The acquisition by The Garden Centre Group of the Garden & Leisure group of seven centres  has triggered the resignation of Carol Paris as a G&L director. 

Carol will now focus full-time on her duties as HTA Chief Executive. The role was formerly one of director general but was reviewed last year in the light of the HTA’s changing requirements.

Carol said she had thoroughly enjoyed her 16 years at Garden & Leisure.

“The change of ownership represents a great opportunity for all the staff there,” she said.

HTA President Caroline Owen said: “We are delighted that Carol has now joined the HTA on a full time basis. This will enable her to progress with the sterling work that she has already achieved since her appointment into the role last August.

“With Carol at the helm this will take the HTA into a new era ensuring that the organisation is fit for purpose for the benefit of the horticultural industry.”

Carol was first appointed as HTA Director General in August 2012 on a part time basis. She continued her role as Operations Director at Garden & Leisure for an extended period in order to ensure a smooth handover.

• Garden Products – down 10%
• Veg-2-Gro – down 33%
• Growing Media – down 10%
• All items index – up 16%

A popular choice with catering managers across the UK, tnext week's lunch! show, which returns to the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, looks set to be its biggest show yet.

An unprecedented 290 exhibitors are preparing to launch new products onto the eating out of home market.

High quality and wide variety are key growth drivers in the UK’s £14.9bn lunch market (according to foodservice consultancy Horizons) – and lunch!’s eclectic menu of exhibitors certainly offers plenty of both.

Just some of the new launches already confirmed include: Incredible! Sauces and Meal Pots from Yorkshire Provender; mint chocolate gourmet popcorn from Joe & Seph’s; Patak's Jalfrezi and Tikka Masala jumbo peanuts (50g) from GFT Retail; 'Strictly High Grown' Costa Rican coffee from Cafédirect; Pomegranate tonic water from Bottlegreen; a pre-baked frozen sweet sable range from Pidy; and luxurious liege waffles from Projuice.

lunch! takes place on September 26-27. To register for a free trade pass, visit www.lunchshow.co.uk

Forest Garden is launching a selection of new trend-led products that are sure to excite retailers and boost profits throughout the 2014 season.

The most notable addition to Forest’s portfolio is the introduction of a junior range of planters. Designed specifically for children, with a reduced height planting area, each product comes ready-painted in either red or blue, creating an eye-catching addition to any garden.

The ‘junior’ range includes a rectangular and square table planter - the latter doubles as a raised-height sandpit - plus a slotted, raised bed that is perfect for creating a Grow Your Own (GYO) corner at home.

For adults wanting to build on their GYO experience, the new Tall Wall Greenhouse is the ideal solution.  The original model has again been a proven best-seller throughout the 2013 season, and this new larger size is sure to repeat this success, thanks to the ability to accommodate taller plants with the introduction of two heights of adjustable shelving. 

Featuring two opening windows, and suitable for use with auto vents, the Tall Wall Greenhouse represents an exciting opportunity for retailers who want to offer even more garden care essentials.  Additionally this new model is the perfect choice for consumers who want to maximise their GYO potential but also need something that will work even when space is limited.

In recent years Forest Garden’s selection of elegant arbours and pavilions have found their way into the hearts of retailers and consumers alike. Traditional styling and offering a space to relax has seen these products fly out of stores throughout the summer months.

Forest is adding two new designs to the mix – the Venetian Corner Arbour, and the Venetian Pavilion.  Both introductions offer a more contemporary style than others in the portfolio, thanks to the Venetian style slated roof that allows dappled light into the structure.  The Corner Arbour can seat up to four people, and will fit perfectly into a quiet corner of any garden, whilst the Pavilion offers complete flexibility as it can be purchased with or without the decking.

In a move to further demonstrate Forest’s diversification into more contemporary styling, the company has also launched a selection of tables and benches that are perfectly designed for dining al fresco.

The Sleeper Bench is, as the name suggests, made from landscaping sleepers and is available in 1.2m and 1.8m sizes.  A complementary Refectory Table has also been created for the 2014 season, also available in two sizes.

Paul Taylor, National Sales Manager at Forest Garden, said: “Our new products are set to appeal to a wide range of consumers, as well as providing retailers with even more profit opportunities. 

"They also mark an exciting ‘new chapter’ for our current portfolio, as we move to introduce more contemporary designs.  I’ve no doubt that all these new additions, along with our existing offering, will drive sales throughout 2014, as well as helping consumers across the UK to enjoy even more time in their gardens.”

