The Rosebourne company, which aims to develop freehold garden and food centres in affluent locations in the south of England, has completed the acquisition of its first greenfield site near Andover in Hampshire, on the site of the former Weyhill Nurseries.

Rosebourne promises deliver "The Fresh Approach" to food and plants and has been presenting its plans over the last few months to investors by the management team led by Chairman Charles Good.

Rosebourne's retail model has been a proven success over the last six years at the Beckworth Emporium in Northamptonshire, which was set up by two of the founders of Rosebourne. The team received a very favorable response from investment funds, financial institutions and high net worth individuals alike and funds are now in place to progress.

Following on from this first round of investment Rosebourne has acquired the greenfield site near Andover, on the site of the former Weyhill Nurseries, a flat 8.5 acre site with planning permission for 3,500 square metres of covered space and ample provision for parking spaces.

The site is sandwiched between the old A303 and the new A303 bypass between Weyhill and Thruxton village.

The demographics are strong with a significant over representation of Wealthy Achievers predominantly in the surrounding villages, and this particularly suits the Rosebourne model.

It is planned to maintain the existing on site Post Office service which is regarded as an important community service and it is anticipated the site will be trading in Spring 2016.

Charles Good is very positive about the first site. "I am delighted with the demographics of the local area but I am particularly excited about the adjacency to the A303, the gateway to the Southwest. With junctions within two miles east and west of Rosebourne I believe we have the opportunity to become a destination stop off point for holiday makers and commuters."

The location, so close the A303 junctions, is seen as a major bonus for the future growth and development of the site.

Negotiations are at an advanced stage for a second site on the M4 corridor.

Rosebourne are actively looking for 5-7 acre sites of a similar profile predominantly in the south of England, interested parties should contact Managing Director Neville Prest by email nevilleprest@gmail.com

A passion for plants, Christmas and catering. These are the three cornerstones of garden centre businesses, according to speakers at The HTA Catering Conference this week and the judging visits for The Greatest Catering Awards.

All of the catering teams nominated in The Greatest Catering Awards exuded so much enthusiasm, love and passion – the judges who met them were bowled over with their pride and amazing teamwork.

At the HTA Catering Conference where The Greatest Catering Awards were announced, key speakers from small and large centres and major groups  emphasised that getting catering right for your target market is the best form of marketing.

As we move into the summer months and the weather warms up, getting the offer right will be even more important to ensure footfall remains as high as possible during the holiday season.  GTN Bestsellers data shows we’ve now passed the peak in terms of volume for the season so it’s downhill from here until September.  Better get those BBQs and salad offers going strong!

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

• Garden Products – up 9%
• Veg-2-Gro Products – up 93%
• Growing Media – up 19%
• All items index – up 14%

Managing director of Ferndale Garden Centre in Coal Aston, Sheffield’s Neil Grant was glad he had broken into a family holiday in Wales to join hundreds of business people from around the UK at a glittering awards ceremony in London for the Guardian Small Business Awards, when he was named Leader of the Year.

Neil had been shortlisted to the final three UK business leaders in the Guardian Small Business Showcase Awards 2015 from among over a thousand nominations, by judges including former ‘Dragon’ James Caan. There were seven hotly-contested categories with three finalists in each.

The annual awards hosted by TV presenter and author Rick Edwards, recognise innovation and best practice across the small business sector and the leader award was given to the inspirational entrepreneur who gained the most public votes. 

"I am both delighted and shell-shocked to have won the Guardian Small Business leadership award as the calibre and standards of all the shortlisted in all categories was extremely high.

"There were many IT businesses and business people shortlisted. I had to remind myself that although Ferndale is a relatively low tech business, it touched many of the types of people present who told me they associate garden centres with their leisure time when they aren't at their work place. We are increasingly learning the importance of gardening as a relaxing, healthy pastime that actually helps people apart from being fun. 

"Our industry has had to wake up to the fact that although 'gardening' may be dwindling, gardens are more popular than ever as an extension to the home. This makes garden centre retailing the most challenging it's ever been. The media professionals I spoke to were surprised to hear the size of the industry and the impact on employment we bring for the UK.”

Running a small business has to be fun, so hatching new ideas that inspire me, our team and our customers is essential. The saying ‘If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got’ is simply no longer true in today's fast moving business world where there is constant distraction for consumers. It is more likely that, ‘If you do what you've always done, you'll always get less than you had before.’

The Guardian judges particularly commended Neil’s commitment to creating the country’s first National Children’s Gardening Week this year and securing backing from the industry and media. Back at Ferndale, bought by family members in 1982, Neil came up with the concept of an undercover real beach for the summer with creative, traditional beach food in lunchboxes and a series of children’s campaigns related to national awareness events such as vegetable and allotment week and nest box week. Children’s events are offered, such as how to grow your own name, the tallest sunflower and the longest trailing petunia or make a miniature garden.

Neil has also led the extension of the garden centre’s coffee shop- this year’s Star café of the year- to create a seating space for 200 people. It was refurbished with an eclectic mix of quirky accessories, such as recycled furniture, church chairs and a log burner. The investment has paid off, with the coffee shop achieving growth of over 30%.

The national government Growth Accelerator programme has helped focus Neil’s ideas and support growth. In the pipeline are mini wooden chalets that could be rented out by local businesses, and the centre’s own television station, airing gardening tips that customers can view via Bluetooth on their mobiles as they sip a latte in the cafe.

Faye Smith, owner of Keep Your Fork marketing, who nominated her client for the category, says that Grant’s business acumen and innovation have enabled the business to remain resilient when it’s been hit by the poor weather.

The Guardian judges concluded: “Having seen sales shoot up by 46% in the past five years, Ferndale Garden Centre is clearly reaping the rewards of Grant’s entrepreneurial vision."

The Greatest Plant Sales Awards Categories

• The Greatest Linked Sales Team of the Year
• The Greatest Pot and Plant Sales Team – Top of the Pots - sponsored by Elho
• The Greatest Plant Advice Team, including planteria signage and information
• The Greatest Plant Supplier of the Year
• The Greatest Plant Sales Team of the Year, sponsored by The HTA

With further expansion in its sights, Haskins Garden Centres Ltd has added two more board members to the existing team comprising of Chairman Warren Haskins, Chief Executive Julian Winfield and Buying Director Conna Powles. 

