The Old Railway Line, Scotsdales and Cowells were Gold Award Plant Sales Team winners in The Greatest Plant Retailing Awards presented at The HTA National Plant Show yesterday.

The Greatest Plant Retailing Awards are all about teams of people, for planteria teams that excel in garden centres.  Yesterday during The HTA National Plant Show at Stoneleigh Carol Paris and Trevor Pfeiffer announced the the results of The Greatest Plant Retailing Awards following expert judging visits to 40 nominated planteria teams across the country.

Awards organiser Trevor Pfeiffer said "from the many teams we met on our judging journeys it is clear that garden centre plant retailing standards are being pushed higher and higher – with teamwork and the drive for excellent customer service giving our customers some of the best plant buying experiences in the UK.  Garden Centre plant retailing is simply GREAT!"

The Greatest Plant Sales Teams

Finalists

• Altons
• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Bents
• Burston
• Coolings
• Cowells
• Fresh @ Burcot
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Groves of Bridport
• Halls of Heddon
• Monkton Elm
• Old Railway Line
• Percy Throwers Wyevale
• Perrywood
• Polhill, Sevenoaks
• Scotsdales, Cambridge
• St Peters, Worcester
• Stewarts
• Van Hage Great Amwell
• Woodside Plant Centre

Bronze Awards

• Small PlanteriaTeams:  Woodside Plant Centre
• Mid Sized Planteria Teams: Monkton Elm
• Large Planteria Teams: Bents and Van Hage, Great Amwell                                              

Silver Awards

• Small Planteria Teams:  Halls of Heddon
• Mid-Sized Planteria Teams:  Alton
• Large Planteria Teams: Coolings and Perrywood

Gold Awards

• Small Planteria Teams:  Old Railway Line
• Mid Sized Planteria Teams:  Cowells
• Large Planteria Teams:  Scotsdales, Cambridge

The management team at Gardman, led by Chairman Jonathan Halford have completed a management buy out of the business, backed by Rutland Partners.

Sales Director, Steve Harper, told GTN Xtra this morning; "It's awesome.  Gardman is now on a really strong footing going forward. This is really, really positive."

"Garden centres can expect the business to have a new vigour in driving forward with £5m to be invested into brands, stock and new developments."

"Rutland Partners are completely behind our strategy of growing the business with our 5 brand structure.  They understand that agents are an important part of our business model.  we have over 30 people representing Gardman, all with a massive amount of experience."

"We will have over 300 new products at Glee."

Rutland Partners are also investors in well known companies: Maplin, Pizza Hut and Bernard Matthews.  On their web site they state: "Where other private equity firms might look for market growth to justify their investment, we look to the inherent potential in the business for improved performance. Does it have a sustainable competitive proposition and can it take control of the challenges it faces? In other words, 'Can we make a difference here?'

The full statement from Gardman reads:

We are very pleased to announce that Gardman Limited has today been bought out by its management, backed by private equity fund Rutland Partners.

With renewed focus, increased financial strength, and a management team led by Chairman Jonathan Halford, Gardman is now well placed to build on its reputation as the market leading Supplier of sundries into the UK garden market.

“This deal represents the best possible future for Gardman” said Jonathan Halford. “Over the last 2 years Gardman has been through an essential but challenging period of change. Thanks to the dedication, commitment and loyalty of our Employees, Agents and Customers we have emerged a far stronger business culminating in today’s announcement.”

Mr Halford continued “This new investment therefore marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Gardman’s future and together with Rutland’s experience in delivering business transformation, provides us with the platform to deliver our ambitious future growth plans. This will include continued focus on our recently launched brands strategy, further improvements in the product range and an investment in operations to deliver higher service levels to customers.”

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in Gardman and back Jonathan in his strategy to improve performance and develop the business further,” added Ben Slatter of Rutland. “We believe that Gardman’s long established brand, much valued Agency sales force and nationwide distribution network will stand us in good stead to take the business to the next level. To this end we are very pleased to provide the immediate funding platform.

While we visited all of the centres for The Greatest Plant Retailing Awards, our experts asked them “Who is your greatest Plant Retailing supplier of this year.  40 centres were asked and 24 different plant suppliers were nominated.  A number of the votes were for “Our own nursery” and clearly local plant suppliers have very special relationships with Planteria Teams. 

Three plant suppliers stood out from the crowd.  The plant supplier with the most votes and Gold Award winner was Hillier Nurseries and there was a tie for the Silver Award which was shared by Allensmore and Farplants.

