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making the total site at Pensham near Pershore six acres. An application to build a further acre of glasshouses is being drawn up and will be submitted to the planning authority in the summer. In the event that planning permission is refused, a 15-acre site with perpetual permission to build six acres of glasshouses adjacent to the Evesham bypass will be developed. Customer service and packing staff have also been scaled up using both permanent and temporary labour and Hayloft Plants is also currently seeking a “senior manager with potential director status” to focus on reader offers and affiliate marketing. Hayloft Plants started on the kitchen table of a converted barn called “The Hayloft” just after the birth of Yvonne Walker’s first child 20 years ago. Her friend Harriet Hardiman soon joined her and the business was conducted around the needs of their children.


In 2003, the site at Pensham was purchased and developed. In 2007, disaster struck when floods in the Vale of Evesham on 21st July saw the nursery under almost a metre of water. Jarman recalls, “While it was business as usual, behind the scenes it took six months to clean up the water damage and reinforce the flood defences against the River Avon.” Fast-forward to 2012 and IT director Simon Fletcher and his colleague Elliot Newman have just completed a redevelopment of the Hayloft Plants website, hayloft-plants.co.uk, giving it a fresher, cleaner look with advanced search facilities allowing the customer to filter down to exactly the right plant selecting on species, height, width and other properties. Fletcher says, “For 2014 a target of 50 percent of all orders


“People are much more interested in customer service than they are the product”


The issue now is not getting complaints but how to encourage responsible and transparent feedback that is beneficial to both the customer and the business. With the emergence of Twitter and other social media, the way we complain has changed. Bosses also want feedback to come straight to them rather than having to search it out. Good reviews are fabulous but bad reviews can help grow your business too—as long as you listen


Geraniums from Syngenta Seeds in Holland and Confetti Kir Royal from Dummen in Germany are all positive pointers to the future.


processed by customers through the Hayloft Plants website has been set. If recent trends can be extrapolated forwards, we should beat this target with ease. Every customer who processes his or her own order saves the company 50p, keeping our prices lower and customer experience and service higher.” In addition to its website, Hayloft Plants has also been building a following on social media including Twitter and Facebook with competitions planned in the near future. A mobile site is planned for release later in 2012 to tap into the increased traffic from mobile devices and tablets.


The company also has a presence on shopping channel QVC, where sales have been solid and are expected to increase in line with the expansion of the business. Recent Today’s Special Value (TSV) successes with Caliente


to your customers and do something about it.


Understand the power of the consumer:


People always used to say word of mouth was the strongest marketing tool. Now that word of mouth can spread across the globe in the click of a mouse, that saying is even more important. Customers can’t be fobbed off just because they’re emailing from America and you’re in Tunbridge Wells. Instead of seeing complaining customers as an annoyance, use them to create a positive message. If you win someone over with word and deed you’ll have a customer for life and a fervent supporter.


Make changes:


There will always be companies that worry about negative feedback but the real pioneers are the ones using it to shape their business and evolve as a result. If you have a number of comments about poor facilities or products, do something about it. Don’t pretend they don’t exist. Bad reviews can be good for business, so long as the retailer works to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.


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The Hayloft Plants team led by Yvonne Walker


Despite all the technology, traditional mail order catalogues are still very important to the business. Five different catalogues are produced each year with targeted mailing having reduced the individual print runs, bringing about massive savings in print and postal costs with no reduction in sales. Recent increases in Royal Mail costs will make


this even more important in the future. Hayloft Plants relies on Royal Mail, Citipost and Yodel to ensure safe delivery of plants and horticultural sundries to customers located throughout the UK and Ireland. Yvonne Walker, managing director, concludes, “Despite a difficult economic climate, changeable weather and a hosepipe ban in many areas, trading is up on previous years and is forecast to be substantially up at the end of the calendar year.”


Are you a CatEx member with a story to tell? Email miri@catalog-biz.com with your latest news.


What’s on at the Annual Summit


The Catalogue is Dead…


Mark your diary now for the CatEx DCA Annual Summit, 29th May at the Kensington Town Hall, London. This year, the focus of the day will be “The catalogue as a marketing tool is dead”. At press time the final debate panel, moderated by deputy chairman and Aspace managing director Paul Cunningham, was yet to be confirmed but speakers for the rest of the day include: Brian O’Donnell of F+W Media, who talks delegates through RUCraft’s recent transformation; Wayne Lysaght-Mason and Stuart Wilson telling the Ironmongery Direct story and David Lockwood sharing an insight into the world of Direct Wines.


The day will conclude with a series of round- table sessions followed by a networking drinks reception.


To book your place, call us now on 08718 555 545 or visit our website for more information: www.catexdca.org.uk.


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access to our website. Call 01271 866112 or go to www.catalog-biz.com/subscribe.asp


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