Lisa Looker, who has been Director of Marketing  for three years and the recently appointed Finance Director Glenn Carroll join the board as £31.6 million turnover family owned company plans to increase its number of garden centres from the current four south coast based centres to six and redeveloped it Snowhill centre near Crawley.

Julian Winfield says that the company is now prepared to tackle the next phase of expansion.

“We are now well placed to make the largest investment yet in the company’s 133 year history.  Glenn Carroll brings with him a wealth of experience from various sectors of commerce and industry and Lisa Looker has brought new professionalism to the way marketing, promotions, also innovations to our point of sale which is appreciated by customers.”

It was in 1993 when Warren Haskins sold the original Haskins Garden Centre and purchased a brownfield site in Dorset where one of the first purpose built garden centres was constructed. 

Since then, the successful formula has been repeated at West End, Southampton and most recently Roundstone near Worthing where in 2012 the centre was rebuilt for £13 million complete with a 550 seat restaurant.

Pictured: (from left). Warren Haskins with Lisa Looker,  Glenn Carron with Julian Winfield.

Garden centres who have not yet had their Garden Centre Association (GCA) annual inspections will receive a visit soon (up to and including June 19, 2015) says the leading industry organisation.

Since March member garden centres have been assessed across all departments and awarded an overall score. Those who have not yet had their visits will do so very soon.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, explained: “The inspectors are reporting back so far that they are delighted with what they are seeing and that standards are especially good this year, particularly at the top end.

“We are urging all garden centres yet to be visited to be prepared for their inspection. Inspectors drop in unannounced and you can’t put them off and ask them to come back another day. Inspections cannot be delayed or deferred because of any ongoing display or building work – customers see this when they visit! Garden centres will not lose marks because of such activities provided they are carried out safely and disruption is minimised with the customer in mind.

“The results of the inspections form the basis for many GCA awards, including Destination Garden Centre of the Year, Garden Centre of the Year, Area Winners, Highly Commended and Most Improved Garden Centre. The top 10 centres will receive a Garden Centre of Excellence Award and all centres scoring 75% or above receive the Highly Commended certificate.

“We’d like to wish everyone the very best of luck. GCA garden centres always have high standards and we’re really looking forward to seeing all the wonderful initiatives people have put in place this year to help enhance their offering.”

This year’s inspectors are: Liz Hutson, Andy Campbell, Ian Boardman and Roger Crookes.

On arriving at a garden centre the inspector will make him/herself known and will proceed with the inspection alone, before delivering a feedback session of approximately 45 minutes.

Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

Will Armitage, Chairman of the GCA, said: “Many GCA members have said that the unique annual inspections and constructive feedback sessions are one of the biggest benefits of membership. It is a fantastic motivational and management tool and really keeps staff on their toes, making sure they are always doing their absolute best.

“Garden centres receive no advance warning about when their inspection will take place. It is all about making sure they are offering a consistently excellent service and improving their customer service standards, which is what all GCA garden centres must do to remain members.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to shine and to share your good practice with other members and the industry as a whole.”

Fiskars and James Wong have a mission to revolutionise gardening to show just how enjoyable, easy and fun gardening and growing can be.  

As part of this mission, Fiskars and James Wong recently visited Bicester Avenue, a Wyevale Garden Centre.

Throughout the day, James and the Fiskars' team worked closely with the staff at Bicester Avenue to answer customers' gardening related questions and queries and provide simple tips and tricks that will make a big difference to their gardens.

James Karanicolas, Trade Marketing Manager of Fiskars UK, says: "These events are really important for us to spread the word that gardening should be fun and not a chore. James Wong has a great ability to connect and educate people about gardening without making it seem complicated.

"That's a real benefit as there's lots of keen growers and plant lovers who wouldn't necessarily describe themselves as knowledgeable gardeners."

The event also gave shoppers an opportunity to trial Fiskars products and see how ergonomic, beautifully designed and easy to use tools can make gardening easier and more enjoyable.

The Greatest Garden Centre Team Awards Categories

• The Greatest Garden Care Retail Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre Customer Service Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre Training Team or Initiative of the Year, sponsored by MorePeople
• The Greatest Garden Centre Merchandising Team of the Year
• The Greatest Gardening Supplier of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre of the Year (Public Vote), sponsored by National Garden Gift Vouchers

Retail Department Head | Garden Furniture | London (ref:BP7430)

Location: London
Salary: £20,000 to £25,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

The Business

My client is a large garden centre group with an established brand name in the industry. They have a reputation for forward thinking retail practices and a loyal customer base. The group has a good mix of large and medium turnover sites based throughout the south of England.

The Role

This role will be managing a very seasonal garden furniture department in a large turnover garden centre. 
You will be a key member of the leadership of the garden centre looking after a team in your own department with some duty responsibilities across departments. Merchandising skill will have a big effect on sales in this role with a the majority of goods large value items. 

The Person

We need an experienced retailer who is looking for a chance to be part of a established and successful garden centre team. 
Candidates will have been in a retail management position previously preferably at least at department head level. 
Product knowledge is not essential but would provide an advantage.

Please submit your CV in the first instance or to discuss further call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530

Area Sales Manager (ref:DS7440)

Location: Hertfordshire
Salary: £27,000 to £30,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Area Sales Manager
Reporting To: Field Sales Manager
Responsible For: Sales Merchandisers Assigned To Individual Territory

The Business

An exciting opportunity is available for an Area Sales Manager to join our client who are one the UK's leading supplier of products to the Garden Centre market. As an Area Sales Manager, your sales area will be West London and the Home Counties including parts of Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Essex. The ideal candidate will be based in Hertfordshire, however applications from other base locations will also be considered. 

The Role

As the Area Sales Manager (West London & The Home Counties) you will be responsible for building the business by utilising effective sales and negotiation skills. You will have a high degree of autonomy, planning and achieving sales objectives, developing new business and long term, profitable relationships for the company. Reporting to the company's Sales & Marketing Manager (UK), your responsibilities will include:
Proactively researching into new business opportunities, generating leads
Calling, visiting and closing deals with these leads
Hitting and exceeding set KPI targets in your area
Travelling to client sites, meetings and events
Reporting and updating the company CRM to track progress and ensure success.

