It's only 20 weeks until Easter 2016 so now is the time to make sure your strategic marketing planning gets off on the right foot. That's where the HTA Marketing Forum comes in to help, and you could be there by taking advantage of this great marketing offer for GTN Xtra readers: Buy one place at the Forum and get another place for free...

In just one day your marketeers and senior managers could be benefitting from the latest tips and know how from bite sized sessions on topics including return on investment from social media, making the most of local radio, digital loyalty schemes, door drop campaigns, using events to drive footfall, making better choices in who we want as our customer, digital marketing issues, attracting and keeping younger family customers, using EPoS as a marketing tool and engaging in stimulating discussion with other garden centre marketeers.  With keynote speakers Tim Mason (former Deputy CEO and Chief Marketing Officer for Tesco) and Gerald Ratner (ex CEO of Ratners) it really is an event not to be missed!

  

A day spent on Tuesday at the HTA Marketing Forum taking in ideas and information from eighteen presentations, yes 18 presentations in just one day, could be your best marketing investment for next year. 

Simply book online at www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum and add in GTNXtra when prompted for an offer code.

See you on Tuesday.

Rosebourne, the company founded by former Blooms garden centres chairman Charles Good, has recruited former Garden & Leisure manager Val Kempster to run its new centre in Hampshire.

She was manager of Garden & Leisure's Endsleigh store near Plymouth, now owned by Wyevale Garden Centres.

As a key member of the Garden & Leisure Christmas and gift buying team, she played a major role in Endsleigh's string of successes in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards. Her first buying trip when she takes up her post in December is likely to be to festive suppliers Kaemingk.  

The new centre, at Weyhill near Andover, will encompass many of the features of the successful Beckworth Emporium food and plant centre model developed by fellow director and former Blooms MD John Kitching at Mears Ashby in Northamptonshire, but with a greater gift and seasonal gardening offer. It is due to open in September 2016.

The store, on an 8.5-acre site near Andover, has a bigger footprint than Beckworth Emporium, whose gift offering takes second place to the food hall, plant area and restaurant.

The Rosebourne team, under Good’s chairmanship, has Neville Prest, former managing director of Garden & Leisure, as MD and includes Jon Kitching and David Brown of Beckworth Emporium and catering specialist Salim Sajid, former retail operations director at Blooms.

The designer of the Weyhill centre is Gary Wilburn of architects HPW.

Rosebourne is reported to be negotiating for a further site in the Reading area.

The government’s target of 200,000 new homes will spark a patio garden boom, says Ball Colegrave.

The company describes the patio gardening trend, which is already under way, as “one of the greatest business opportunities our industry will experience for some time”.

“The typical home gardener visiting your garden centres is likely to be getting younger; they buy with their eyes, look for easy, fashionable and colourful garden solutions and are more typically cash rich, time poor,” the company said this week. 

To encourage retailers to capture these extra sales, Ball Colegrave have again teamed up with Hortipak to produce a ‘Trends Garden Decorators Guide’ that sets out an easy, step-by-step guide on how to transform seasonal plant displays into a powerful selling area that home gardeners customers will love.

Garden centres simply choose a colour theme garden style, pick a selection of varieties with their grower from any of the company’s colour plant collections and create their own personalised POS display with the help of POS materials from Hortipak

You can see a full range of the ‘Trends’ colour themed gardens and plant collections at www.ballcolegrave.co.uk/retailers/_trends.aspx or email them (info@planttrends.com) for advice or to book a visit from their experts.

More retail ideas will be available at the Ball Colegrave 2016 Summer Showcase (11-29 July).

The company’s newly-published Spring Additions brochure includes more than 100 new introductions that do not appear in the 2016 Plant catalogue. Copies are available to download from this link: http://www.ballcolegrave.co.uk/virtual/2016Colgrave_Spring_Additions/index.aspx

Supplier supported training events around the UK next February and early March will help garden centres target, educate and communicate effectively to new and existing customers to maximize sales of plants, seeds, bulbs, garden sundries, irrigation and bird care.

