Gardman, one of the UK’s leading gardening companies, has announced the successful completion of a financial restructuring of its group.

The restructuring, which involved its four operating companies in the UK, the USA and Australia being acquired by a new parent company, GGML Ltd, which is in turn owned by Gardman Group Limited, included a balance sheet restructuring and a substantial reduction in the Group’s debt.

The Group continues under its same management team and the new structure provides Gardman with the financial strength and flexibility to maintain its market leading position in the garden sundries and wild bird care markets.

Mark Pearson, Gardman’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have completed the restructuring through a well-managed process which has not impacted any of the group’s customers, suppliers or staff. 

"We have a very clear vision for the future, a strong and committed management team, and we now have the right capital structure which will allow us to invest further in growth both here in the UK and internationally.”

Jonathan Halford, Gardman’s new chairman, said: “The financial restructuring of Gardman is an extremely positive move for the business which had been held back by the burden of debt arising from the sale in 2007 and the challenging market conditions in following years. 

"The restructuring has given the company a robust balance sheet, with a modest level of debt and substantial liquidity, and with that solid footing I am confident that we will make great progress in driving our business forward.”

Gardman Chief Executive Mark Pearson says the company now has the financial confidence to invest in its strategy and growth.

He admitted to GTN Xtra that the financial restructuring of the business had taken longer than anticipated but described the outcome as a ‘great result’.

“It’s brilliant to be able to announce it just before Christmas and we can look forward to the New Year with confidence,” said Mark.

“We are now in a position to have a good gardening year. I think everyone involved in the gardening industry is owed that.”

Despite rumours circulating for months that Gardman were in dire financial problems, Mark said the trading part of the business was never in trouble.

“Cash hasn’t been a problem and we’ve never been in danger of not paying our suppliers,” revealed Mark. “The main issue has been with the intermediate holding company who had taken on a huge debt when the company was bought in 2007.

“The company was bought by a private equity company, Barclays Private Equity, which later became Equistone. We all know what happened with the world economy and financial markets, and that huge debt became a burden. That debt has been written off under a new agreement with the banks.

“But I must stress that during the past few years our trading companies have never had any worries about paying its creditors. Yes, the financial position has been a distraction but we are now focused on our future plans.

“We have got some great new categories and products and I would urge retailers to get right behind the Gardman brand because we have every confidence that 2013 will be a good year.”

Mark also dismissed talk that Gardman were planning to exit the wild bird care market.

“We’d be crackers to take that action,” he said. “It’s a very profitable sector of the market and we intend to defend our position – in fact we’ll be doing all we can to grow it.”

Christmas has saved the day for garden centre retailing, with the last three weeks providing three of the Top 5 busiest sales weeks of the year.

As predicted earlier in the year by GTN Bestsellers, Christmas sales have taken year-to-date volume sales to within half a percent of parity with sales in 2011.

For the data anoraks out there, 33 out of 50 trading weeks in 2012 were up year-on-year, 27 weeks were down year-on-year, with the biggest change coming in week 17 (week ending 29 April), which was down by a crunching 50% – ouch!

So in a year when the weather really played havoc with the core activity of gardening, it’s a good job we’ve not had snow to spoil the recovery party in the run-up to Christmas.

Remember, in 2010 snow really took the edge off Christmas with only one week of Christmas trading making it into the Top 5 weeks of the year.

As Christmas gets sold off, (we’ve seen several half-price sales already under way while we’ve been out and about), thoughts are now turning to how we can make the most of next year, whatever the weather is going to throw at us.

Waterlogged gardens over winter could mean a slower than usual start, so centres will want to put maximum effort into pulling customers in through catering offerings and early bird bargains.

If you’d like to share your forecast for the year ahead, let us know and we’ll add your thoughts to our predictions for 2013. E-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

The past three years compared...

With Christmas looming large and fast, both our main charts take on a more traditional festive flavour this week.

For many households, fresh flowers are an essential element of their Christmas decor – and although garden centres with full floristry departments are in the minority, this week’s figures show that consumers are happily adding flower arranging requirements to their Christmas shopping baskets.

