As the country wrapped up against the snow and freezing conditions over the weekend of Garden Re-Leaf and Mother's Day, garden centres throughout the land were encouraged by an increase in buying activity in their stores.
TV star Alex Polizzi fixes it for Oak Garden Centre
Oak Garden Centre in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, is the subject of BBC2's 'The Fixer' programme in which successful businesswomen Alex Polizzi rejuvenates the company. It's being screened at 8pm on Tuesday (March 19).
According to the BBC's preview Oak Garden Centre "withered under the battering of last year's freezing winter and the poor financial management of dad David." It was forced into liquidation, leaving David and his wife Lynn distraught and in tears.
Son Ross stepped into relaunch the business but with no money to play with he only kept it afloat by maxing out his credit card.
The BBC said that David found it impossible to let his son take the reins and their relationship was on the verge of total breakdown.
Into the breach stepped Alex Polizzi. During the programme she takes them to a stunning and successful National Trust property to understand how to turn themselves into a destination and calls in a leading retail expert to transform the site.
Alex was helped by visual merchandising expert Karl McKeever. Karl, who owns the retail consultancy Visual Thinking, which consults for the likes of M&S, John Lewis and Sainsbury’s, says of the series: “Several of the businesses that took part in The Fixer last year recorded extensive profit and turnover increases, increased average transaction values and also saw other tangible benefits.
“This completely dispels the perception that reality TV business makeovers are simply two-dimensional displays for the benefit of television and that once the cameras go, things go back to bad for the retailers.”
