2012 are:

All-in-One
Ansells
Armitages Pennine
Astbury Manor
Ayletts
Barton Grange
Baytree
Bents
Bicester Avenue
Birkacre
Bridgemere
Brigg
Brookside
Burcot
Cadbury Garden & Leisure
Caerphilly
Castle Gardens
Chaplins
Chessington
Coletta & Tyson
Eastfield
Endsleigh Garden & Leisure
Fairways
Fermoys
Ferndale
Frosts
Garden Pride
Gouldings
Grosvenor
Heighley Gate
Hetland
Highfield
Houghton Hall
Jacksons Boutique
Ladygreen
Langlands Shiptonthorpe
Melbicks Garden & Leisure
Moulton College
Perrywood
Planters
Poplars
RHS Wisley
Ruxley Manor
Scotsdales
Silica Lodge
Snowdonia
Spring
Squires Shepperton
St Johns
Trelawney Wadebridge
Van Hage Great Amwell
Van Hage Peterborough
Walkers
Wheatcroft
Whitehall Lacock
Winnersh
Worlds End

To find out which teams are crowned The Greatest for Christmas 2012 buy your ticket for The Greatest Awards Christmas Party using this link or phone 01733 775700 or 07973 504214.

We look forward to celebrating with you at the Majestic Hotel on Sunday 13th January.

If the weather returns to a normal pattern, then given the disconnect from gardening that occurred in 2012 (due to the wettest year on record) I sense that 2013 will be energised with customers keen to engage with their gardens.

The industry will continue to consolidate in 2013 – a trend that will persist for some years with increasing intensity. There will be some high profile acquisitions in 2013. I expect Tesco to continue with their new builds. DIY stores will continue to build on their gardening offer (given home improvement sales are flat)

There is still plenty of opportunity within the garden and leisure sector and larger retails like Tesco and Next along with private equity have recognised this at a time when other sectors are struggling.

Overall the gardening sector still retains a strong consumer appeal,  with only the weather able to stem growth.

2012 may turn out to have been a defining year for the garden and leisure industry in  the UK.  Against a background of national and international events that helped to  raise the standing of the British flag, the gardening industry has had to cope with the dual problems of difficult economic conditions and a weather pattern that proved to be one of the worst on record.

To combat these setbacks, 2013 could well prove to be the year when individual companies determine to put even more effort into making the most of their  sales potential through carefully scrutinised product portfolios, enhanced marketing techniques  and new market targets.

There is little we can do about the vagaries of the British climate but much that can be done to ensure that we either produce or stock items to suit changing conditions.

More suppliers may also be persuaded to look further afield for their business. The recent revival of the US market and its avoidance of the so-called 'fiscal cliff' is one such potential market; similar opportunities exist in many other countries. Sales opportunities like these, beyond our home market, make it paramount that UK suppliers at least consider investigating overseas markets as part of their sales and marketing plan for 2013 and beyond.

2012 may not have been your year but there is still new business to be seized  in 2013 – and to help suppliers to do so, Gardenex and PetQuip have secured even greater government support for this year's programme of export initiatives.

Neil Gow, director, GIMA

As an industry, we have to be poised for a good and positive year, and go into it with the right attitude. There is plenty of pent-up demand from last year and I believe gardeners will definitely want to garden. Seed potatoes, propagation equipment, seeds and so on are already in great demand. People are putting last year’s failures behind them.

No matter how good the weather early on, I think it will be a slow start, because the ground is so wet and the soil will take a long time to warm up. But we have good products to sell – and good quality plants, because ironically last year was such a good growing year.

I am optimistic about the year ahead. Despite the economy, our like-for-like sales for the month of December increased by 7%. Assuming that we have a more ‘normal’  weather year, I have no doubt that our core customers will return to spend on plants and associated gardening product. These customers were visiting our centre coffee shops on a regular basis last year but were not buying garden centre product due purely to  the adverse weather conditions. We will be well stocked in readiness for the spring season!

In 2013 the weather will be better in spring and we’ll sell more plants! That is, if we gear up to it. Being positive and realistic will be the key. Retailers and suppliers will have to work closely together to ensure demand is met and the rewards (and problems) are shared. Garden centres that engage with customers not just ‘communicate to’ them will be the most successful. The competition for customers’ time, let alone disposable income, increases every year. Catering is now a core category but centres will need to evolve their restaurants to keep growth coming.

2013 is going to be a year full of sunshine. This sunshine will either come from the weather – or by people making their own sunshine, whatever the weather. The weather will either be as bad – or even worse - than 2012 for the garden trade. Or it will be better. Businesses which do well will be those who focus on flexibility to take best advantage of whatever conditions we have. There are lots of lean businesses out there - but watch out. Get proactive and make the most of any opportunities which arise”.

I am quietly optimistic for a number of reasons, not least due to the positive vibes from retailers reporting strong sales in Christmas, gift, and catering in the run up to the festive period.  We now all have to turn our attention back to core gardening.  Last year was one of the wettest on record which clearly impacted core sales within our industry.  However, this creates a carryover of pent-up demand from consumers who didn’t invest in new garden goods or items of leisure.  This demand, added to even an average season, could create phenomenal sales as consumers get back into their gardens.  Thus this year will be all about having stock at the right time in the right place, along with competitive consumer offers.

You’ll be better prepared for the year ahead if you learn about your customer trends from Christmas 2012. As you review your Christmas sales and what sold well in readiness for Christmas 2013, try applying the same ideas and trends to your spring and summer ranges. Which colours and displays worked well? Maybe the same colours and ideas will work in non-Christmas categories, too

I believe catering (and any sort of food categories) remains key. And marketing will become more focused on relationships and the community. I predict you’ll need to look after the ladies, families and novice gardeners even better than before. More businesss, I’m sure, will also try something new – and perhaps try something again that didn’t work last time.

2012 has been an incredibly tough year, because the appalling weather spanned most of the season and continued into the autumn. Here at Westland despite the setbacks, we remain positive and believe that 2013 will see the Great British public bringing life back into their gardens. We are fundamentally aware that financial constraints remain a concern – but gardening remains the one leisure activity that the consumer is able to do at relatively small cost.

Westland will continue to invest in its teams, supply chain and above the line promotion to help make 2013 a great gardening year.