The Person

The successful Area Sales Manager will have demonstrable experience in a similar role with a track record of success in developing business and hitting targets. In addition, you will possess the following skills and experience:
Experienced negotiator with excellent interpersonal skills
Excellent organizational skills, able to priorities your workload
Excellent written and spoken communication skills
Passionate and enthusiastic, able to learn and adapt quickly
Personable, able to build relationships and rapports
Driven and motivated to hit and exceed targets
Flexibility regarding working hours and travel

Please submit your CV in the first instance or to discuss further call Dianne Saunders at MorePeople on 07929013910

Plant Area Supervisor | London | Boutique Garden Centre (ref:BP7428)

Location: London
Salary: £18,000 to £19,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Plant Area Supervisor

The Business

This small group is based with the majority of its stores in London. They have a good spread of centres covering different demographics throughout the capital. The business originally started with a landscaping offer and has since progressed to a sizeable garden retail business with a good online offering. 

The Role

This role will be instrumental to plantarea leadership team, deputising for the planteria manager and managing a team of passionate plants people. 
You will be responsible for the maintenance and care of the stock but first and foremost you will be managing the customer experience through your department.

The Person

We need a talented and ambitious retailer. The ideal candidate will be looking to step up into this role and will be looking to be a leader. 
Plant knowledge is essential to the role however is does not need to be supported by an academic qualification. A good level of self-taught plant knowledge would be acceptable.

Please submit your CV in the first instance, or to discuss further contact Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530

Grower / Production Manager (ref:DS7420)

Location: Worcestershire
Salary: salary in the region of £35k+ depending on experience 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Our client is seeking an experienced grower / production manager to take over from someone who is entering retirement.

They are a specialist grower of quality nursery stock and whilst it is not essential for experience in their exact product they do require someone who is experienced within the ornamental sector and is able to manage workers. They have 50+ staff and this role will be responsible for the day to day management with all production staff. The candidate needs to be able to work in a team environment and be very hands on.  
   
They will also be needed to work alongside the MD to deliver the vision and strategy for the business over the next 5 to 10 year period.   
   
In recognition of the above they are prepared to offer a salary in the region of £35k+ depending on experience etc.

Please submit your CV in the first instance, or to discuss further call Dianne Saunders at MorePeople on 07929 013910

Paul Barker has been appointed as General Manager of the Poplar Tree Garden Centre, located in Shincliffe Village on the outskirts of Durham.

He will be responsible for the day-to-day management of Poplar Tree and its award-winning Brambles Coffee Shop.

Paul joins Poplar Tree - which is Durham City’s only garden centre - after almost 20 years working at centres across the North East.

He said: “This was a perfect opportunity for me as Poplar Tree is the premier garden centre for Durham built up over more than 40 years. It has a great reputation amongst its loyal customers and within the sector as well.

“After expanding our coffee shop, we have even more exciting plans in the pipeline which I am delighted to be at the heart of and which will only enhance our existing excellent customer experience.”

Poplar Tree was bought and redeveloped in 2003 by Frank and Sue Curry of Brambledown Contracts Group Ltd. who run the Centre with the assistance of their son Paul and daughter Caroline.

Over the past few years, Poplar Tree has been transformed with the addition of two cafes with seating for 300 people, a function suite, extensive grounds as well as departments selling plants, garden sundries, giftware and its own Interflora Florist.

It also hosts a variety of community-based events ranging from the annual sponsorship of Durham In Bloom, to business networking events and charity fundraisers.

Caroline Walker, Poplar Tree’s Marketing Manager, said: “We are delighted to welcome Paul to the Poplar Tree team. He has the knowledge, experience and the integrity from managing several centres for Wyevale Garden Centres and a great enthusiasm for his work.

“He will set very high standards for our 46 staff as we enter an exciting period of growth. We wish Paul all the very best in his new role.”

There are plenty of signs in this week’s GTN Bestsellers Garden Products chart that outdoor activity on our plots is in full swing but sales of solar lighting products are still dominating the Top 50.

Star performers this week include:

• Gardman Solar Filigree Table Light LED Colour Changing (pictured) is the highest new entry, jumping straight in to the top spot.
• The highest re-entry is Gardman Jute Twine Ball (250g) at No 18.
• Another returning product to the chart is Gardman Gard Stakes (8mm x 90cm), which has seen a doubling of sales.
• Yorkshire Flowerpots Half Pot (25cm) is the highest climber, climbing 26 places to No 24.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Broad beans and peas are popular young plant varieties being sold in garden centres at the moment, according to this week’s GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart.

Star performers include:

• The highest new entry is Quantil Broad Bean Dwarf Patio Sutton (strip of 4) at No 37.
• There are two other newcomers in the chart – Farplants Pea Wigwam (2 litres) and Farplants Bean Wigwam.
• The highest climber is Quantil Cucumber Ridge (8cm), jumping 22 places to No 17.
• Butternut Squash is the highest re-entry at No 33.

Shamrock Irish Moss Peat (75 litres) is the star performer in the Growing Media chart, claiming the highest new entry accolade and jumping straight into No 23.  

Another newcomer to the Top 50 is Scotts Miracle-Gro Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg Planter at No 45.

Sales of growing media is 22% down on the previous week but still 19.3% higher than in the same week in 2014.

Other star growing media performers this week include:

• Scotts Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost (56 litres), the highest climber jumping 11 places to No 15.
• The highest re-entry is Scotts Levington John Innes No 3 (25 litres) at No 35.

The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Awards Categories

• The Greatest BBQ Sales Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Decoration and Lighting Sales Team of the Year
• The Greatest Inspiration for New Gardeners Team – Love The Plot You’ve Got Award
• The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Supplier of the Year
• The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Sales Team of the Year

This year’s HTA National Plant Show, held at Stoneleigh Park on 23 and 24 June, will be the host of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Rose launch. RHS Chelsea Flower Show host Nicki Chapman will launch the rose and talk about why this project is important to the garden industry and consumers.

Peter Hull from Nursery Fresh will then give a brief overview of how they got involved with Breakthrough and talk about the rose and how it will raise money for the charity. The launch will be taking place in the seminar area on Wednesday 24 June at 1pm. The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Rose will be used to decorate the seminar area throughout the day.

Every day over 135 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. It is only with continued funding that Breakthrough Breast Cancer are able to invest in vital breast cancer research that ensures these women, and all others diagnosed with breast cancer, receive the best possible treatment.

The rose will make a significant difference to the lives we are able to save. It is possible within 35 years to stop all women dying from breast cancer.