Floral foam products from Oasis feature four times in the Garden Products Top 50, with Oasis Standard Bricks our highest new entry at No.50, joining Oasis Brown SEC DryFoam bricks, Wet Floral Foam cylinders (both climbers) and Ideal Wet FloralFoam bricks.

Scheurich’s Ivory Pot Cover is the week’s highest new entry – and the dark red version continues to sell strongly.

The week’s highest climber is Classic Wheelie Bin Numbers (up 20 places). If you spot a customer buying some, can you please ask them what they’re using them for...and let us know! We’re baffled by the sheer volumes shifted in recent weeks.

See the full GTN Garden Products Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £120.00 per year click here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business.  Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.
 

Having earned the reputation as The Greatest Christmas Party Ever, it will be a too-good-to-miss event. On the night the awards will be announced and given out to the deserved winners.

Before the winners are announced you’ll be able to enjoy a superb three-course meal with wine. Just take a look at the menu on offer:

Starter: Smoked salmon and prawn tian with a cucumber, dill and lime salsa

Main course: Medallions of beef fillet in Madeira sauce, celeriac mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables and green beans

Desert: Warm pear and almond tart with vanilla ice cream

Followed by: Coffee and mints

The Awards Party is a great opportunity to relax with industry friends and colleagues, and then dance to the City Lights band. One of the best bands in the North, City Lights are a six piece line-up guaranteed to keep the party going.

Garden centres throughout the country will be hoping to pick up one or several of the following awards:

The Greatest Christmas ‘Sizzle’

The Greatest Christmas Grotto Team

The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team

The Greatest Christmas Display Team

The Greatest Garden Centre Festive Catering Team

The Greatest Christmas Supplier

The Greatest Garden Centre at Christmas

To buy tickets to The Greatest Christmas Party Ever click here or call 01733 775700



Below, pictures from last year's party...

Scotts Miracle-Gro is continuing its highly successful TV advertising campaign for several of its major brands and best selling products in 2013.

This targeted campaign will get the message of great gardening success across to Britain’s gardeners.

Scotts Miracle-Gro is spending a total of £6 million on TV media, from mid-March – in plenty of time to capture Easter interest – to mid-June. The campaign will ensure customers come flocking to garden centres and stores to buy products that they know give great results, from the brands they know and trust.

The TV spend is split by brand into: Miracle-Gro £2 million; Roundup £2 million; EverGreen £1 million; and Weedol £1 million.

The products that will feature are:

• Miracle-Gro Flower Magic –  NEW for 2013
• Miracle-Gro Expand ‘n Gro
• Miracle-Gro Patch Magic
• Roundup Gel & Roundup Pump ‘n Go
• EverGreen Complete
• Weedol Rootkill Plus™ RTU & tubes.

Scotts Miracle-Gro is using the campaign to target keen ABC1 gardeners, who are known to regularly buy gardening products and show pride in having great looking gardens.

Paula Parker, Scotts’ UK Marketing Director, said: “Rather than using a scattergun approach, we are targeting our advertising at gardeners and other consumers that we know are more than willing to spend the money needed to make their gardens look great.

"This will have great benefit for the whole gardening market, driving customers to garden centres and stores, where they will lavishly spend on their gardens.”

The TV campaign is backed up with in-store promotions, national consumer magazine advertising, compelling point of sale material and exciting packaging and merchandising to ensure retailers get the most benefit from the advertising and can look forward to great sales.

Retailers are being urged to stock up on Scotts Miracle-Gro products to take full advantage of this strong publicity, marketing and promotional activity and ensure maximum sales.

Solus are to distribute Neudorff products in the UK, the German company announced yesterday, following strong launch year sales for the brand here.

Neudorff said planned investments for 2013 included a major marketing campaign with TV advertisements and the creation of a dedicated sales team. With Solus as their new exclusive distributor, they were now fast tracking their strategy to establish themselves as a key supplier, they added.

Hans-Martin Lohmann, MD of W. Neudorff GmbH KG, said: “We have specialised in the research, development and production of natural products for the garden for more than 150 years. With this expertise, we develop unique and innovative products.

Solus, he said, were “the perfect partner”, with their 30 years experience, deep industry knowledge and leading delivery service.