 For further information call 0844 248 9801 or email info@forestgarden.co.uk

Early indications are that personalised Christmas products are going to have another bumper year for sales.  Last year’s No 1 Bestsellers – the personalised Moneybox Baubles from History & Heraldry – are already selling in high volumes and signs are that the new Christmas Carousel range will join them in the Top 10 at least.

At the start of October GTN Bestsellers will start publishing the GTN Christmas chart.  If you want to see the Top 50 Bestselling Christmas lines every week, take advantage of the GTN Bestsellers September subscriptions offer - click here

Follow these links to the LIVE Glee Daily News issues, straight from the show:

SUNDAY LIVE http://gleedailynews.newsweaver.com/Gleeedailynews/7kt5ww8l93q

MONDAY LIVE http://gleedailynews.newsweaver.com/Gleeedailynews/s5qrjpmyk3i

TUESDAY LIVE http://gleedailynews.newsweaver.com/Gleeedailynews/p321wb1sjlr

Have you thought about…creating synergy between front & back of house?

It’s natural to devote a large chunk of your restaurant budget to front of house, because this is what entices your customers into the space. However, all too often, this comes at the expense of investment in the kitchen. The key is to ensure that both areas work in synergy together to provide a great customer experience.

Think about workflow: consider the journey between back and front of house. Where possible plan the kitchen with separate entrance and exit routes to allow for the free flow of staff, food and ‘dirties’.

Align your kitchen design to your restaurant or café menu: to achieve maximum operational efficiency, think carefully about selecting the right equipment to suit your food offer. If badly executed, it can adversely affect the quality of service and the overall customer experience,

Bring your kitchen front of house: if space allows, include an open pass, which allows your customers to see their food being prepared and gives you a wonderful opportunity to showcase the quality and freshness of your produce.

Contact the Catering Design Group at: info@cateringdesign.co.uk

http://www.cateringdesign.co.uk/

Fifty children and their parents took part in a Teddy Bear's Pinic at Van Hage Great Amwell, raising cash for  the Greenfingers Rosy Cheek Appeal... 

The children enjoyed a light lunch and the adults a hot drink and piece of homemade cake. Activities then followed, including face painting, potting your own Crocus bulbs, colour you own teddy bear mask and an array of activity sheets.

The children showed off their teddy bears for the camera, making the afternoon a great success. If that wasn’t enough, each child received a unique Van Hage teddy bear and a bucket and spade, courtesy of Walls Ice Cream.

A total of £378 was raised and all profits are being donated to the Greenfingers Children’s Charity Rosy Cheeks appeal whose aim it is to create magical gardens within children’s hospices throughout the UK.

This year one of the children’s hospices that will receive support is, Little Havens Children’s Hospice in Essex. The charity is to create A Grow Your Own garden family area, for anyone who uses the Hospice’s to enjoy. For further information on any of the Greenfingers, Rosy Cheeks appeal projects, visit:  http://www.greenfingerscharity.org.uk/

Over €750,000 of orders were taken by Smart Solar at Spoga/Gafa in Germany, further strengthening the continental European business of the company, which has already grown by over 50% in 2013.

Visitors to the Smart Solar stand were impressed with the new product ranges on show. Existing customers and new prospects alike were delighted with the new solar powered garden lighting and water features for 2014 and with the new merchandising units.

Jonathan Stobart, Smart Solar’s managing director commented: ”We have increased our sales in Europe substantially this year and were delighted with the reception we got to the new 2014 range at Gafa, which bodes well for further success on the continent next year.”

Meanwhile Smart Solar launched over 50 new products and over 100 promotions as it celebrated its 10th anniversary at Glee. Also on show were garden products from Greentree and Haxnicks, part of the growing Smart Solar product range. 

Paul Wagstaff the Aggregate Industries Product Manager with responsibility for the Bradstone range called at the GIMA stand earlier this week at Glee to collect their certificate for their innovative Patio Deck system.

This new product, launched to the market in January this year was selected as one of the two finalists in the Garden Industry Awards earlier this summer run by GIMA.

The Patio Deck is a revolutionary system which makes an ideal patio solution for your garden. It can be delivered direct to your customers home, requires no foundations and means an average size patio can be laid in under two hours. This quick, simple and effective system is easy to install and with no digging out required no costly skips are required to take away rubble.

Every year there are products launched at Glee that become bestsellers, but how do you know just how big a bestseller they become and how much in-store promotion you should give them?

GTN Bestsellers is the answer. Every week Top 50 Bestsellers charts are published, compiled from garden centre Epos data, giving the best and most up to date garden centre trading information on the market.

