Former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy will top the bill at the Cultivating Retail conference in November.

Sir Terry, who is a Dobbies shareholder, will talk about the opportunities and interest around horticulture and draw on his experiences to talk about sustainability and the customer.

HTA chairman James Barnes, a previous Dobbies chief executive, said he was delighted to have him on the programme, which focuses on the sustainability issues facing the garden industry. “This provides a unique opportunity for all of us to hear from one of the key business leaders of our time and his thoughts on some of the opportunities within horticulture, supply chains and how issues around sustainability might influence the consumer,” Barnes said.

Sir Terry was appointed CE of Tesco PLC in March 1997, retiring from the post in March 2011, and was instrumental in driving the grocery giant’s sustainability agenda. He received a Knighthood for services to food retailing in the 2002 New Year’s Honours, in the same year was made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool and is a member of the Liverpool Enterprise Partnership Advisory Board. He has received many accolades as a business leader including Retail Leader of the Year by Retail Week (2008), Britain’s Most Admired Leader by Management Today (from 2005 to 2010) and in 2010 he received the Daily Telegraph’s Award for a Decade of Excellence in Business. Sir Terry is now a part-time senior advisor to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the US private equity firm, and holds various chair and executive committee memberships.

‘Creating a sustainable future for the garden industry’ is the key theme at this year’s Cultivating Retail (19 November, East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham) which is jointly hosted by the HTA and GIMA and sponsored by Evergreen Garden Care. Bringing together retailers, suppliers and growers, the event – hosted by journalist and broadcaster Daisy McAndrew – provides a mix of strategic and inspirational content.

The programme will include the latest consumer attitudes and thoughts on what sustainability means for the garden industry including key topics such as biosecurity, growing media, plastics, labour/skills, water and pesticides, and the significant role the industry can play in delivering the UK’s environmental plans and climate change ambitions.

For more information and to book a place, click here www.hta.org.uk/cultivatingretail or email events@hta.org.uk.