The key aims of the training are to increase footfall and average spend, particularly in core gardening, via as many channels as possible, and garden centres will be provided with full training and a range of materials to make this simple and practical

The one day training events will cover:

• Reasons why sales of core garden products and many plants are nowhere near their full capacity despite potential customer demand
• How to target customers of all ages and abilities by various means, both internally and externally
• Training on appropriate plant and product groups with quick and easy references
• Tips on identifying needs, anticipating and overcoming obstacles to buying
• Ideas to help increase the average spend
• Thinking outside the box to sell even more effectively
• Keeping it cohesive to make the most of all resources and opportunities
• Making it happen in the garden centre in a strategic, sustainable and realistic way

As well as enhancing staff product knowledge and selling skills there will be significant focus on marketing, inspiring and educating customers and raising overall awareness via materials supplied. The course is intended for planteria and sundries staff, owners, managers and marketing staff and centres will gain the maximum benefits if each area is represented so that they can coordinate the various tips and resources effectively once back at their businesses.

Delegates will be provided with a range of useful materials including:

Two re-usasble wallplanners per delegate, one of which will be blank and the other part completed  with month by month suggestions for

• Hotspot stock items
• Signage ideas to enhance sales
• Marketing, PR and social media suggestions
• Staff training topics in line with (course notes and appendices supplied)
• Display ideas
• Other promotional activities

These will all dovetail with each other for maximum benefit. Many suggestions for Tweets and Facebook posts by month will be given in the course notes, in addition to general monthly gardening tips so that there will be a substantial pool of useful data which could be used for signage, on websites, for social media activity and general e-marketing.

Useful reference material for staff and customers:

• Vegetable seed sowing and harvesting calendars highlighting key attributes such as value for money, easy to grow, great taste/gourmet
• Flower sowing calendar highlighting aspects such as easy to grow, attracts bees/butterflies
• Bulb planting calendar, highlighting kley benefits
• Fruit trees and bushes for small spaces

Memory sticks with:

• Course presentation in pdf format including display and merchandising ideas for future reference
• Images for use with social media campaigns

Text for consumer factsheets, uploading to websites etc:

• Organic gardening
• Growing fruit and vegetables in small gardens
• Efficient use of water in the garden
• Bird care throughout the year

Key supporting companies include Bayer Garden, Gardman, Hozelock, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and Mr Fothergills. Other suppliers supporting the initiative include Agralan, Maxicrop, Neudorff and Taylors Bulbs.

Liz Hutson, the course trainer and organiser, commented: “Whilst many garden centres have an amazing catering offer and attractive indoor and outdoor lifestyle departments, plants and core garden products remain something of a mystery to many customers.

"A great deal of work and thought has been put into the course content and materials to give garden centres everything they need to join the dots in terms of internal and external marketing, staff knowledge and reference materials, enhanced selling skills and customer education.

"Whilst many other departments may be peaking in terms of potential there is still a long way to go in order to make the most of the sales opportunities in core gardening in most centres.

"Improving product knowledge and increasing staff confidence and awareness has been demonstrated to have a marked impact on the bottom line, and if this is combined with better internal and external communication with the consumer it can only enhance sales further and help centres make the most of every square metre of selling space.”

2016 Training dates and venues:

• Maidstone – 16^th February (Marriott Tudor Park)
• Guildford – 18^th February (Barnett Hill Hotel and Conference Centre)
• Cambridge – 23^rd February (Menzies Hotel)
• Birmingham – 25^th February (Holiday Inn)
• Chester – 29^th February . (Carden Park Hotel)
• Perth – 2^nd March (Murrayshall House Hotel)

Prices per delegate start at £70 plus VAT depending on numbers per centre and if the £10 per delegate early bird booking applies. This includes a hot, two course lunch, refreshments and all course materials

The HTA will be mailing out course details and booking forms to members. Garden centres may also book direct through course organiser Liz Hutson (01531 631592, liz.hutson@ledburybband.co.uk) or online (www.bookwhen.com/growprofits)

• Garden Products - down 12%
• Christmas Products - down 6%
• Growing Media - down 16%
• All Items Index - down 10%

The Crop Protection Association and HTA have developed an online tool to provide training for garden retail staff on the safe and effective use of garden plant protection products.

New Sustainable Use Directive (SUD) regulations come into effect on the 26 November, requiring retailers selling garden plant protection products to have a sufficient number of trained and certified staff available at the point of sale to provide advice to customers on garden plant protection products.

