60 Years Strong – Building Tomorrow Together

As LOFA prepares to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee in 2027, marking 60 years of supporting the UK outdoor living industry, we are delighted to announce the launch of the LOFA Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy, a brand-new training initiative designed to help garden centre and retail staff feel more confident when selling outdoor leisure products.

For 60 years, LOFA has been bringing the industry together, supporting its members and championing the outdoor living sector.

As we look ahead to this milestone year, we want to do more than celebrate our heritage. We want to invest in the people and businesses that will shape the future of our industry.

And what better way to do that than by helping the people on the shop floor who are talking to consumers every day?

SCAN TO APPLY

FREE Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy Training

Applications close 16 December 2026

Listening to the Industry

We have listened to retailers and know there is a real gap in the market for sales training specifically focused on outdoor leisure products.

Selling a garden furniture set, barbecue or other higher-value outdoor living product can be quite different from selling everyday garden centre items. These are often considered purchases, and we know that some retail staff can feel uncomfortable or lack confidence when approaching customers or discussing higher-priced products.

We want to help change that.

The LOFA Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy has been created to give retail staff the confidence, skills and understanding to engage with customers more effectively, recognise what they need and ultimately help them make the right purchasing decisions.

The training will cover key areas including:

• Recognising different customer types and understanding how they like to shop.
• Engaging with customers at the right level and building confidence in those conversations.
• Helping customers to buy rather than making them feel they are being sold to.
• Understanding how to create urgency without applying pressure.
• Developing practical sales techniques that can be used every day on the shop floor.

Our aim is simple. We want retail staff to feel more comfortable and confident when selling outdoor leisure products, while giving consumers a better, more engaging shopping experience.

And, of course, if we can help retailers sell more outdoor leisure products along the way, that is good news for everyone in our industry.

Building on Success

This new initiative follows the success of our internal LOFA Sales Academy, which we introduced to help newer and younger members of staff working within our member companies navigate an increasingly complex and changing outdoor leisure market.

Over the past two years, 22 members of staff have completed the programme, gaining practical sales skills and techniques that they can now use in their day-to-day roles.

The feedback and experience from running the Sales Academy has encouraged us to take the next step and extend this training opportunity to the retailers who sell our members' products.

After all, the more confident and knowledgeable retail staff are, the better equipped they are to support consumers and help grow the outdoor leisure market.

Taking the Academy Across the UK

The LOFA Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy will launch in February and March 2027, with training taking place in four locations across the UK, covering the North, South, East and West.

Each location will host two half-day training sessions, with 12 places available per session, giving us the opportunity to train up to 96 retail staff as part of this first programme.

We are thrilled to be working with four fantastic garden centres that have kindly offered to host our training sessions:

• Bents – 5^th March 2027
• Planters Garden Centres – 3^rd March 2027
• Aylett Nurseries – 11^th & 12^th March 2027
• Old Well Garden Centre – 24^th & 25^th February 2027

Their support means we can take the Academy out into the industry and make this valuable training accessible to retailers across the country.

And the best part? The training is completely free of charge.

We welcome applications from garden centres and outdoor leisure retailers of all sizes across the UK. Whether you have a new member of staff who would benefit from some additional support or an existing team member who would like to develop their selling skills, we would love to hear from you.

How to Apply

If you feel that you or a member of your team would benefit from this free training opportunity, we would encourage you to apply.

Applications close on 16 December 2026.

Places are limited, so we would encourage retailers to get their applications in early.

https://lofa.co.uk/retail-training-application-form/

60 Years Strong – Building Tomorrow Together

As the organisation behind SOLEX, the outdoor living trade exhibition organised by the industry for the industry, LOFA has been connecting retailers and suppliers through the show since 2008.

The launch of the LOFA Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy is another way we can strengthen those relationships and support the industry beyond the exhibition itself.

Our Diamond Jubilee is an opportunity to look back with pride at everything LOFA and its members have achieved over the past six decades, but just as importantly, it is about looking forward.

The Retail Academy is one of a number of initiatives we will be introducing during our anniversary year, all with the same ambition: to support our members, connect our industry and help build a stronger future for outdoor living.

60 Years Strong. Building Tomorrow Together.

Celebrating Our Heritage. Connecting Our Industry. Building Our Future.

SCAN TO APPLY

FREE Outdoor Leisure Retail Academy Training

Applications close 16 December 2026