Nick Davies, MD of Solus, said: “We are happy to have Neudorff as a new great brand in our portfolio and to be able to satisfy the increasing demand for natural gardening products.”

New Neudorff lines for 2013 include Pyrol Bug & Larvae Killer for Roses and the Organic Rhododendron, Azalea & Camellia Food with unique mycorrhizal fungi that can increase the size of the root system by up 150 times, even in acid soil.

Neudorff parted company with their original distributors, Doff Portland, earlier this year.

Information: www.neudorff.co.uk

In the GTN Bestsellers Christmas chart, the traditional twist takes the form of increased sales of items for the festive table as attention turns to the preparations for the feast.

Two candles make their chart debut - a Pillar Candle from Gardman (our second highest new entry at No.18) and a Small Red Church Candle from Kaemingk, which comes in at No.24. The popularity of church candles suggests that expressing the true meaning of Christmas is still a cherished priority for many.

However, back in the lighting department, the Big Switch-on has led to a surge in sales of spare bulbs, with Konstsmide (new entry at No.13 for their Seven-Light Arch bulbs) and Noma (4-packs of G1s, up 22 places) both benefitting.

Two brands continue to dominate the Top 50: Premier and Kaemingk have 31 entries between them.

See the full GTN Christmas Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only  

To Subscribe to the full GTN Bestsellers Weekly Charts for only £120.00 per year click here 

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business.  Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Director General, Carol Paris and the HTA team from Theale met with Defra Ministers last week to discuss a range of issues of concern to the industry.

Ministers Richard Benyon and Lord De Mauley were both present to listen to the industry’s perspective on subjects like sustainable growing media, hosepipe bans, research and development funding, Sunday trading and the immediate challenges from the outbreak of Chalara.

Carol Paris comments, “It was a good opportunity to remind Ministers of the importance of the ornamentals industry, and to highlight some of the current threats that we face.

"Ministers clearly understand the enormous contribution that our sector makes to the nation’s social, economic and environmental well-being.”

On Chalara, the government remains reluctant to provide direct compensation to nurseries but is looking at other ways to mitigate the financial impact, e.g. by stimulating re-plant grants.

Longer term, Defra officials will work with industry to review the forestry grants scheme, thereby providing greater market stability and increased resilience for UK growers.

HTA will continue this discussion with Defra to press for support for affected growers and for positive long term regulatory improvements.

On sustainable growing media, the HTA looked forward to Defra endorsement in early 2013 of Alan Knight’s report which had captured broad support for a roadmap towards a more sustainable industry.

On water, Minister Benyon thanked the HTA for its contribution to the National Drought Group and agreed that it was essential that the garden and water industries continued to engage constructively on water resilience even in times of non-drought.

On Sunday trading, whilst recognising the political sensitivities of relaxing existing laws, there was general acknowledgement that the current restrictions on garden centres seem outdated.

Tim Briercliffe, HTA Director of Business Development added “The meeting also provided a good opportunity to stress the need for government support for research and development for ornamentals.

"We know that trees and plants provide enormous benefits to society and the environment, but in recent years their contribution has been of secondary importance to food security in terms of government R&D provision. It is vital that this trend is reversed.”

Hundreds of fish and reptiles worth thousands of pounds have perished in a major fire at a  garden centre near Newbury on Wednesday.

Up to 35 fire fighters were dispatched to Cottismore Garden Centre, off the A339 Newbury Road north of Kingsclere.

Incident commander, Dave Graham, from Basingstoke Fire Station's White Watch said at the scene, that the blaze had started in the wood-clad aquatic centre, which has been destroyed.

Eight fire fighters in breathing gear, along with three water jets and a specialist aerial ladder were used to douse the flames.

No injuries have been reported, and Mr Graham said the garden centre had been evacuated when crews reached the scene.

Although staff rescued a number of animals in the aquatic centre, 150 snakes and lizards and hundreds of tropical fish perished in the blaze.

Mr Graham added: "It was very challenging for our crews to tackle the fire in room-within-a-room and they did a great job in containing the flames. The owners also acted very quickly in removing gas cylinders away from the fire."

The cause of the blaze is thought to have been an electrical fault.

On the garden centre's website the owners said: "We experienced a significant fire at the garden centre. We are still assessing the full impact. We remain open, though some services might take us a little longer than normal. Thank you to all of you who are continuing to support us through this time."

