The Stewart Group of companies is in good shape and progressing well with all of its plans for 2015, says former sales director Nigel Thompson, who now works for the company on a freelance consultancy basis.

GTN Xtra met up with Nigel at Harrogate this week during the Christmas and Gift Fair, and he was eager to point out that he was still heavily involved in Stewart, working on a three-day-a-week consultancy basis.

"I approached the company over the year ago to see if there was any chance I could change my working arrangements because I wanted to become more involved in my church leadership," said Nigel.

"I'm delighted with the way the company has handled my situation, and although it has been a year in the making, I now have the opportunity to carry out my church work as well as help Stewart to execute their plans."

Nigel left his role as sales director at the end of 2014 and has now set up his own consultancy business Nigel Thompson Associates Ltd.

"I'm dividing my working week up into three days in the garden industry and two days on church leadership. Most of my time in gardening is still taken up by work with Stewart but I am also engaging with other potential clients.

"Stewart has an envious position with its distribution channels to garden centres and it plans to grow its position in 2015. Gavin Wray has been given the new role of garden centre channel manager, and this shows the commitment of the company towards building on its current strengths."

For anyone interested in talking to Nigel about his consultancy business he can be contacted on 07771 976125.