The e-learning course is interactive, visual and based on realistic scenarios that will enable staff to develop a good knowledge of garden plant protection products by understanding the label.  The label is designed to ensure correct use, environmental safety, safe disposal and where to go for further information.

The course cost is £10 plus VAT per delegate and includes an assessment and download of a personalised certificate on successful completion.

Gary Philpotts, chair of the Common Sense Garden Group, said: "This interactive course is a simple cost-effective way for garden retailers to ensure they meet the requirements of the SUD legislation and improve the service they offer to customers.”

To access the course, go to the HTA learning portal

Santa will be arriving in style at Squire’s Garden Centres at the end of November…and, as befits the modern age, in a variety of modes of transport. 

Depending on the centre, he will arrive in an Aston Martin, horse-drawn carriage, double-decker bus, fire engine, £1m vintage sports car and even on a Harley Davidson motorbike!

The old fella – who has had centuries of practice at being in several places at once – has timed his arrival for 10am at each of the 14 locations over the last two weekends of the month.

Van Vliet New Plants walked off with three gold and two bronze medals at the international nursery stock trade fair Groot Groen Plus in Zundert last week.

The gold medals were awarded to Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Blue Moon’, Skimmia japonica ‘White Dwarf’, and Skimmia japonica ‘Red Dwarf’. ‘Blue Moon’ was also voted Best Novelty  of 2015. 

The bronze medals went to Skimmia japonica ‘Pink Dwarf’ and Skimmia japonica ‘Rubesta Jos’.

Van Vliet New Plants is responsible for the marketing the three gold medal winners and will further market the prize winners under licence.

The company is now looking for growers for the products

All entries are judged by the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society (KVBC) at the fair.

Van Vliet will exhibit at the international trade fair for plants (IPM ESSEN) in Germany in January 2016 on the Bizz Holland stand in hall 12.

Herefordshire nursery Allensmore has expanded its range of perennials in unique Blooms of Bressingham branded pots, following the new partnership with Blooms of Bressingham Plants announced during the summer.

Supported by a comprehensive POS package, each variety is a proven best-seller promising value for money and top garden performance.

For 2016, the range includes a number of completely new Blooms introductions in distinctive 4.5-litre blue pots carrying the Blooms of Bressingham logo in silver. Also new for 2016 are Blooms-branded 2-litre products to create opportunities for early season sales.

Blooms director Adrian Bloom visited Allensmore’s production and despatch sites in Herefordshire in September. Together with his son Jason, he toured the enlarged production facilities at Allensmore’s new 40-acre site at Madley, which includes new state-of-the art exterior under-bed irrigation, a new three-acre glasshouse complex and the despatch facility for Italian and Mediterranean plant ranges.

Pictured (left to right): Jason Bloom, Brian Taylor proprietor, Mark Taylor and Adrian Bloom.

Wholesale distributor Decco has been nominated as the logistics partner for the Greenfingers charity’s ‘Turn Old into Gold’ scheme.

The scheme encourages garden centres, nurseries and suppliers to donate old and unwanted stock to the charity for resale at auction.

Plants, hardware, tools, furniture and garden equipment will be sold by auctioneers W&H Peacocks, with all proceeds going directly to Greenfingers.  Decco will collect the donated stock from a broad area of the UK and take it to W&H Peacocks in Bedford.

Greenfingers chairman John Ashley said: “Without their expert logistical help, free of charge, we simply could not make this scheme viable.  Now we have this vital transport element in place we are really hoping to encourage anyone with unwanted stock to think of Greenfingers before they get rid of it.”

John Findlay, Decco’s chief operating officer, added: ‘’We are delighted to be working with Greenfingers on this initiative and hope that garden centres and suppliers will take advantage of this opportunity to help our industry charity achieve the target set for the ‘A Million Moments’appeal.’’

Garden centres and suppliers who have unwanted stock should call Greenfingers to arrange transportation.

Linda Petrons, head of fundraising for Greenfingers, said: “Your trash really is our treasure!  With little effort on the part of the garden centre or supplier we can take your stock off your hands and turn it into much needed funds for more gardens for children in hospices.”