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.

Access is by subscription only.  For £120.00 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 Christmas Bestsellers chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts can seriously improve your business.  Only subscribe if you want to invest 15 minutes each week in improving your turnover and customer satisfaction.

Although you are now in full Christmas mode, reaping the benefits of wise product choices made earlier in the year, you are probably also taking note of buying trends and planning ahead for the 2013 festive season.

A not-to-be-missed date for your diary is Harrogate Christmas & Gift (13-16 January 2013) - a fantastic opportunity to see exciting new product launches months before the crowds arrive at trade fairs in the spring.

Harrogate is one of the fastest growing shows in its sector, catering not only for Christmas (with probably the greatest selection of trees, lights and festive decorations in the UK) but novelties and gifts for every occasion from Hallowe’en and Mother's Day right through to furniture, ornaments, flowers and giftware for the home and garden.

In fact, Harrogate Christmas & Gift has seen a steady increase in all gift and homeware ranges, attracting discerning buyers from large department stores, novelty and souvenir shops, traditional gift stores, as well as DIY stores, garden centres, museums, country estates, castles and farm shops. Be sure to join them in 2013!

Premier Decorations are leading designers and importers of Christmas lighting, trees and decorations; garden lighting and outdoor living products; and Hallowe'en products and party decorations. Garden centres voted them Greatest Christmas Supplier of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Their products regularly feature in the GTN Bestsellers Christmas Top 50.

www.premierdec.com

SOLEX AT THE NEC is LOFA’s summer outdoor and indoor leisure event, now an established fixture in the trade show calendar, bringing together the world’s leading garden and leisure furniture and barbecue brands under one roof. The show moves from Telford to the NEC, Birmingham, next year (8-10 July 2013).

www.lofa.co.uk/solex

Vision Commercial Kitchens have helped many UK garden centres to launch, enhance or re-fit their catering operations, offering everything from an initial expert consultation to a full installation. They pride themselves on helping garden centres make the right decision for their businesses. The kitchens at the fabulous catering operation at the award-winning Barton Grange Garden Centre at Brock - the Riverside and Willows restaurants - were supplied by Vision. 

www.visionforgardencentres.co.uk

The sponsors of this category are Snowtime, leading suppliers of Christmas lights, fibre optics, illuminated décor, artificial trees and floral products. In 1995 they pioneered the supply of fibre-optic Christmas trees to the UK market. 

Snowtime have the UK’s broadest and most comprehensive range of high-quality artificial trees. The hottest Christmas product in many years is their range of Thomas Kinkade-designed fibre optic tapestries, which are licensed to Snowtime and were introduced two years ago (example below). Many retailers had sold out by the end of September. There are some cheap copies on the market but it's the signed originals that are selling.

www.transcon.co.uk/products/snowtime

The Arena ice rink installation at Van Hage, Great Amwell in 2011

The Arena Group has a 250-year history supplying specialist infrastructure to live sporting, music and public events. In 2012 clients included The Open, Wimbledon Championships, X Factor, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the event of the year, The London 2012 Olympic Games.

The HTA has welcomed the announcement by Defra which will lead to the long awaited abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) in England and Wales.

Following the publication of responses to Defra’s consultation plans to scrap the AWB were added as an amendment of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill at the House of Lords Committee Stage.

David Heath MP, Minister for Farming announced that the ‘outdated and bureaucratic’ farm labour restrictions will be abolished as early as October next year.

Tim Briercliffe, HTA Director of Business Development comments, “As an industry we have been lobbying for the abolition of the outdated board for many years in order to harmonise the sector with the rest of the economy. I am pleased that the government has listened and that finally the end is in sight.

"Of course this only applies to the AWB in England and Wales and we will continue to lobby on behalf of our members in Northern Ireland and Scotland who still have to comply with the restrictions of their agricultural wages boards.”

Jo Davey from Suffolk has been appointed as a new Account Manager for Floramedia. 

In her role, Jo will manage a range of key accounts, as well as regional accounts in the South West.

She said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Floramedia, although labels and POS are at the core of our business, the creative team is buzzing with ideas on packaging and digital solutions to excite the consumer and drive sales. 