This will be an incredible achievement, but it is only possible with continued fundraising support. Breast cancer has already taken too many lives. It’s time to put an end to it.

The Breakthrough Rose will be available to purchase at the show with a £1 donation given to the charity for every rose purchased.

Squire’s Garden Centres joined forces with the Environment Agency to invite local school children to design a planting scheme for a flowerbed at Teddington lock.

The schools taking part in the competition were Hampton Hill Junior, and Latchmere School, and there were a total of 131 entries.  The top 14 children were invited to Afternoon Tea with their parents at Squire’s Garden Centre in Twickenham on Thursday 4^th June.

The overall winner was Ella Jones, aged 10 from Hampton Hill Junior School.  Her winning design has been planted at Teddington Lock, with Squire’s providing all the plants, and it looks absolutely stunning.  

She was also presented with a family ticket to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which takes place on 30 June – 5^th July, and where Squire’s Garden Centres will have a Show Garden called “Urban Oasis”. 

Staff at Squire’s Garden Centre took on a static bike challenge to raise money for the charity “Momentum”.  They cycled 88 miles between them on static bikes at the centre, which is the total distance between all of Squire’s 15 garden centres in the South East.

A total of £310 was raised for Momentum – St. Peter’s Hospital, which is Squire’s Long Ditton’s chosen charity of the year.  Momentum is a local charity that supports children with cancer and life-limiting conditions, and their families.

Deputy chairman Sarah Squire commented: “We are delighted to support Momentum, and make our customers more aware of this wonderful local charity. Squire’s staff at Long Ditton chose Momentum as their charity of the year.

"We hope to be able to donate a generous amount to them throughout the year, with thanks to our customers.”

Hylands House in Essex will be awash with vibrant colours next month when it is filled with inspirational floral displays for the first National Flower Show.

Between 17-19 July, the stunning Grade II listed property in Chelmsford, Essex, will feature sensational arrangements in its Grand Pavilion, Banqueting, Drawing and Terrace rooms as 20 of the UK’s finest nurseries compete head-to-head to secure a coveted Gold award.

Outside, Hylands’ beautifully manicured lawns will feature over 150 exhibitors offering a treasure trove of quality plants and shrubs as well as the latest gardening products and gadgets at special event prices.

Matt Upson, Director of Aztec Events who also organise the Blenheim Palace Flower Show, said: “We’re delighted to be launching and adding this new show to our event calendar. Hylands House is spectacular and we thought its stunning rooms offer a unique opportunity to showcase and celebrate the talent of the UK’s gardening industry.” 

If you’re planning a garden makeover the National Flower Show will be brimming with local garden designers, paving and tree specialists to help create your own personal haven.

Experts including the much-loved garden designer, journalist and television personality Joe Swift will be on hand sharing their knowledge and top tips in the dedicated Gardening Theatre.

And if you can't get your oleanders or bottlebrush to flower, or don't know how or when to prune them? Don't miss the chance to meet the show’s flowering shrub expert Paul Johnson. With more than 40 years’ experience and a wealth of knowledge on any shrub – especially the rare and unusual – Paul will answer any questions you may have.

Elsewhere the Craft and Gift Pavilion will be packed with hand-made jewellery, hand-made cards, shabby chic furniture, ladies fashion, botanical products and candles it is the perfect place to peruse the stands and pick up that unique gift for yourself or your loved ones. There will also be a local craft market - dedicated to local budding artists, craftsmen and designers. You will see beautiful handcrafted jewellery, metalwork and artwork all from the Chelmsford region.

The Food and Drink Festival is the perfect place to try delicious food from around the world while enjoying the sunshine. Sit back and relax in a deckchair while enjoying your ostrich burger or hummus with a glass of bubbly. Later on our cream tea pavilion is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the afternoon at The National Flower Show.

For more information or to book tickets to the show, visit: www.aztecevents.co.uk.

The winner of a national competition designed to get gardeners sharing their hints and tips is Jacquii Nolan from Somerset.

Jacquii’s secret won as it was simple, yet effective and universal to most gardeners:

Easy method to move your potted plants – use a skateboard!

It was deemed the favourite out of hundreds of entries, ranging from the practical, philosophical and sometimes obscure.

She will now receive her prize – a personal garden consultation session with Charlie herself. They would welcome the gardening celebrity into their own garden in the morning, get tailored garden advice and then £250 to spend with Charlie at their local garden centre in the afternoon, before returning to transform their garden together

Jacquii said: “I’m thrilled to win and really looking forward to meeting Charlie and welcoming her to my garden. She can even have a go on my skateboard if she likes!” 

Gardeners were encouraged to share their #GardenSecrets as part of an integrated TV, press and digital campaign launched by Gro-Sure® Planting Magic earlier this year.

The campaign was endorsed by none other than Charlie Dimmock, who herself helped a generation of gardeners with her down-to-earth, relaxed gardening advice. Charlie was back on our TV screens again this year promoting Gro-Sure® Planting Magic, a planting mix designed to give everyone the results of a professional gardener.

She also took part in a live Twitter Q&A sharing her own garden secrets in May in which over 150 tweets were received.  

Charlie said: “#GardenSecrets will offer gardeners of all ages and abilities the chance to share their own growing secrets and also pick up some new ones along the way!

“I’m really looking forward to picking up a few new tricks myself and can’t wait to meet the gardener with the winning secret!”

Find out more by searching for #GardenSecrets

BSA Buying Group, partner of GIMA for overhead cost reduction, is delighted to announce the launch of its 20th overhead cost category, Travel Booking. It has negotiated discounts which now make travel booking economically viable for even the smallest of companies.

Thanks to the buying power of BSA Buying Group, exclusive discounted rates have been negotiated for GIMA Members. The offering includes discounts off hotels, exclusive fares and specialist support for your business travel requirements, as well as access to an online booking tool for all your travel needs. Joining BSA Buying Group means you can get to grips with your company's travel procurement and save both time and money.

BSA are pleased to be working with award winning Travel Management Company, Business Travel Direct (BTD), to provide you with the strategic management of safe, cost-effective travel. Having been established since 1970, Business Travel Direct are widely recognised in the industry for their personal approach to corporate travel and expenses, and their wealth of time saving, cost effective booking tools.

What benefits do GIMA Members enjoy through using the Travel Booking Service?