Contact Greenfingers on 01494 674749 or by email (info@greenfingerscharity.org.uk)

‘A Million Moments’, launched in July, aims to raise £1 million to help at least a further 5,000 children who spend time in hospices around the UK by giving them the gift of a garden and the chance to spend time outdoors enjoying the natural world.

• The Greatest Christmas Display Team - awards for individual centres and centres that are part of groups, plus special awards for display teams that are being really innovative.
• The Greatest Grotto Team - regional and national award for teams delivering The Greatest Santa experience for their customers young and old.
• The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team - for exceptional BBQ sales as gifts and for cooking the turkey in the run up to Christmas.
• The Greatest Festive Plant Sales Team - for planteria teams that really enter into the festive spirit to maximise the sales of plants and trees while centre footfall is at it’s highest.
• The Greatest Festive Catering Team - which catering team is The Greatest at converting footfall into dining and drinking.
• The Greatest Garden Centre Team at Christmas (customer voting) - decided purely by customer voting.  If you have a loyal and satisfied customer base let them make you The Greatest, they will love taking part.
  

To make you nomination and vote, please send an e-mail today to: thegreatestawards@tgcmc.co.uk with your name, garden centre name and your job title, telling us who is your Greatest Christmas Supplier of the year, what they do that makes them great and what is the thing they do best.

The results of The Greatest Christmas Awards will be announced at The Greatest Christmas Awards Party on Sunday January 10^th 2016 in the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.  To book your tickets please call The Greatest Christmas Awards on 01733 775700.

Pictured: The current Greatest Christmas Supplier of the Year Premier Decorations receiving their award.

We have an immediate vacancy for an experienced Key Account Professional to manage a portfolio of 8 – 10 national accounts.

The job will involve some overseas travel, mainly to S. E. Asia and attendance at our Oldbury head office for 2 – 3 days each week.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of managing and developing business with major retail accounts, preferably with Outdoor Living / Gardening products.

Consideration will also be given to anybody currently working in a field sales position selling Outdoor / Conservatory furniture.

The successful candidate can expect a substantial basic salary, bonus scheme and fully maintained company car.

Initially, please email your cv, in complete confidence, to john.chester@a-mir.co.uk

Wholesale Nursery| Sales Assistant | Hampshire (ref:DS7742)

Location: Hampshire
Salary: £23000-£25000
Date: 19 Oct 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Our client is a leading group of nurseries who sell an innovative range of plants to the garden centre sector across the UK. They are currently seeing an office based Sales Assistant to sell quality plants to their customers. The main purpose of job is to provide sales support for the General Manager and the Commercial team. Based in Hampshire.

Reporting to the General Manager.
Work closely with:
Internal: Sales Colleagues, Commercial Manager, Growing manager, Operations
Managers, Office colleagues
External: Customers, Prospective customers, POS suppliers

The candidate:

The role will be predominantly office based but with a requirement to visit trade shows and key
customers on occasion. Showing customers round the nursery and talking to them on the phone,
managing customer orders in the office and keeping accurate records will form the core.
Essential

• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Accurate record keeping
• Excellent IT skills, ability & desire to learn new systems
• Good telephone manner
• Tele sales experience
• Ability to take responsibility for resolving customer issues
• Flexibility in hours to suit seasonal business
• Full driving licence
• Smart and tidy appearance
• Horticultural experience
• Good Plant knowledge
• Knowledge of web sites
• Experience attending Trade shows

The role

• Assist the management team in achieving or exceeding sales budgets.
• Manage sales orders to garden centres and multiple retailer accounts on an agreed frequency,
• communicating amendments / issues to the customer where necessary.
• Develop a range of options for the sales function to improve customer service and business
• efficiency.
• Manage timely communication of stock availability to customers and resolve customer queries.
• Maintain an accurate stock system, update stock systems daily and report promptly on issues
• relating to stock shortages.
• Provide relevant information in a timely manner to the Operations Manager to ensure prompt
• order collation and excellent customer service.
• Report on weekly, monthly sales as required through existing reporting mechanisms.
• Prepare and deliver business presentations to key accounts.
• Assist in product costing, range development and market/competitor research as required.
• Assist in preparation and distribution of marketing materials including catalogues, e-marketing,
• Webshop updates and maintenance.
• Represent the business in a polite and professional manner, targeting key accounts and
• customer visits as agreed with the General Manager.
• Represent the business at internal and external trade exhibitions.
• General office duties including filing, answering the telephone and visitor reception.
• The above is not an exhaustive list and you may be required to perform different tasks necessitated
• by your changing role within the business and changes of the overall business objectives of the
• organisation.

