If you’re wondering why we've published this special issue of GTN Xtra, the answer is simple:  It's your call to get involved with Garden Re-Leaf Day 2015 on Friday 27^th March, the ideal way to kick start your gardening sales season.

All you have to do is get your staff and customers taking Glovies – the new Selfies – and post them on your social  media activities with the #Glovies to draw attention to your Garden Re-Leaf Day activities.

To give you no excuse for joining in there will be a pair of Greenfingers Glovies delivered with your March issue of Garden Trade News.

Then you can create your own Glovie event to be part of setting a new world Glovie record.  At precisely 11:00am on Garden Re-Leaf Day the Greenfingers Team are aiming for the highest number of people doing glovies at one time.  What a really easy way to encourage plenty of customers in-store on Garden Re-Leaf Day morning.

Briers, the suppliers of the Greenfingers Glovies are also offering a super prize for the best Glovie photograph taken.  The best Glovie will win a tablet and 2 tickets for the GIMA Awards in July this year.  To enter the competition send your Glovies to: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk and post on social media with the hashtag #Glovies

If you would like supplies of the Briers Greenfingers Glovies which raise money for Greenfingers with every sale you should contact sales@briersltd.co.uk or call 01963 269077

As well as Glovies there are a host of event ideas including the Garden Re-Leaf Day Celebrity Gardening Quiz that are suggested on the Garden Re-Leaf Day website: www.gardenreleaf.co.uk so there’s every reason for you to get involved this year.

Glovies are the new phenomenon gaining huge media coverage and set to go viral in the run up to Garden Re-Leaf Day.  All it involves is taking and posting photos featuring the Greenfingers Gloves – the gardening version of a selfie!

Boyd told GTN Xtra; "I have managed to go through the whole conference without really highlighting Briers support for the Glovies campaign. If it hadn't been for the beer they bought me last November the idea would never have been born!"

Horticultural celebrities from TV and radio are busy recording questions, wearing Glovies of course, for the 2015 Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day Quiz.

Popular stars of TV and radio Christine Walkden and Chris Beardshaw are currently recording questions for the quiz, along with their BBC Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time colleague Eric Robson and BBC weatherman Peter Gibbs. Other well-known gardening experts such as Anne Swithinbank, Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood, Bunny Guinness, Matthew Biggs and Matthew Wilson (Greenfingers Chairman) are also contributing to the esteemed quiz.

All monies raised from the quiz, with questions this year written by Andy Bunker of Altons Garden Centre and produced in the studios of Garden Radio, will once again go to the Greenfingers ‘Rosy Cheeks’ campaign. The campaign aims to provide much needed gardens for children who spend time in hospices around the UK, along with their families, by creating inspiring gardens and outdoor spaces for them to relax in and enjoy.

The 2015 Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day Quiz is available to all garden centres, gardening societies and other organisations and is the perfect way to participate in the fourth, annual Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day, which takes place on 27th March 2015.

For £100 participants will receive a pack containing all they need to host the quiz – it includes a special CD or Mp3 download of pre-recorded questions (and answers) to play to the audience, everything needed for the picture round, and a bonus pack of fundraising ideas, hints and tips.

Bosworth’s Garden Centre in Burton Latimer were one of the many garden centres that received great interest in last year’s Garden Re-Leaf Day Quiz. Marketing Co-ordinator, Jonathan Biggs, said: “The quiz was so easy to run, our teams were delighted to hear celebrities’ voices asking the questions, and the ‘heads and tails’ game was great fun.”

Garden centres wanting to take part should register on the Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day website, and can also take advantage of free publicity for their events, by filling in the simple form online at www.gardenreleaf.co.uk/register-an-event. Once registered, each individual event appears on the site’s ‘events’ section, and is searchable by area to help the public find their local participating garden centre.

The quiz is just one of many ways to raise funds for Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day. Other retailer participation ideas include in-store sponsored cycle rides, as well as fun family day activities such as making cress heads and sowing Sunflowers – the Home Garden Association’s plant of the year for 2015. Suppliers can also get involved with the Loose Change promotion.

To ensure maximum exposure for your event, make sure to register soon via www.gardenreleaf.co.uk/register-an-event. To order your 2015 Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day quiz pack, explore other opportunities for supporting the 2015 event as a supplier, or participate as a retailer, email info@gardenreleaf.co.uk.

I am currently seeking a talented plant manager for a large independent garden centre based in Angus in Scotland.   

I am seeking a manager that is looking for a challenge as this is a busy department in the centre and will need a strong retail manager to run the day to day operations.   