The Greatest Plant Supplier of the Year

Nominated Suppliers

Allensmore, Barsfold Nurseries, Bransford Webbs, Bridge Nurseries, Cobbins, Darby Nurseries, David Austin Roses, Farplants, Garden Centre Fresh, Garden Centre Plants, Gardeners Kitchen, Hillier Nurseries, Ivan Ambrose, Javado, Marchants of Wimborne, “Our Own Nursery”, Pacific Nurseries, R & S Barnwell, Rushmere Nurseries, Veen Plant, W D Smith and Son, Woodlark Nurseries, Wyevale Nurseries, Y & S Humphries.

Gold Award

• Hilliers

Silver Award

• Allensmore
• Farplants

"Really focused on linked sales outside in the planteria and they back that up with excellent information boards about the products as well as the plants" was the judges comments about the Gold Award winning Linked Sales Team at Coolings.

Percy Throwers Wyevale and Van Hage Great Amwell both won Silver Awards and Cowells the Bronze Award.

Trevor Pfeiffer said: "Garden Centre Planterias are fast becoming the places of choice for customers to buy all they need for their planting project and from what we saw there is a great opportunity for garden centres to increase linked sales business and provide a real point of customer satisfaction – provided it is done well and above is clearly communicated."

The Greatest Linked Sales Team

Finalists

• Aylett Nurseries
• Baytree
• Bents
• Coolings
• Cowells
• Fresh @ Burcot
• Fron Goch
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Monkton Elm
• Percy Throwers Wyevale
• Scotsdales - Cambridge
• Van Hage Great Amwell

Bronze Award

• Cowells

Silver Award

• Percy Throwers Wyevale
• Van Hage Great Amwell

Gold Award

• Coolings

The most smiley, most helpful Plant Advice team the judges met - they are so well liked by their customers they have an office stacked full of wine and cake bought in for them - and they all speak Welsh as well as English won the Gold Award for The Greatest Plant Advice Team at Fron Goch Garden Centre in North Wales.

Coolings won the Silver Award with Bronze awarded to the team at Burston.

The Greatest Plant Advice Team

Finalists

• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Baytree
• Bents
• Burston
• Coolings
• Fron Goch
• Monkton Elm
• Old Railway Line
• Perrywood
• Scotsdales, Cambridge
• Van Hage Great Amwell

Bronze Award

• Burston

Silver Award

• Coolings

Gold Award

• Fron Goch

The Greatest Pot and Plant Sales Team – Top of the Pots - Sponsored by Elho

Finalists

• Aylett Nurseries
• Bents
• Brechin Castle
• Coolings
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Old Railway Line
• Perrywood
• Van Hage Great Amwell

Bronze Award

• Old Railway Line
• Frosts Woburn Sands

Silver Award

• Brechin Castle

Gold Award

• Bents

Pictures from the judging visits and background to all of the winners will be published in future issues of GTN and GTN Xtra.

Salvia Love & Wishes from Darby Nursery Stock & Kernock Park Plants has been crowned best in show at the New Plant Awards on the opening morning of the HTA National Plant Show which took place yesterday and today (23 and 24 June) at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry.

Judging Panel member and RHS Director, Jim Gardiner, comments, “All the judges were unanimously in favour of this plant, not only winning Best in Category, but also Best in Show.

Salvia Love & Wishes is a great performer in the garden, either in a container or in a sunny position in the garden.

It flowers continuously from May to September, which can be extended depending on weather conditions. The flower spikes extend beyond the foliage with the initial point of interest being the dark plum colours calyces, shortly followed by the beautiful long lasting claret coloured flowers.”

This year’s awards, sponsored by RHS, attracted over 90 entries across five categories. The gold medal winners and Best in Category plants are…..