Plant Area Supervisor | Garden Centre (ref:BP7649)

Location: Hampshire
Salary: £18,000 - £20,000
Date: 14 Sep 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanen

My client is a large garden centre group based throughout Great Britain. The business prides itself on its mix of high quality large destination centre and more boutique offerings. They are a recognisable brand and are expanding.

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. 
Visual merchandising experience is preferred.

Plant Propagation Seeding Supervisor | Manager (ref:DS7708)

Location: North Yorkshire
Salary: £18,000 - £25,000
Date: 05 Oct 
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

We are currently seeking an experienced seeding propagator / seeding department manager for our client.

They are a leading North Yorkshire based Wholesale Nursery and Propagation specialist who supply young plants to the nursery trade.

The role

These well respected nursery growers are currently seeking either an experienced Nursery Person who is capable of helping to run the seeding equipment in their propagation department or someone with commercial horticultural experience who is capable of learning and growing into the role. 

The Candidate 

for this role will have previous experience in a commercial wholesale nursery and ideally be trained in commercial horticulture up to a level 3 diploma. 
Have reasonable plant knowledge 
Be capable of working to deadlines and production targets 
Have excellent communications skills and be able to manage a team 

Salary is dependent on experience and capability, they are open minded as to taking on a manager who can hit the ground running and is capable of taking on the management of the department but they will also consider less experienced growers and propagators who can learn on the job and develop into the role. 

Please submit your CV in the first instance or to discuss further please call Dianne Saunders at MorePeople on 01780 480530.

The all new Garden Life range of garden tools launched at Glee has captured the imagination of both the trade and consumers.

Garden Life offers consumers the lighter way to garden, making it easier to garden for longer. Research carried out by Crest Garden identified a preference for lighter weight tools among ladies, younger gardeners, people with restricted movement or mobility issues and those who simply prefer a lighter weight tool.

Garden Life is different to other smaller tools on the market which tend to be aimed at children.

Natalie Searle, marketing manager, said: “Garden Life tools are designed and manufactured with the same craftsmanship and quality as the full size Kent & Stowe stainless steel range. However they are up to 40% lighter, perfectly balanced and proportioned making them more comfortable and manoeuvrable. They also have the reassurance of a full 15 years guarantee."

“The reaction from retailers and initial demand at Glee for the off fixture Garden Life full colour display modules exceeded our expectations.” commented MD Nick Davies.

“Additional units were ordered immediately and I am pleased to say that we are now fully stocked on display units and tools to meet all pre-season orders and the anticipated surge in sales of this range as Christmas presents."

The stands include lifestyle imagery and POS to enable consumers to easily identify and purchase the right tool for the job.

Work on a new manufacturing facility for Jiffy International at Zwijndrecht in the Netherlands is due to start this winter.

It will include a 25,000 sq. production area and 550sq.m. office space as well as a harbour facility.

Jiffy is a worldwide supplier of environmentally friendly propagation systems, hydroponic systems, growing containers and growing media for the horticultural industry. It has substrate manufacturing locations strategically located near peat bogs in Canada, Estonia and Swedenm with additional production facilities in Sri Lanka, USA, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, producing substrates, peat pots, Jiffy-7 pellets, Preforma propagation systems and, for the hydroponic industry, coir grow blocks and grow bags.

At the new location in Zwijndrecht, peat and other raw materials will be processed and mixed into high-quality substrates for the professional grower. The existing harbour basin will be converted into a sea port allowing coasters to dock at the new location.

Work starts this month November and is scheduled for completion on 1 July 2016. 

Kent-based pots and containers supplier The Pot Company is to mark its 30^th anniversary by giving away a £300 voucher at this month’s Futurescape show (Sandown Park Racecourse, 17 November).

Some brand new ranges will be showcased on the stand, where gift bags will be offered and the voucher winner announced. 

To enter, LIKE the company’s Facebook page or FOLLOW it on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest! Every ‘follow’ counts as a vote, so you could get you four chances. You can also enter at the show by visiting the stand (54/55).