You will have experience managing the financial side of a department and will have good purchasing and merchandising experience. 

A thorough understanding of seasonality is key to this role so a wide and thorough level of plant knowledge is desired for this position. The variety of stock maintained throughout the seasons will require a manager who is up to speed with the product range required in Scotland. 

Experience with Sundries and Pots is also desirable. 

Could suit a candidate looking to relocate. Commuting is possible due to good local transport links.  

For a confidential discussion, please call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530 quoting reference #7032

I am currently looking for an experienced and commercial retail manager to take up an exciting General Manager role in our thriving garden centre.

The successful candidate will be highly motivated and will be able to maximise performance by leading and inspiring the team to deliver exceptional customer service. 

Responsibilities will include the day to day management of the Garden Centre and all operational, commercial and financial areas of the business. 

Experience working in a retail environment at a senior level is essential and although an interest in Horticulture would be an advantage, no formal qualification is required.  

Salary dependant on skills and experience  

For a confidential discussion, please call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530 quoting reference #7064

An exciting opportunity has arisen within our flagship store for a highly motivated and experienced Retail Manager to join the Blue Diamond Group. 

We are currently recruiting for a Centre Manager for Redfields Garden Centre in Fleet. 

Blue Diamond Group is one of the UK’s largest Garden Centre Groups, turning over £70m annually with centres throughout the UK and in the Channel Islands.

Whilst having responsibility for the management of the Garden Centre, the successful candidate will be able to recognise sales trends in detail from our reports package and use this information to improve sales performance and the profitability through replenishment and merchandising. 

Only candidates with retail experience and commercial skills will be considered, in order to ensure that sales are driven and that the level of service exceeds customer expectations. 

The salary is dependent upon experience.

Should you require any further information regarding this role, or wish to apply for the position, please contact the HR department on recruitment@bluediamond.gg

Sales Merchandiser

Gardman Limited is a highly successful, leading manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of quality products for the garden leisure industry. It has developed a highly focused five-brand strategy that embraces the full product range, strengthening and simplifying its market offering and providing a solid platform for future growth and development of the Gardman business.

As the business expands and continues to strengthen its sales team and supporting processes, a requirement exists for a number of Sales Merchandisers to be located across the country to support and assist the Regional Sales Management team. These positions which will primarily concentrate on small to medium sized garden centres will be based and provide coverage in the South of England, Midlands/Wales and North of England/Scotland respectively.

Role profile

• Effectively merchandise products in line with agreements and promo plans.
• Build strong, productive relationships with key contacts within the trade and centres.
• Develop positive relationships with our Sales Agents /Account Managers ensuring that both centre Agents and Sales Managers KPI’s are exceeded.
• Work with Buyers/Sales Agents to maintain stock levels and maximize product placement.
• Appropriately merchandise displays with proper signage/shelf placement.
• Implement/manage special promotional campaigns and new product launches.
• Monitor/report on sales volume and inventory activity during the promotional period

Benefits

• Salary range £18k-25k subject to experience
• Bonus
• Company vehicle
• 25 days annual holiday
• Lap top and mobile phone
• Pension scheme

Candidates interested in this position should apply by email to recruitment@gardman.co.uk

I am currently seeking an experienced Assistant Manager for a large independent garden centre based in Angus in Scotland.   

I am seeking an experienced retailer to join the senior leadership of a successful centre and help drive the business forward.  Experience in a equivalent role of 3 years should be sufficient. 

You will have a broad experience managing in retail. A destination site such as this would benefit from a manager with a wide range of experience. Candidates should be from a more quality focussed retail background. 

Although horticultural experience is not essential previous experience working in garden retail previously would be preferred. This position may suit a retail manager looking broader role or a step up.

I am looking for a real leader and fantastic 'man manager' who can deliver aspects of team building and training.  

Could suit a candidate looking to relocate. Commuting is possible due to good local transport links.

For a confidential discussion, please call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530 quoting reference #7031

We have an exciting development opportunity to join the team at a large destination garden centre in a senior role within the business.  

This is a great challenge for someone with a background in warehouse management to utilise their skills and experience in developing new and effective procedures which will enable the organisation to make substantial improvements to the movement and storage of our products  

This is a unique and demanding hands -on role, working closely with a small team and which will require an enthusiastic and resilient attitude; it would also be beneficial for candidates to have experience in or understanding of a retail operation and hold a valid fork lift and reach truck licence.

Salary dependant on skills and experience.

To discuss further, please call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530 quoting reference #7065

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 upto 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 Veg-2-Gro Products Bestsellers chart for this 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.