Annuals

Gold

• Benary – Begonia tuberous Nonstop Joy
• Ball Colegrave Ltd – Osteospermum ‘3D’ series
• Cobbins Nursery – Gerbera Garvinea Sweet Surprise
• Cobbins Nursery – Patio Gerbera Volcanoes
• Channel Island Plants (UK) Ltd – Nemesia French Connection Bonnet
• Channel Island Plants (UK) Ltd – Bidens Beedance Painted Red

Best in Category

• Channel Island Plants (UK) Ltd – Bidens Beedance Painted Red

Herbaceous Perennials

Gold

• Fairweather’s – Scabiosa Kudo
• Profitplant UK – Itoh Peony
• Darby Nursery Stock & Kernock Park Plants – Salvia Love & Wishes
• Darby Nursery Stock – Geranium Pink Pouffe

Best in Category

• Darby Nursery Stock & Kernock Park Plants – Salvia Love & Wishes

Houseplants

Gold

• Profitplants UK – Little Kolibri Orchids Victoria Falls
• Garden Centre Fresh – Phalaenopsis Formidablo N-17 XXL

Best in Category

• Profitplants UK – Little Kolibri Orchids Victoria Falls

Shrubs and Climbers

Gold

• Whartons Nurseries Ltd – Rose “Eye of the Tiger”
• Hilliers Nurseries – Cotinus ‘Candy Floss’
• The Bransford Webbs Plant Company – Hebe Marshmallow
• The Bransford Webbs Plant Company – Hebe Sangria Sensation
• The Bransford Webbs Plant Company – Hebe Pink Fizz
• John Richards Nurseries Ltd – Clematis macropetala ‘Elgar’
• Javado UK – Viburnum f.tomentosum plicatum Kilimanjaro Sunrise
• Javado UK – Hydrangea Deep Purple Dance
• Javado UK – Hydrangea macr. Rendez-Vous’ French Cancan’
• Farplants Sales Ltd – Hibiscus Rose Moon

Best in Category

• Javado UK – Hydrangea macr. Rendez-Vous’ French Cancan’ 

Trees and Conifers

Silver

• Frank P Matthews Ltd – Cherry Stardust

Best in Category

• Frank P Matthews Ltd – Cherry Stardust

A full list of medal winners is available at http://www.the-hta.org.uk/file.php?fileid=2851

The New Plant Award judges were HTA President Stan Green, Jim Gardiner and Mark Heath from RHS, Marc Rosenberg from Amateur Gardening and Colin Dale from Notcutts.

All New Plant Award entries can be viewed at the show and visitors too can have their say by taking part in the Visitor Vote Awards, sponsored by Floramedia. The winner of the Visitor Vote Award will be announced at 3.30pm on Wednesday 24 June.

The Greatest Outdoor Living Categories

• The Greatest BBQ Sales Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Decoration and Lighting Sales Team of the Year
• The Greatest Inspiration for New Gardeners Team – Love The Plot You've Got Award
• The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Sales Team of the Year

Halfway through June and volume sales continue to run up on last year – 13% up to date according to EPoS data supplied by garden centres for GTN Bestsellers. Last week’s sales even surpassed volumes in the same week of 2013 when we had the previous record June sales after that really dismal April and May of that year.

Increases in plant sales are a major contribution to that volume increase. While judging for The Greatest Plant Retailing Awards, which were announced and presented at the HTA National Plant Show yesterday afternoon, plant teams are revelling in high sales with so much still looking good – the general consensus is that the season is still two weeks behind and the hope is that sales will continue through well into July.

Continued high sales levels for the last two weeks of June should push year to date volumes back up to level with last year at the halfway point for 2015.

With SOLEX just around the corner, more good weather will be welcome to sell through more barbecues and garden furniture. Most centres are reporting good sales so far this year, but a sell-out as thoughts start to turn to Christmas preparation would be ideal!

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year...

• Garden Products – up 2%
• Veg-2-Gro Products – up 83%
• Growing Media – up 20%
• All items index – up 13%

Introduced in 2014 to help bring plants back to the centre of Glee, the Green Heart brought together some of the biggest and most respected UK growers to showcase 2015 plant ranges. Incredibly well received the area has undergone some exciting changes ahead of the 2015 show.

Originally designed as a showcase of UK growers, the Green Heart has been expanded to now incorporate international growers. Over 60 growers are expected to use the area to launch 2016 ranges and latest varieties, as well as participate in a new programme of activity, designed to encourage further engagement with plants from all sectors of the garden retail industry.

Led by The Garden Works’ independent garden centre consultant, Kevin Waters, the Green Heart will benefit from an interactive and live element in 2015. 

Throughout the show Kevin will lead a number of guided tours around the Green Heart to demonstrate how cross merchandising can highlight a continual year-round association with the plant offer. In total 12 exciting promotional displays will be created to showcase how plants can take centre stage every month of the year, each developed with three key criteria in mind – inspire action by giving ideas; making buying easy; and ensure subsequent success for the customer.