If you’d have been a subscriber this year you’ll have known that Roundup Weedkiller Gel, launched at Glee 2011, was the No.1 best selling weed killer product for 25 weeks this year and topped the garden products chart for one week in May. And that Vitax Slug Gone, launched at Glee 2012, was the GTN Bestsellers New Product of the Year, featuring in the Top 50 for 12 weeks, reaching a highest position of No12.

Plus, you’ll have benefitted from the GTN Bestsellers Tip of the week – a gem of a sales idea every week derived from 5 years of GTN Bestsellers charts.

So what are you waiting for? You need to buy a subscription to GTN Bestsellers right now. For just £145.00, you get a printed GTN Bestsellers chart posted to you each week, full access to the GTN Bestsellers charts and the GTN Archive on-line and your own copy of Garden Trade News in the post each issue.

And there’s more!! 

If you take out a GTN Bestsellers subscription before Glee, we’ll send you, as a bonus, the GTN Bestsellers Charts for the critical sales periods through June July and August this year when, according to our gathered Epos data, sales of garden products were up year on year by 10.3%.

And there’s even more!!!

Buying a subscription now means you’ll get every issue with the GTN Bestsellers Christmas charts too. It’s an invaluable chart to follow as your Christmas sales build, allowing you to spot new trends, make changes to your promotions and POS.  And, be one more step ahead of the competition when it comes to your Christmas buying for 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?  To get your subscription to GTN Bestsellers up and running, simply subscribe online here

or contact us by phone on 01733 775700 or by e-mail: karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

GTN Bestsellers – Garden Centre Bestsellers, Guaranteed!

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 and on the GTN website www.gardentradenews.co.uk.

Every week we give sales volume comparisons with 2011 as well as 2012 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, or subscribe on-line here

or e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro 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.

Mark Palmer, Managing Director of High Street catering chain, Pret a Manger, is the latest high profile speaker to join the line-up for the HTA Garden Futures Conference which takes place on October 16-17 at One Great George Street, London.

In his session, sponsored by Gardman, Mark will be talking about reinventing the retail offer and adapting to change in order to appeal to a broader customer base and consequently increase sales. Before taking on the managing director role at Pret a Manger Mark made his reputation as Global Brand Director of Green & Black’s.

He moved it from niche organic to premium everyday chocolate, pushing sales from £4m to £40m even before the acquisition by Cadbury Schweppes. Mark remained with the company, leading development both at home and abroad.

Mark's skills have been recognised by the industry. He featured in the Marketing Power 100 for two successive years in his unofficial role as champion of entrepreneurs and small business. The Marketing Society has also named him Marketer of the Year.

Mark joins an impressive line-up of speakers at the event which is sponsored by Bord na Mona, Hozelock and Scotts Miracle-Gro, including botanist, presenter and grower James Wong, Josh McBain from the Future Foundation and Pepijn Janssen from Store Performance Group.

The Conference Dinner takes place on the evening of 16 October with Andy McIndoe from Hilliers Nurseries and Garden Centres providing the after dinner entertainment.

Demand for the event is high and so make sure your book your place now. For more information and to download your booking form visit www.gardenfutures.org.uk or email events@the-hta.org.uk

• Arthur Bowers Bulb Fibre (35 litres) also increased sales by 100%.
• Shamrock Multipurpose Compost (50 litres)
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Eco Sense Bulb Compost was the highest climber.

Midlands-based Solus Garden & Leisure, one of the UK's biggest suppliers and distributors of own- and third-party gardening and lifestyle brands to garden centres and retailers, has appointed a sales director in support of its strategic business growth plans.

May Philpott joins Solus later this year and will head up a revitalised sales team.  Previously sales director at Churchill China, her experience in multi-channel retailing and managing UK and international sales teams will prove invaluable to Solus, which is looking to further strengthen its close relationships with UK garden centres.

"May has high-level expertise in retail sales and we are delighted she has agreed to join us," said Solus managing director Nick Davies. "This is a very significant new appointment for us, alongside other recent additions to the sales team from inside and outside the industry. 

"May's appointment further strengthens our commitment to reacting faster to customer and market demands," added commercial director Ross Yealland. "She will be key to developing the sales of our own and third party brands."

"This is a great opportunity to head up a sales team within a company that offers a diverse product portfolio and is recognised as a market leader," said May. "The retail sector is going through an unprecedented time of change. Balancing this with traditional ways of retailing will be a challenge all round, which I look forward to embracing.

"I'm looking forward immensely to joining the Solus team, working with the garden centres and learning from the industry."

New trade exhibition Casual Dining is well on track for a successful inaugural event when it launches at the Business Design Centre, Islington, in London,  in February.