“I’m really looking forward to working with our customers, both growers and retailers, helping them to find innovative ways to grow sales.”

As part of Jo’s role she will also be helping to develop the market for a range of new retail solutions from Floramedia, including FloraLinQ and Flora Eco.

Jo, who is originally from Yorkshire, studied at Lancashire College of Agriculture and Horticulture where she gained a National Diploma in Horticulture. She has also achieved an Advanced Certificate in Marketing and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Jo started her career as an apprentice gardener at Leeds City Parks department.

She has also worked as a Management Trainee and Plant Buyer for Notcutts Garden Centres, a Sales Executive for Notcutts Nurseries, Sales and Marketing Assistant for Bransford Webbs, a Sales Executive for Growforth and a Sales Manager at Morley Nurseries and Whartons Nurseries.

Prior to her role at Floramedia, Jo was the Sales and Marketing Director at John Woods Nurseries.

Nick Mathias, Managing Director of Floramedia, which is based in Colchester, Essex, said: “I am delighted that Jo has joined the Floramedia team. She has enormous experience of marketing plants to a wide spectrum of retailers in the UK. I look forward to working closely with her as we develop new and exciting products and services.”

In January the nursery stock sector will come together to start the new year on a high with Contact 2013: Inspiration to Grow. The eventful two day conference, held biennially, will include nursery stock industry discussions and workshops as well as a social dinner and special tour.

If you haven’t already booked your spot there are now only a few weeks left to do so with the event taking place on 16 and 17 January 2013 at the Holiday Inn, Bromsgrove. There is a £20 per delegate multi-booking discount for those booking 3 or more places so be sure to invite your colleagues.

Day one benefits from a talk by leading garden journalist Adam Pasco who will take a closer look at the current state of plant promotions in the media and garden retail, and focus on ideas that will raise the profile of your plant products.

Ross Cameron, of Sheffield University, also delivers a compelling message to businesses and consumers to buy more plants by demonstrating that they are good for both you and the environment.

In addition to the many other talks, there will be a behind the scenes tour of the Bransford Webbs Plant Company to see the 9 hectare nursery growing 1.3 million plants per year in their new 2,300sq m despatch unit.

Highlights of day two include Tim Briercliffe, HTA Director of Business Development, who will take a look at the government policies under development in the UK and EU and the way in which they affect the sector.

Claire Robertson will be sharing her story of how she used 20 years of retail experience to challenge the prospect of redundancy and won. Claire made headlines when she turned redundancy from Woolworths in Dorchester on its head by taking over the store lease and launching her own brand Wellworths (now known as Wellchester).

Day two also sees an afternoon of inspirational workshops looking at the future of three key aspects within the industry. Delegates have the opportunity to attend two of the three workshops on offer which include: The Future for QR Codes, The Future for Growing Media and Planning a Pesticide-Reduced Future.

After the difficulties of 2012, Contact 2013 is a great chance for the hardy nursery stock industry to gather with fellow colleagues, mull over of past issues and take note of fresh opportunities for the year ahead.

For further information about this event and to view the full programme please visit www.contact2013.co.uk

Green-fingered youngsters from a Bromsgrove school have been gaining some inspiration from their local Little Heath Garden Centre.

Pupils from Parkside Middle School are designing a garden to enter in the Malvern Spring Gardening Show, being held next May.

Youngsters visited Little Heath Garden Centre as part of their research on what their garden should feature.

Staff at the centre showed the youngsters a variety of plants, and answered their questions on what would look best in the garden.

The pupils also had the chance to see four reindeer, which are staying at the Lickey End-based centre during the festive period.

Bord na Móna UK have appointed Claire Ball as business development manager to cover the south west area. Bord na Móna UK’s commercial manager, Tommy Gill, said the peat free brand Vital Earth (distributed by BnM), and the peat reduced brand Growise were both in demand due to the poor peat harvest and the industry move to peat free. He said Claire’s appointment meant the company now had full national area coverage for garden centres and would enable more sales growth.

In Ireland Bord na Móna is a leading producer of eco-fuels, growing media and environmental products as well as offering waste collection, resource recovery and renewable energy expertise.