Utilising plants from Green Heart exhibitors, plus products from the wider show, these promotional displays undoubtedly inspire garden retailers and help them to think of new ways to link departments and sales across the store.

Talking about his new role at Glee, Kevin Waters said: “I am very pleased to be part of the ongoing development of Glee’s Green Heart, and really hope that people will take advantage of the opportunity to get up close and personal with plants at the show. 

“The objective of the promotions we’ll be creating is to highlight the importance of plants, not only to our garden centres but also to the lives of our customers. We’ll be creating displays which appeal to all the senses and make gardening accessible to all, pulling material from all sectors of our centres including the gift area and even the restaurant. The aim is to show that plants are not restricted to ‘that cold bit outside where non-planty-types don’t venture!’” 

Themes already confirmed to feature in Kevin’s Green Heart displays and interactive content will include Summer Thrillers, Spillers and Fillers, HTA Plant of the Month, and Fragrance in the Garden. 

i2i’s Matthew Mein, Glee event director said: “We’re so pleased to be able to confirm Kevin’s involvement with the Green Heart. His passion, knowledge and experience of the garden centre market is second to none and without doubt his enthusiasm for building a bright future for garden retailers will shine through in his content.  I am excited to see what he has on offer!”

The Green Heart will once again be housed within the glass-roofed Atrium area directly outside the entrances to Glee’s new home with NEC halls 17 – 20 and incorporating Glee’s registration desks.  Considered to be the biggest greenhouse within the UK, it is within this space that growers and nurseries can create displays of everything from herbs and bedding plants, to trees, shrubs, alpines and even houseplants.  Each will also be given an identical ‘plot’ – which will feature benches and signage, kindly provided by Woodlodge.

Key names already confirmed for the Green Heart in 2015 include Darby Nursery, Whartons Nurseries, Morley Nurseries, New Leaf Plants, Channel Island Plants, Chamberlain Nurseries, Chapel Cottage Plants, Javado, Addenda, Northumberland Nurseries, Anglo Aquatic, Tamata, Gedney Bulb Company, Kilworth Conifers, Topbuxus and Laurica.

 To keep up-to-date on all the latest news log onto www.gleebirmingham.com.  For details on exhibiting at Glee, call 0203 033 2160. 

The Greatest Garden Centre Team Awards Categories

• The Greatest Garden Care Retail Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre Customer Service Team of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre Training Team or Initiative of the Year, sponsored by MorePeople
• The Greatest Garden Centre Merchandising Team of the Year
• The Greatest Gardening Supplier of the Year
• The Greatest Garden Centre of the Year (Public Vote), sponsored by National Garden Gift Vouchers

As usual The Greatest Awards team of experts will be out and about meeting nominated teams, gathering information and taking photos of their work so that the Gold, Silver and Bronze Greatest Awards winners can be chosen.

Plus your team have the chance to become The Greatest Garden Centre Team of 2015 by involving your customers in the public voting later this summer.  The Greatest Garden Centre Teams, small, medium and large will be the teams that have the best relationships with their customers and generate the most votes (taking size of centre into account) and in the event of a tie, the centre with the most complimentary comments form their customers.  To take part in the public vote please e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call The Greatest Awards on 01733 775700 to request an in store voting pack.

As this issue of GTN Xtra goes to press the expert judges are meeting to decide the winners of The Greatest Plant Retailing Team Awards in advance of The National Plant Show.  Make sure your Outdoor Leisure, Garden Care and Garden Centre teams are nominated for visits later in July and August.

The Greatest Awards would like to thank sponsors, Elho, National Garden Gift Vouchers, MorePeople and The HTA plus the event organisers at The HTA Catering Conference, National Plant Show, GIMA Awards and HTA Futures for agreeing to be presentation venues for The Greatest Awards ON TOUR 2015.  The date and venue for The Greatest Outdoor Leisure Awards will be announced in a future issue of GTN Xtra. 

Sponsorship opportunities are available for product and service suppliers seeking to gain the highest possible exposure between now and November this year.  Please contact mandy.atkin@tgcmc.co.uk for details.

Plant Area Manager | Destination Garden Centre | Large Group (ref:BP7450)

Location: Staffordshire
Salary: £20,000 to £25,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Plant Area Manager

The Business

My client is a large garden centre group with stores based throughout the United Kingdom. The business has a reputation for quality and destination garden centres. This is a business which invests in its people and provides the opportunity to further a career in garden retail.