• Price Match Guarantee - if you find a better rate on the internet within 30 mins of booking, BTD will price match it.
• Negotiated air fares and hotel rates
• Average Return of Investment of 30%
• Highlighting tools – using their connections to build relationships with preferred suppliers, driving down costs
• Innovative fare-searching technology
• A database of over 200,000 hotels and all major airlines
• Delivering online adoption
• Purchasing power and offline expertise
• A strategic business plan tied to your objectives

Says Matt Roper, CEO of BSA Buying Group, “We’ve been wanting to help GIMA Members to book their business travel in a way that saved them time and money, but had struggled to find the right travel management company who shared our long term vision of bring genuine value to the marketplace. But that search is now over as we’ve exclusively negotiated for GIMA Members significant discounts with one of the most highly respected travel brokers in the UK.”

Special Prize Draw:  2 return tickets on Eurostar to Brussels

To celebrate the launch of this new service, we have a prize draw open to all companies who open a travel booking account through BSA Buying Group before the end of July 2015. One lucky person will win 2 return tickets on Eurostar to the beautiful city of Brussels (going out standard, returning standard premier).

To gain control and save money on your business travel – both within the UK and overseas, simply call BSA on 0845 555 3344 quoting GIMA and they’ll direct you. 

Following the successful launch of its range of Microgreens - baby leaves for all-year-round windowsill cropping - last year,  Johnsons Seeds now makes harvesting even easier with the introduction of its Micro Snips for the 2016 retail season. 

Microgreens are very much in favour with celebrity chefs, and are featured regularly on television cookery programmes.

Presented in an attractive counter-top display, the specially designed mini-cutters are perfect for siting beside the range of eight seed varieties and their growing trays for value-added sales. 

Micro Snips have a recommended retail price of £3.99. The compact size and spring-action handles make them easier to use than scissors, while the carbon steel blades ensure a long-lasting cutting edge.

Microgreens are almost 'instant' vegetables, and it is easy for anyone, including children, to produce their own delicious 'mini-crops' in as little as two weeks on a windowsill. The tiny plants have the essence of the mature plants without the more extensive care and maintenance required to grow them.

Best described as ultra-baby leaf vegetables, these seedlings add a fresh and punchy flavour 'bombshell' to just about any savoury dish from sandwiches to steaks, stir-fries to soups, or used simply as an attractive and tasty garnish.

To find out more about Johnsons range of seeds and gift ideas, log on at www.johnsons-trade.com or telephone 01638 554111.

After nearly four years in a temporary serviced office, LOFA has found a larger, more convenient and cost-effective office space in Waterlooville Hampshire. It will also be the new base for SOLEX...

The new office address is:
1B Lancer House
Hussar Court
Westside View 
Waterlooville
Hampshire
PO7 7SE         

The new phone numbers are:
Landline: 023 9225 8844
Fax: 0333 800 2046
Mobile: 07794 355081 (unchanged)     

Whilst the current phone number will be re-directed for a short period, and the PO Box mail address will work until September, please update your records and systems so that all future  communications get to the new office.

This summer The Greatest Awards are going ON TOUR to create more opportunities to reward the excellence of garden centre teams across more areas of garden centre businesses.

Catering, Planteria, Outdoor Leisure and Garden Care sales teams get their own date at The Greatest Awards ON TOUR for 2015 with presentations to the winners at The HTA Catering Conference, The National Plant Show, The GIMA’s and HTA Futures with other dates and venues to be added.

All you have to do to make sure your team is considered amongst The Greatest in their particular area is read through the categories for each Greatest Awards ON TOUR event below and them e-mail: thegreatestawards@tgcmc.co.uk, with details as to why they should be considered for one of The Greatest Awards 2015.

As usual The Greatest Awards team of experts will be out and about meeting nominated teams, gathering information and taking photos of their work so that the Gold, Silver and Bronze Greatest Awards winners can be chosen.

Plus your team have the chance to become The Greatest Garden Centre Team of 2015 by involving your customers in the public voting later this summer.  The Greatest Garden Centre Teams, small, medium and large will be the teams that have the best relationships with their customers and generate the most votes (taking size of centre into account) and in the event of a tie, the centre with the most complimentary comments form their customers.  To take part in the public vote please e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call The Greatest Awards on 01733 775700 to request an in store voting pack.

As this issue of GTN Xtra goes to press the expert judges are already planning their travels to meet garden centre plant sales teams next week in advance of The National Plant Show.  Make sure your Planteria, Outdoor Leisure, Garden Care and Garden Centre teams are nominated for visits later in June, July and August.

The Greatest Awards would like to thank sponsors, Elho, National Garden Gift Vouchers, MorePeople and The HTA plus the event organisers at The HTA Catering Conference, National Plant Show, GIMA Awards and HTA Futures for agreeing to be presentation venues for The Greatest Awards ON TOUR 2015.  The date and venue for The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Awards will be announced in a future issue of GTN Xtra.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for product and service suppliers seeking to gain the highest possible exposure between now and November this year.  Please contact mandy.atkin@tgcmc.co.uk for details.

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 up-to-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 last week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products Bestsellers chart for last 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.

Day two of the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, and held at The Belfry in West Midlands, was all about real food. Tracking food trends, staying local, gluten free and creating a sense of place were all on the menu.

Tracking food trends globally and how they evolve in the What’s hot and what’s not session, Neil Moodley, Head of Bespoke Trends at thefoodpeople, introduced the delegates to emerging core trends - consumer, macro and food, that are crucial to understanding consumers. Right now there are 16 hot trends for 2015 to try in your garden centre – such as ugly vegetables, round the world breakfast, modernising classic recipes, kids’ menu makeover, and condiments galore.

The panel session, chaired by Trevor Pfeiffer, Garden Trade News, encouraged garden centres to use vouchers, particularly bounce back smart phone vouchers and special offers like BOGOF in their restaurants to get ‘bums on seats’. “Follow these with strong point-of sale and campaigns like Love the Plot you've Got and you can turn catering customers who aren’t always good gardeners into garden centre customers”, said the panel.

Local produce improves income, was a key point that came out of the Staying local session from Emma Milton, Catering manager and Beverley Spindler, Marketing manager, Mains of Drum - a family business accredited to the Visit Scotland Programme.
Close the circle was the key message from Brian Turner, Food buyer, Chatsworth Estate, in terms of telling the story of the product from field to plate. Overall Brian advised that while provenance and traceability are good – quality needs to be top notch too.

