In This Issue
Festive videos to push poinsettia sales right up to the big day
Meadow View Stone can fulfil your Rock Salt requirements
West Midlands garden centre site sold for £2.5m
Want inspiration to develop your retailing over the next few years?
Nicholas Marshall looks to buy Homebase
Blustery weather fails to blow November sales off course
Social media proves a big success for customer voting
LeisureGrow Group enhances sales force with new appointments
GCA garden centres sparkle with Christmas displays
Are You Still Loving Your Plot?
Support the Greenfingers runners in the London Santa Run today
Voting postcards and posters for in-store voting - The Greatest Christmas Garden Centre Team
Ernest Charles takes to the air this winter
Vote for your Greatest Christmas Supplier of the Year
Book your tickets for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Party
Horticultural Trainer - Epsom, Surrey
Bedding Department Head - West Horsley
Plant Area Manager - Surrey
Key Accounts Manager – Outdoor Living
Bedding Department Head - Twickenham
Garden Centre Sundries Team Leader
Head of Sales
Nursery Production/Growing/Technical Manager
Bedding Department Head - Stanmore
Field Sales Support (Vivid Arts Ltd) - ideal location East / South Manchester with access to M60
Garden Centre/Horticultural Manager/Plantarea Manager
Contracts Manager Leeds Area
Comedian Hal Cruttenden to compere GCA dinner
Solar lighting sales dim as Christmas takes over
Sweet, sparkly and lit for Christmas sales success
Bark and small packs keep growing media sales at a high level
HTA helps to support horticulture in Scotland
Gardman supports Healthy Profits Roadshow
New campaign co-ordinator for Love the Plot You’ve Got
Early bird tickets on sale now for AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards 2016
Real Christmas tress rush set to commence this weekend
Writtle College team all set for Young Gardeners of the Year 2016
Young gardeners welcome apple tree home
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
Situations Vacant
Horticultural Trainer - Epsom, Surrey
£17,750 + excellent benefits
 
Read more»
Bedding Department Head - West Horsley
Competitive salary
 
Read more»
Plant Area Manager - Surrey
Competitive Salary
 
Read more»
Key Accounts Manager – Outdoor Living
Substantial basic salary, bonus scheme & company car
Read more»
Bedding Department Head - Twickenham
Competitive Salary
 
Read more»
Garden Centre Sundries Team Leader
Salary: To attract the best
Read more»
Head of Sales
£40,000 + OTE (up to £60,000)
 
Read more»
Nursery Production/Growing/Technical Manager
Salary: £25,000 - £32,000
Read more»
Bedding Department Head - Stanmore
Competitive Salary
 
Read more»
Field Sales Support (Vivid Arts Ltd) - ideal location East / South Manchester with access to M60
OTE £24k
Read more»
Garden Centre/Horticultural Manager/Plantarea Manager
Salary: £18,000 - £24,000
Read more»
Contracts Manager Leeds Area
Salary: £28,000 - £35,000
Read more»
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news.  Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700


GTN's The Greatest Christmas Awards 2105
are sponsored by:



















Book your tickets for GTN's Greatest Christmas Party on Sunday January 10th 2016 here


Real Christmas tress rush set to commence this weekend


Wyevale Garden Centres is predicting this weekend to be the one of the biggest sales weekend for Christmas trees with tens of thousands to be sold over real tree weekend.
 
Buoyed consumer confidence with the demand for quality Christmas trees has prompted an expected sales increase of 11% of quality Real Christmas trees from the British Isles, with enough stock to fill the Barcelona Nou Camp Football Stadium.

The increase in sales supports a recent OnePoll study where over 52% of customers assess the quality and shape of a tree before selecting their Christmas tree – this is compared to other indicators such as price and height.  The OnePoll survey also reveals that 20% of Brits will make their Christmas tree the backdrop of their social media posts this year.
 
Despite fears from British tree growers that cheaper alternatives are flooding the UK market, the estimated growth also shows key trends as consumers use Christmas tree buying as an honoured tradition.  

A strong trend emerging is the demand for larger sized trees reflected in increased sales of their largest sized trees of 240cm and above (sales up 55%) and in select centres sales of their very largest XXXL sizes (over 3m). Trees up to 4m are of limited availability and take pride of place within the Christmas tree section and are already 30% sold through. Other popular trees include the larger Swedish style, Nordmann Firs, which were a big hit last year, especially across centres where value for money is a high priority, as customers can get a bigger tree for less and in a different style.
 
Another intriguing trend has been the demand in certain regions to bring back the Norway Spruce Christmas tree, a tree that triggers a strong sense of childhood nostalgia which seems to be a strong driver for selecting a traditional Christmas tree.
 
“The picking of the family Christmas tree is a long tradition that the nation gears up to, marking the official start of the festive season at home, but we do advise customers to pick their tree as early as possible to ensure they get the best looking tree. The scent, style and size of the Christmas tree are all key factors we see our shoppers seeking advice on, with many asking for the biggest one we have in stock!” says Dan Zinner, trading director at Wyevale Garden Centres.
 
David Mitchell, Christmas tree expert at Wyevale Garden Centres adds, “It is worth going the extra mile to ensure quality standards – it is important to oversee the whole life cycle of a tree, which gets pruned 20 times in the course of its life, so we class them as artisan products as there is real craftsmanship in how they are pruned. There should be no reason that any of our trees lose their quality, so our guarantee to customers is that if they aren’t happy with the quality than Wyevale Garden Centres will replace it with a new one up until Christmas Eve for free”.
 
Real Tree Weekends
  • Saturday 5th and 6th December
  • Saturday 12th and 13th December
Real Tree Weekend will take place across all of Wyevale Garden Centre’s 151 centres throughout the UK.  Activities include: Free hot chocolate for the whole family, a free tour from their Tree experts and festive foraging for children.
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