The Role

The role is part of the centres senior leadership team alongside the restaurant manager and deputy manager. It could suit a candidate who is currently a manager at a small centre and looking to step up or a candidate in a larger centre looking to join a group for progression. 
Day to day the role will involve the leadership and motivation of your team to provide the highest standard of customer service, plant care and merchandising.

The Person

I am looking for a superb plantsman with a real knack for retail.
Horticulture experience could be gained from practical experience or from an academic qualification but candidates will be expected to lead a horticulture focussed team with good knowledge. Retail experience must be good and you must have demonstrable management ability in a retail environment. This could have been developed in a role outside of horticulture but must be recent.

Please submit your CV in the first instance, or to discuss further contact Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530

Horticulture Manager | Essex | Established Centre (ref:BP7398)

Location: Essex
Salary: £17,000 to £20,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

Horticulture Manager 

The Company

This client is a well-established and forward thinking industry name. A large garden centre group that has focussed on improving retail practices and standards to be the best in the industry. They look for the best people from the retail and the horticulture sectors and train them through their in house training programmes to develop strong teams throughout their centres.

The Role

The role is part of the centres senior leadership team alongside the restaurant manager and deputy manager. It could suit a candidate who is currently a manager at a small centre and looking to step up or a candidate in a larger centre looking to join a group for progression. 
Day to day the role will involve the leadership and motivation of your team to provide the highest standard of customer service, plant care and merchandising.

The Person

I am looking for a superb plantsman with a real knack for retail. 
Horticulture experience could be gained from practical experience or from an academic qualification but candidates will be expected to lead a horticulture focussed team with good knowledge. Retail experience must be good and you must have demonstrable management ability in a retail environment. This could have been developed in a role outside of horticulture but must be recent.

Please submit your CV in the first instance, or to discuss further call Brad Peck at MorePeople on 01780 480530

Landscape Project Manager (ref:DS7460)

Location: East of England
Salary: £25,000 to £30,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

The Business

Our client is a leading Grounds Maintenance and Soft Landscaping Contractor based in East Anglia who carry out a wide range of commercial and domestic contracts throughout this region.

The Role

They are currently seeking to recruit a Soft Landscaping Projects Manager to oversee commercial landscaping projects throughout the Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire area. 

Reporting to the Landscape Director 

The ideal candidate will currently be employed in a similar role or be seeking to take their next step into a more senior management role.

Responsibilities will include :
Installation of projects to strict deadlines and budgets
Assisting in development and bidding for new works, including estimating
Liaison with clients, main contractors and designers
Implementation and management of health & safety and quality procedures
Supervision of Landscaping Teams
Maintaining contract files

The Person

The successful candidate should hold a relevant horticultural or landscape qualification 
A full driving license is essential.
They should also have significant experience in managing commercial landscaping contacts, estimating and developing business in this sector. 
Be a superb communicator and capable of delivering excellent customer service 

Salary range: £25,000 - £30,000 - dependent on experience and more for an exceptional candidate

Please submit your CV in the first instance or to discuss further contact Dianne Saunders at MorePeople on 07929013910

Contracts Manager | Soft Landscape Construction | South (ref:DS7459)

Location: South East England
Salary: £34,000 to £35,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent

The Business

Our client is a leading Grounds Maintenance and Soft Landscaping Contractor based in East Anglia who carry out a wide range of commercial contracts throughout the UK.

The Role

They are currently seeking to recruit a Soft Landscaping Contracts Manager to oversee commercial landscaping projects throughout the South East and East Anglia area. 
Reporting to the Regional Manager and Operations Director 
The ideal candidate will currently be employed in a similar role or be seeking to take their next step into a more senior management role.

Responsibilities will include :
Installation of projects to strict deadlines and budgets
Assisting in development and bidding for new works, including estimating
Liaison with clients, main contractors and designers
Implementation and management of health & safety and quality procedures
Supervision of Landscaping Teams
Maintaining contract files

The Person

The successful candidate should hold a relevant horticultural or landscape qualification 
A full driving license is essential.
They should also have significant experience in managing commercial landscaping contacts, estimating and developing business in this sector. 

Salary range: £30,000 - £35,000 - dependent on experience

Please submit your CV in the first instance, or to discuss further contact Dianne Saunders at MorePeople on 07929013910

The award for Best Plant Display, sponsored by Flowering Plants Ltd, announced on the second morning of the HTA National Plant Show, has gone to Wyevale Nurseries for their ‘Bringing the inside out’ themed display.