Don’t get left behind, capitalise on gluten free (GF) as it’s here to stay, was a key tip from Rebecca Rayner, Joint managing director, Glebe farm Foods. Every 10th customer is looking for GF and they are loyal, so what are you offering? There is much more to offer than a sad looking cupcake.

The delegates also took advantage of workshops that asked are you making the most of your menu, are you equipped for success, and are you optimising your offer and growing sales?

A sense of place was the key term to take away from the keynote speakers. Sarah Dunning, Chief executive, The Westmorlandland Family, told the inspiring story of her family owned motorway service area food business ‘Tebay’ in Cumbria, complete with farm shop and kitchen, and currently expanding with a £40 million project Gloucestershire. Her advice to those following a similar path was to know your purpose in order to create a real sense of place and provide an experience that feels part of the local area.



Valentine Warner, TV chef and author, closed day two with a passionate talk about understanding the link between food and nature, so you can put a sense of the environment on a plate. Like Sarah, Valentine emphasised the point of creating a sense of place and eating from the situation you stand in. His advice was to understand locality and what’s around you through research.

The Greatest Catering Awards, which recognises great catering teams who excel in garden centres, were announced and presented at the HTA Catering Conference this week.

Co-presenter Trevor Pfeiffer said: "From the many teams we met on our judging journeys it is clear that garden centre catering standards are being pushed higher and higher – with teamwork and the drive for excellent customer service giving our customers some of the best dining experiences in the UK.  Garden centre catering is simply GREAT!"

The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Teams 2015

Finalists

• Bents
• Chessington
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Haskins Roundstone
• Mains of Drum
• Planters at Tamworth
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Timmermans
• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Woodbank
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Awards

• Team with less than 150 covers:  Timmermans
• Team with 150 to 300 covers:  Squires Badshot Lea
• Team with more than 300 covers:  Chessington and Frosts Woburn Sands

Silver Awards

• Team with less than 150 covers:  Woodbank
• Team with 150 to 300 covers:  Fron Goch
• Team with more than 300 covers:  Trentham, Blue Diamond

Gold Awards

• Team with less than 150 covers: Woodside Plant Centre
• Team with 150 to 300 covers: Mains of Drum
• Team with more than 300 covers:  Bents

The Greatest Afternoon Tea Experience Team

Finalists

• Brigg
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Mains of Drum
• Perrywood
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Timmermans
• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Woodside Plant Centre

Silver Award

• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Poppies

Gold

• Perrywood

The Greatest Garden Centre Chef Team

Finalists

• Chessington
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Mains of Drum
• Planters at Tamworth
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Timmermans
• Twenty Pence
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Mains of Drum
• Squires Badshot Lea

Silver Award

• Chessington

Gold Award

• Timmermans

The Greatest Garden Centre Front of House Team

Finalists

• Barton Grange
• Fron Goch
• Mains of Drum
• Planters at Tamworth
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Wheatcroft's
• Woodbank
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Woodbank

Silver Award

• Barton Grange

Gold Award

• Fron Goch

A Special Gold Award was presented to another team the judges met on their travels. The head office Food & Beverage team at Wyevale Garden Centres is pulling up trees at the moment, making really positive changes to the turnover of every site they touch and creating not one but three exceptional catering brands that would rival any major high street catering brand.

The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Teams

Special Gold Award

• Wyevale Food & Beverage Head Office Team

The Greatest Catering Supplier of the Year

Gold Award

• Our local butcher

A Special Gold Award was presented to another team the judges met on their travels.  The head office Food & Beverage team at Wyevale Garden Centres is pulling up trees at the moment, making really positive changes to the turnover of every site they touch and creating not one but three exceptional catering brands that would rival any major high street catering brand.

The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Teams

Special Gold Award

• Wyevale Food & Beverage Head Office Team

Be passionate about food and employ passionate people – two of the key points to come from the first day of the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, being held at The Belfry in West Midlands.

With the overall increase in dining out in the UK only set to continue garden centre catering is in a prime position to benefit as long as the offer and the environment is right.

In the opening session, Chris Brown from Turpin Smale Consultancy illustrated how far garden centres have already come from cling filmed plates of cake to stunning inviting cakes displays helping people to buy with their eyes. He highlighted ambiance (quirky and weird is good), pop ups, special interest groups and technology as the key areas to focus on for the future.

Delegates heard from independent garden centres (Felicity Down from Cleeve Nursery and Tim Greenway from Highfield Garden World) and groups (Alan Roper from Blue Diamond and Jason Danciger from Wyevale Garden Centres). Despite the differences in the scale of operation, there were definite similarities in approach in terms of providing a passionate offer, great ambiance and individual character.

Garden centres are working hard to attract new audiences and there were plenty of examples of this peppered throughout the day from the soft play barn development at Hilltop Garden Centre was spoken about by Boyd Douglas-Davies to the regular programme of evening music events held at The Dutch Nursery, as described by Richard Henn.

This was also picked up in the panel session, which highlighted the importance of bringing new people in from dog walkers to cyclists. Creating dog friendly areas was a particularly hot topic. Bents having opened a pet café in their pet department complete with separate counters for hounds and humans! Ideally situated on the edge of their site right next to a footpath it is a great way of driving extra traffic and providing something different.

The interactive workshop sessions on managing people, costs and the environment provided delegates with further opportunities to hear from and contribute to discussion on key areas relating to running a garden centre-catering offer.

Food critic and MasterChef judge Charles Campion closed day one of the conference by providing his not too serious ‘rules to dine by’ which included ‘never eat anything bigger than your head’ and ‘you cannot have anything better than what you want’ and ‘whenever you see crossed chives you are in trouble’.

The inaugural HTA Catering Conference dinner, with wine kindly sponsored by Quinton Edwards, saw the presentation of The Greatest Catering Awards and an after dinner talk from chef, food entrepreneur and sustainable living expert James Strawbridge. Working closely with his father Dick on many initiatives James had great empathy for family businesses and highlighted many of the challenges that this brings. Now running The Posh Pasty Company and involved in new product development James encouraged all to keep ahead of the game by keeping an eye on what is happening in the wider food area and read food magazines.

One of the best ideas from The Greatest Catering Awards is this coffee plant as a table decoration and on sale in the Dahlia Coffee House at Ayletts in St Albans.