Ranges include contemporary, rustic and traditional styles. More than 100,000 pots are now stocked at the warehouse, with new lines regularly introduced in response to market trends and customer demand. The company is also exclusive UK distributor for Adezz planters, burners and water features, in materials that include corten steel, aluminium and glass fibre.

Thrive, the leading charity operating in the field of disability and gardening, has been named as seedsman Thompson & Morgan’s Charity of the Year.

Sales of a new sweet pea launched for 2016 will benefit Thrive training programs at the charity’s four regional centres and local community venues. 

The sale of the sweet pea alone aims to generate £10,000-plus. T&M is also supplying more than £1,000 of flower and vegetable seeds to be grown at the charity’s three garden project sites at Gateshead, Reading and London’s Battersea Park, to help provide learning opportunities and the prospect of charity income from the sale of the plants grown.

In addition, the company is to donate 2,400 litres of its incredicompost® growing medium and incredibloom® fertiliser.

The sweet pea was named ‘Eleanore Udall’ to commemorate the late wife of the founder of Thrive, the late Rev. Dr Geoffrey Udall, who bequeathed his Beech Hill estate in Berkshire, now home to the charity’s head office and gardens. The variety was selected for its pretty graduated pink petals and heavenly scent – ideal for garden display and home-made cut flower bouquets. It will retail from January 2016 at £2.99 for 25 seeds.

As well as retail outlets at its main gardening projects, Thrive also has a network of local retailers who show their support for the charity as Friends of Thrive. Many of them will be retailing the sweet pea in the Berkshire area.

• Plant Support Rings 40 x 91cm Pack of 2 (pictured above) are the highest new entry at No 7.
• The highest re-entry is the Gardman Leaf Rake (Plastic) at No 12.
• Gardman Marker Light Single is the highest climber, jumping 30 places to top spot.

• The highest new entry is Kaemingk Mini Tree in Jute Bag, Green (60cm) at No 19.
• Another prominent newcomer is the Premier Decorations Santa’s Secret Singing Straws (26cm) at No 26.
• The highest climber is the Robin Decoration on a clip, moving up 19 places to No 10.
• History & Heraldry Personalised Christmas Bauble retains the top spot.

• Scotts Levington Organic Choice Top Soil (25 litres) is the highest climber, jumping 26 places to No 8.
• Vital Earth Farm Manure (50 litres) has moved up to No 2.
• Westland Gro-Sure All Purpose Compost (25 litres) is another strong performer, being the highest re-entry at No 30.
• The highest new entry is Scotts Miracle Gro Potting Mix (20 litres) at No 39.

The company will be celebrating this milestone at Futurescape at Sandown Park Racecourse on 17^th November, where its stand will showcase brand new ranges, free gift bags and the announcement of the winner of the £300 voucher.

To enter this competition all people need to do is LIKE the company's Facebook page or FOLLOW on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest! Every follow counts as a vote. People can also enter at the show by visiting us at stand 54/55.

The Pot Company's ranges include contemporary, rustic and traditional styles and it now stocks over 100,000 pots at its warehouse in the Kent countryside. 

For more information visit www.thepotco.com

GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.

See you next Tuesday!

Generating coverage and awareness for your business is no guarantee to driving a return on investment. With every penny on marketing spend counting, this session from Jonathon Bates, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy at Thomond, will establish how businesses can make a tangible difference by reaching the right audience with the right message.

Jonathon Bates is a strategy and planning expert who ensures that every campaign is built upon strong insight and analysis to ensure success. Using audience research, industry analysis and good old fashioned experience, Jonathon has spent over a decade creating strategies for some of the world’s largest brands. Using this experience and knowledge of what it takes to create a household brand, Jonathon’s passion is working with high growth businesses and helping them develop the strategy and marketing plans that drive tangible growth.

If you want to make a tangible difference by reaching the right audience with the right message, book your place at The HTA Marketing Forum now.  GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.

John Ashley, who has been involved with garden industry sales and marketing since 1972 will talk about the hugely successful way in which the award winning Scotsdales Garden Centre in Cambridge target key postcodes communicating the wide range of products and services on offer and entice the customer to visit and spend money through voucher offers. 