Diversified Business Communications UK, which has a growing portfolio of market-leading events in the food sector, including the award-winning lunch! exhibition and The Natural Food Show, says it’s delighted with the industry-wide support Casual Dining is receiving.

“It really is fantastic to see the way that the industry is responding to the launch,” comments group event manager Chris Brazier. 

“When you consider that the UK branded restaurant market is forecast to be worth as much as £22bn by 2018, it’s perhaps not that surprising that so many companies are looking for ways to enjoy a bigger bite of these lucrative out-of-home sales.  So, really, Casual Dining couldn’t have come at a better time.”

It’s not just the exhibitors that are getting behind the Casual Dining concept.  Representatives from The Peach Report, Propel Info, Horizons, and Allegra Strategies, are all confirmed to join the Casual Dining Keynote Theatre programme. 

Whilst a host of well-known operators, such as Andrew Guy, CEO of Ed’s Easy Diner Group for example, are lending their support to the launch.  With Guy just the latest addition to a growing list of popular high-street names – including Ask, PizzaExpress, Zizzi, Prezzo, Chimichanga, Pizza Hut and Carluccio’s – that have announced their intentions to send their buyers and specifiers to next year’s Casual Dining show.

“Casual Dining is the right idea at the right time,” comments Andrew Guy, CEO of Ed’s Easy Diner Group.  “A trade show specifically for everyone involved in the fastest growing and most exciting part of the eating out market – I’m looking forward to it!”

“A trade show dedicated to the operators and brands that have changed the dining landscape makes perfect sense and is long overdue,” agrees Clare Riley, editor of Eat Out Magazine.  “I’ve always said that this industry goes beyond celebrity chefs, and now those behind some of the UK’s most popular restaurant and pub brands have somewhere to network, debate and show off.”

With the launch now just under six months away, the latest exhibitors to confirm their presence are McCormick – one of the world’s leading suppliers of spices, seasonings and flavourings; Francis Catering Equipment; Franke Coffee Systems; EPOS specialists Comtrex Systems; Eden Contract Furniture; foodservice distributor SFD; Rich Sauces; and Global Ethics, with its One drinks brand.

Casual Dining will take place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, on 26-27 February 2014.  For further information on exhibiting, contact Chris Brazier on cbrazier@divcom.co.uk.

Visitor registration is due to open in October 2013. To register an interest in attending, visit www.casualdiningshow.co.uk

Bernadette and Charles Hopkinson of Steam & Moorland Garden Centre are the winners of a full day's design consultancy, courtesy of Catering Design Group, who ran the competition at Glee...

The couple will enjoy a day with either a kitchen or interiors specialist, to include a site survey, design layout, visual or mood board. 

For further information about Catering Design Group visit www.cateringdesign.co.uk or call 01327 314 860.

How do we get younger consumers into our industry? Targeted products, social media, school gardening clubs, and lively workshops or play areas that keep kids entertained and parents shopping were among the answers to one of the industries most pressing questions asked at Glee 2013.

Working with the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), Glee 2013 put this vital issue to an expert panel featuring David Denny, HTA; Jackie Eades, Briers; Matthew Bent, Bents, and Simon Bourne, Perrywood Garden centre, during its Knowledge Hub seminar ‘Appealing to a younger audience’.

During the 45 minute topical debate the panel gave insight into how they would move the garden centre market forward focusing on several factors: Who are the younger consumers? How do we appeal to them? Who in the industry can we learn from? What trends should we be following?

Newborns, school children, teenagers and young new home owners were all in the mix with the suggestion that there is a need to cover all the family life stages. The lifestyle of mums and their babies, the relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren, and building connections with schools to help with projects and offer workshops were also considered potential areas of focus.

In the area of gaining product interest and using merchandising tactics to appeal to the young shopper the panel referred to toys, books and dvds as well as fun garden related products for the child that will make them want to go outside, and simple how to displays that offered advice and guidance as to what they should be doing in their garden now for the adult young consumer. Practical solutions that make gardens enjoyable and a place to entertain, like plants in coloured containers, were also given approval. The panel went on to debate the idea that the garden centre should be split into zones to separate the younger shopper from the older, more practiced gardener. Products could be supplied in different ways to suit consumers with different gardening experience.

Trend forecasting to find colours, materials and activities that will be popular in six months time was recommended by the panel who suggested looking to fashion designers for inspiration. Practising social media to develop an interactive rapport with consumers through Trip Advisor, Facebook and Twitter was also noted with particular reference to using quirky posts that feature plants, animals and colours.

The panel session ended with a final piece of inspiration that we should look to the food industry revolution for ideas on how to become more exciting, enjoyable and appealing to younger consumers.