Initally brought in for a coffee festival promotion, the coffee plants in a series of coffee cups sell for £3.95 each.

“They sold so well we’ve just kept them running as table decorations. We’ve sold 700 already,” said catering manager Liz Alexander.

“I keep popping in and seeing tables with no plants on,” added Adam Wigglesworth. “They sell so well each day we just have to keep replenishing on the tables.”

The coffee plants in coffee cups can be sourced via Javado (www. javadoplant.com).

They serve over 200 afternoon teas per month serving delicious home baked cakes and deserts specially made for afternoon teas, they are better than the Ritz in deepest Essex at Perrywood.

The Greatest Afternoon Tea Experience Team

Finalists

• Brigg
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Mains of Drum
• Perrywood
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Timmermans
• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Woodside Plant Centre

Silver Award

• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Poppies

Gold

• Perrywood

To win Gold in The Greatest Awards you have to be doing something really special – that’s just what we found with the Chef Team at Timmermans.

The Greatest Garden Centre Chef Team

Finalists

• Chessington
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Mains of Drum
• Planters at Tamworth
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Timmermans
• Twenty Pence
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Mains of Drum
• Squires Badshot Lea

Silver Award

• Chessington

Gold Award

• Timmermans

Pictures from the judging visits and background to the winners will be published in future issues of GTN and GTN Xtra.

Below: Chessington with their Silver Award

Top buyers from EAT, Tesco, Waitrose, Superdrug, British Airways, IKEA, Brakes, Elior, Baxterstorey, Sodexo, and Gate Retail Onboard, are among the who’s who of buyers that have already pre-registered to attend lunch! 2015, which returns to the Business Design Centre in London on 24-25 September. 

Now in its eighth year and firmly established as the leading trade event for the UK’s £6.9bn food-to-go market, lunch’s pivotal focus on innovation has made it a popular choice with buying teams from many of the country’s biggest food-to-go operators, including supermarkets, multiples, contract caterers, wholesalers, distributors, travel caterers, cafés, coffee shops, and sandwich shops.

Thanks to glowing testimonials and a significant 44% increase in attendees in the last two years, the 2015 edition will be the biggest lunch! yet.  To accommodate growing demand from a raft of new food, drink, packaging, technology, and equipment suppliers looking to reach this important market, a 25% increase in stands has expanded the show into an additional new hall on the Upper Feature Level – taking the total to an unprecedented 350 exhibiting companies.  Over 6,500 key buyers and decision makers are set to join them, when doors open in just over three months’ time.

“Once again, the high demand for stand space at the show reflects the ever growing popularity of the food-to-go sector,” says group event director Chris Brazier.  “Rebooking for lunch! 2015 smashed all previous records, leading to the show’s ground floor selling out in December, followed by the Middle Level in January, and the Innovation Zone in February.  Even with the addition of a new hall, the show is on track to be sold out within a matter of weeks.  It’s a testament to the show’s continuing success – and demonstrates just how important and essential lunch! has become to suppliers and buyers looking to do business. ”

“With food-to-go going from strength to strength as a breakfast and lunch occasion, it is great to be able to come to a show with this at its core.  I would recommend anyone involved in this sector to make a date with lunch! 2015,” says Red Kitching, category buying manager, Aramark.

“I recommend lunch! to anyone in the food-to-go sector.  It’s a fantastic chance to discover innovation and trends in our industry.” Kate Skerritt, director of business development/co-founder, POD.

“2014 was my first visit to lunch! and I can see why it is so popular.  It gave me the chance to see existing suppliers and meet new ones, along with seeing what innovation is coming up in the market.” Theo Thomas, director of operations UK at Esquires Coffee 

What’s new for 2015?

Given the breadth and number of exhibitors on offer at lunch!, it’s perhaps no surprise that the word ‘innovation’ is frequently cited as the biggest selling point of the show.  Since its launch in 2008, it’s been helping buyers to stay one step ahead of their competition with all the latest new trends and suppliers.  And 2015 promises more of the same. 

The initial exhibitor list, which includes Cawston Press, Chi Drinks, Coca Cola, Coveris, Frobishers, Lick, Metcalfe’s Food Co, Pipers Crisps, Raynor Foods, Simple Simon Foods, Taylors of Harrogate, Tri-star Packaging, UCC Coffee and Unilever (Tea Fusion), is available at onlineexhibitormanual.com/divlunch15/exhi/exhibitorList.aspx.   

The show’s new hall on the Upper Feature Level will be home to the Innovation Challenge Showcase, VIP Lounge, new Artisan Ingredients Village, and new Menu Innovation Theatre (sponsored by Magrini).  It will host the popular live finals of the annual British Smoothie Championships (also sponsored by Magrini), the Café Life Awards heats, and an exciting new series of coffee, smoothie, tea and juice master classes lead by industry experts. 

Over 60 companies will also be exhibiting in this new area.  Among them are returning names like ELLER foodPackaging, Heavenly Cakes, Farsan, and Ginger Bakers.  Whilst new exhibitors include New York Bakery Co, Euro Food Brands, Marston Foods, James White Drinks, Goodness Brands, George Skoulikas, TM Electronics, Two Chicks, White Rabbit Pizza, Emily Fruit Crisps, Pullins Bakers, Pizza Cones, and Devonvale Bakers.

Country Choice, Foster Refrigerator, Gino Gelato, Tetley, Twinings, WMF UK, and Oli & Zoe's Food Co (which launched the UK's first healthy popcorn for children earlier this year) are just some of the other new exhibitors preparing to make their lunch! debut.

Big name keynotes in the Working lunch! Theatre

The Working lunch! Theatre also boasts a new home for 2015.  Although still on the Upper Feature Level, it’s new position enables it to cater for a significantly bigger audience.  Running throughout the two day show, the free business seminars are renowned for attracting a host of high-profile brands and industry leaders from across the food-to-go retailing and contract catering industry.  The first headline Keynote to be announced for this year, is a Q&A with Roger Whiteside, CEO of bakery and food-to-go giant Greggs.

The former chief executive of Punch Taverns and the Thresher Group, and one of the founding team of Ocado, Whiteside will be sharing exclusive insights from his long and impressive career.  From starting out at Marks & Spencer, where he spent 20 years and became head of its food business, through to the re-positioning of Greggs as a major player in the healthy food-to-go market – it has all the ingredients for a must attend session. 