John joined Fisons in 1972 and held Sales and Marketing Management roles during the rapid growth of gardening during the 1980s.  He then set-up the Miracle Gro business in Europe in 1989 and integrated the ICI and Levington businesses. 

Although John retired at 65, he still assists Scotts with trade relations policy and Scotsdales with their marketing strategy. John is current Chairman of the Greenfingers Charity. 

If you want to learn the secrets of Scotsdales communication successes book your place at The HTA Marketing Forum now.  GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.

If you are thinking of adding soft play to your offering, Boyd Douglas-Davies from the Hillview Group will cover the high and low points through the first year of operating a Soft Play centre in a garden centre. Since opening the Soft Play Barn at Hilltop Garden Store on 1^st October 2014, they have learnt a lot one year on!

Boyd J Douglas-Davies is Chief Executive of Hillview Garden Centres Ltd. The business acquired its first garden centre in September 2011 and now has 9 sites across the Midlands and is looking to add a significant number of centres to its portfolio. Prior to setting up HGC, Boyd was CEO of Webbs of Wychbold, the award winning garden centre in Worcestershire. In 2011 he created Garden Re-Leaf Day; a national day of activities for Gardeners, Garden Centres and Giving. 

Since its inception it has generated a huge amount of PR for the industry and raised over £270,000 for the Greenfingers Charity.  He is passionate about garden centres and relishes challenges that require creative solutions. In 2014 Hillview Garden Centres opened its first Soft Play Barn – a charged for Soft Play and Cafe Bar at Hilltop Garden Store in the Cotswolds. He has plans to open a number of these units in the next year. 

If you want to understand the ups and downs of adding soft play to your mix, book your place at The HTA Marketing Forum now.  GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.

Today, every business of every size has to understand how to engage with their customers via digital channels. Conor Mee from ProvenMentor, who deliver accredited and validated Digital Marketing Courses and Digital Marketing Training to businesses and individuals, provides an update on the key issues on the digital agenda.

Conor Mee, Director at ProvenMentor Ltd, a Digital Marketing Training and Consultancy, has over 20 years manufacturing experience and is the founder, owner and director of two software training businesses. He has a Digital Marketing Institute Certification, BSc in Food Science, and a Certification in Management Consulting (Chartered Management Institute & Institute of Business Consulting). ProvenMentor Ltd is licensed by the Digital Marketing Institute to deliver their Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing throughout GB. With a strong and proven business background in management, mentoring, training and applied business technology.  

If you want to be up to date with key issues on the digital marketing agenda, book your place at The HTA Marketing Forum now.  GTN Xtra readers can take advantage of a special Buy One get One Free offer at: www.the-hta.org.uk/marketingforum using the code GTNXtra.

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 2013 as well as 2014 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 this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Christmas Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

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Improvements to the catering areas at Tong Garden Centre has created 35 jobs for local people.

The refurbishment of the 132-seater Orchard restaurant is the latest phase of an ambitious programme of improvements implemented since the centre was acquired by businessmen Mark Farnsworth and Tom Megginson last May.

The refurbishment also benefitted the local economy as all of the work was undertaken by West Yorkshire-based businesses. The restaurant's tray bakes, scones and quiche are made on site in the state-of-the-art William's Farm Kitchen bakery and 90% of the remaining suppliers to the restaurant are Yorkshire based.

Mark Farnsworth said: "Since we acquired the business in May, we have created 45 new jobs, including 35 in the catering team that services the Orchard Restaurant, the new Coffee Shop and Grasshoppers Adventure Playground café and we have increased the number of catering covers from 100 to 308.

"To celebrate the refurbishment, and to build on the £5,000 that we raised for Martin House Children's Hospice throughout the summer, we will donate 50p from the sale of every Christmas dinner bought in the Orchard Restaurant to this very worthy cause."

The new owners have also remerchandised the plant area, created a new café and food hall, built a children's adventure playground and café, introduced concessions and refurbished all areas.

Mr Farnsworth concluded: "In years gone by, Tong was an iconic garden centre in the North of England and we intend to return it to that status and really broaden the appeal of the centre. The changes that we have made, including the much improved catering facilities, will help us really put Tong back on the map."

The centre, occupying a 17-acre site in Tong village, is one of Yorkshire's biggest garden centres with 110,000 square feet of retail space and parking for up to 1,000 cars.