Wyevale Nurseries cleverly used planted up furniture and a fireplace setting to create an outdoor room focusing on the use of the garden as a place to entertain and an additional room to decorate with plants.

Parkers Nurseries were highly commended for their boldly coloured display tying in the colour themes of their Garden Cocktails range with parasols, picnic plates and cutlery, cushions and sweets.

Gedney Bulbs were commended for their clean and fresh display of tiered alpines and bookcase of bulbs which made a great use of space.

Key Essentials were commended for their innovative display of air plants using boat shaped units, crates and hanging branches demonstrating how even small products can be displayed effectively.

The judges for 2015 were Marcus Cousins from Aylett Nurseries, Kevin Waters from Kevin Waters Consultancy and Trevor Pfeiffer from Garden Trade News.

Presenting the awards judge Kevin Waters comments, “There are some fantastic plant displays at the show this year with the standard being incredibly high. Some of the most effective and innovative ideas do not involve spending a lot of money and are easy to replicate in a garden retail setting.”

He adds, “The winning display from Wyevale Nurseries really demonstrates how a simple idea could easily be translated into a plantarea providing inspiration for customers about making greater use of their outdoor room.”

For further information visit www.nationalplantshow.co.uk

The GTN Bestsellers Garden Products Top 50 chart is still being dominated by lighting lines although plant food for both outdoor and indoor use is showing up prominently in this week’s sales data.

Star performers this week include:

• Gardman Solar Mini Ice Orb has moved to top spot.
• The highest climber is another Gardman lighting line – Black Nickel Solar Ice Orb has jumped 21 places to No 25.
• Smart Solar Portland Solar Lantern (pictured) is the highest new entry, moving straight to No 2.
• The highest re-entry is Growth Technology Orchid Myst (100 ml) at No 22.
• The popular Scotts Levington Tomorite (1 litre) is highly placed at No 3.

Young tomato plants are the biggest movers in the sales of young veg plants, according to this week’s GTN Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart.

Star performers include:

• Quantil Tomato Totem (8cm) is the highest climber, jumping 45 places to No 2.
• The highest re-entry is Quantil Tomato Tumbling Tom Yellow (8.5cm) at No 9.
• Farplants Heritage Tomato Tigerella is also a re-entry, returning to the Top 50 at No 44.
• This week’s highest new entry is Quantil Courgette Summer Ball (8.5cm) at No 37.

Vital Earth Farm Manure (50 litres) is the star performer in the Growing Media chart, claiming the highest climber accolade and jumping 20 places to No 18.  

Other star growing media performers this week include:

• GroWise Landscape Mini Chip Bark (100 litres) is the highest re-entry at No 24.
• GroWise Multipurpose Compost (20 litres) is another product returning to the Top 50 after doubling its sales from the previous week.
• Arthur Bowers John Innes No 3 (25 litres) is also a re-entry following an impressive sales week.
• Scotts Levington Multipurpose + John Innes (56 litres) retains the top spot for another week.

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 2012 as well as 2013 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 last week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro Products Bestsellers chart for last week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for last 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.

There are almost two million in people in the UK who are suffering sight loss. Or to put it another way, there are almost two million potential garden centre customers who are suffering sight loss. Are those two million people welcome in your café? asks Garden Centre and Catering Consultant Doug Stewart.

How do we show them that they are important to us?

Costas have laid down the gauntlet with their braille menu…

With 8% of the population following a vegetarian lifestyle, 16% of the population following a gluten free lifestyle and two million people who are suffering sight loss, it is the way we show our support for, and how we cater for, these customers that will set us apart.

Doug can be contacted through his website, www.waringstewartassociates.co.uk

Chris Brown, of Turpin Smale, highlighted bird watching as an area of interest for cafés and restuarants to focus on for attracting customers in his presentation at the HTA Catering Conference.

One of our Gold Award winners in The Greatest Catering awards, The Birdhouse Tea Room at Woodside Plant Centre in Jedburgh, has been making the most of the opportunity for years.

“The Jacobi Jayne window plant feeder hanger is our bestselling line in the shop,” said owner Emma Emmerson.

“That and the window feeder are constant sellers as a result of people enjoying watching the birds feed at the window of the tea shop.”

Now that’s a gold-plated bestsellers tip that could be employed in most garden centre coffee shops.