The full Working lunch! Theatre programme will be unveiled over the next few months, with senior directors from EAT., Pret A Manger, M&S, Subway and Starbucks set to be announced.   

Save the date for lunch! 2015

“Overflowing with fresh ideas and interesting concepts – lunch! is always in my calendar,” says Richard Brownlie-Marshall, head of creative at Tossed.

lunch! – the multi-award-winning trade event for the food-to-go industry, returns to the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, on Thursday and Friday, 24-25 September 2015.  For further information and to book a free trade pass in advance, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk and quote priority code PR1 (direct link: www.eventdata.co.uk/Visitor/Lunch.aspx?TrackingCode=PR1)

Be passionate about food and employ passionate people – two of the key points to come from the first day of the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, being held at The Belfry in West Midlands.

With the overall increase in dining out in the UK only set to continue garden centre catering is in a prime position to benefit as long as the offer and the environment is right.

In the opening session, Chris Brown from Turpin Smale Consultancy illustrated how far garden centres have already come from cling filmed plates of cake to stunning inviting cakes displays helping people to buy with their eyes. He highlighted ambiance (quirky and weird is good), pop ups, special interest groups and technology as the key areas to focus on for the future.

Delegates heard from independent garden centres (Felicity Down from Cleeve Nursery and Tim Greenway from Highfield Garden World) and groups (Alan Roper from Blue Diamond and Jason Danciger from Wyevale Garden Centres). Despite the differences in the scale of operation, there were definite similarities in approach in terms of providing a passionate offer, great ambiance and individual character.

Garden centres are working hard to attract new audiences and there were plenty of examples of this peppered throughout the day from the soft play barn development at Hilltop Garden Centre was spoken about by Boyd Douglas-Davies to the regular programme of evening music events held at The Dutch Nursery, as described by Richard Henn.

This was also picked up in the panel session, which highlighted the importance of bringing new people in from dog walkers to cyclists. Creating dog friendly areas was a particularly hot topic. Bents having opened a pet café in their pet department complete with separate counters for hounds and humans! Ideally situated on the edge of their site right next to a footpath it is a great way of driving extra traffic and providing something different.

The interactive workshop sessions on managing people, costs and the environment provided delegates with further opportunities to hear from and contribute to discussion on key areas relating to running a garden centre-catering offer.

Food critic and MasterChef judge Charles Campion closed day one of the conference by providing his not too serious ‘rules to dine by’ which included ‘never eat anything bigger than your head’ and ‘you cannot have anything better than what you want’ and ‘whenever you see crossed chives you are in trouble’.

The inaugural HTA Catering Conference dinner, with wine kindly sponsored by Quinton Edwards, saw the presentation of The Greatest Catering Awards and an after dinner talk from chef, food entrepreneur and sustainable living expert James Strawbridge. Working closely with his father Dick on many initiatives James had great empathy for family businesses and highlighted many of the challenges that this brings. Now running The Posh Pasty Company and involved in new product development James encouraged all to keep ahead of the game by keeping an eye on what is happening in the wider food area and read food magazines.

The most smiley, most helpful Front of House team the judges met, they anticipate customers needs and all speak Welsh as well as English are at Fron Goch!

The Greatest Garden Centre Front of House Team

Finalists

• Barton Grange
• Fron Goch
• Mains of Drum
• Planters at Tamworth
• Poppies
• Raemoir
• Scotsdales
• Squires Badshot Lea
• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Wheatcroft's
• Woodbank
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Award

• Trentham, Blue Diamond
• Woodbank

Silver Award

• Barton Grange

Gold Award

• Fron Goch

Pictures from the judging visits and background to the winners will be published in future issues of GTN and GTN Xtra.

Below: Barton Grange with their Silver Award

Casual Dining – the UK’s dedicated trade event for the multiple restaurant and pub group sector, has been nominated for ‘Best UK Tradeshow Exhibition under 2,000sq.m’ for a second time in its first two years of business.  Following on from its big win of the same award at the exhibition industry’s annual AEO Excellence Awards last year, Casual Dining (organised by Diversified Communications UK) will now have the chance to defend its title.

Casual Dining was the first launch show in over five years to triumph in the Association of Event Organisers’ hotly contested ‘Best Tradeshow Exhibition under 2,000sq.m’ category; with the judges commenting that "great marketing and strong innovative ideas resulted in very high customer satisfaction levels”.  Previous winners of the award include Diversified UK’s lunch! show in 2010 and 2011.

Since the successful 2015 show in February, which saw 75% of exhibiting companies rebook onsite, stands have been selling at a record rate.  Nine months ahead of its highly anticipated third show, the Ground and Mezzanine Levels of Casual Dining are already sold out.  Whilst the Upper Feature Level, the new home of the highly respected Casual Dining seminar theatre and Casual Dining Design Awards Gallery, has only limited stands left.  The show is currently 85% sold out.

Speaking on behalf of the Casual Dining team, group event director Chris Brazier says: “To have the honour of Casual Dining winning Best Trade Show last year was incredible.  The fact that Casual Dining has been nominated again – that’s twice in our first two years – is a fantastic achievement for the show.  A big thank you must go to the whole industry, including our exhibitors, visitors, media and association partners for supporting the show from the very beginning and helping to make Casual Dining the show that this important sector truly deserves.”

As in previous years, Diversified UK received multiple nominations across five AEO Awards categories; including ‘Most Respected Company of the Year’ (a new award voted for by AEO members).

The AEO Excellence Awards 2015 will take place at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, on Friday 26 June.

Casual Dining (including the Design Awards and Innovation Challenge Live) will return to the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, on 24-25 February 2016.  For more information, and to stay up-to-date with all the latest news and exhibitor information, please visit www.casualdiningshow.co.uk.

While we visited all of the centres for The Greatest Catering Awards, the experts asked them “Who is your greatest catering supplier of this year?"  41 centres were asked and 41 different suppliers were nominated. 

Almost all of the votes were for a special local supplier. And the majority of the votes were for the local butcher who supplies the garden centre catering team so we asked Tim Godwin of Fosseway Garden Centre to receive the award from guest speaker James Strawbridge on behalf of all the local butchers who are The Greatest Catering Supplier of the Year.

The Greatest Catering Supplier of the Year

Gold Award

• Our local butcher