industry news NEWS IN


BRIEF • The sale of one of Vitax’s leading


gardening products has helped to grow the funds of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity by over £11,000.


• Greenfingers Charity has designated funds to extend and update the Remembrance Garden at Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People in the East Midlands.


• Homebase has


partnered with Neptune Software, a leading provider of ‘low-code’, rapid application development software.


• Greenfingers Charity has announced that Sue Allen, founder of Millbrook Garden Centres, has joined the charity’s board of trustees.


September weather dampens sales


In September, the wetter weather dampened garden centre sales of hardy plants and outdoor living ranges, meaning that sales in September 2019 remained flat compared with 2018. Houseplants and garden care products performed well in September, with houseplants seeing an increase of 13% compared to September last year, and garden care increasing by 9% in month to month comparisons. All categories reported remain up on 2018 for year to date comparisons. HTA director of membership, Martin Simmons,


commented: “Despite losing ground in September, year- on-year comparisons show that garden centre sales have maintained strong growth. Rolling year to September 2019, compared to 2018 show that sales are up 9%.”


GCA to expand team of inspectors


The Garden Cente Association (GCA) is expanding its team of inspectors after seeing a record number of new members join this year. The GCA’s Ian Wylie (pictured), explained: “The new inspector will


visit member garden centres in one or two of the area groups around the country.


“We have seen a record-breaking 13 new members join us this year and we are processing further applications at the moment, which means


we are expanding our team of inspectors in order to ensure we have the coverage required to help our members maintain their excellent standards and continue to benefit so much from our inspection process. “We would love to speak to people from all areas of the industry with insight into the garden centre market or with wider retailing experience, who feel they can help improve our member garden centres through our inspection and feedback process. We are looking for an individual who can bring passion and enthusiasm to the role and who can inspire the teams at the centres they visit.


“They would need to visit member centres during the spring inspection window and be able to give objective and honest feedback on what they find.


“They will also need to produce reports and provide ideas for improving standards. Our inspectors make presentations at our annual conference and regional meetings, helping to reach a wider audience within the membership. It is a very interesting role and a unique opportunity for anyone in the industry. “The chosen individual will join our current team of inspectors and help


to ensure consistency and raise standards throughout its membership. “Each of our inspectors are integral in helping us to ensure consistency and raising standards through our membership. They will visit approximately 40 of our members’ centres each spring (March – June). “As part of the visit, as well as scoring the centres to given criteria, using our detailed inspection form, they must be able to give objective and honest feedback on what they’ve seen. Inspectors also present at an area meeting and our annual conference.”


GCU December/January 2020 www.gardencentreupdate.com | 9 September saw a mixture of weathers, including


sunshine hours 15% higher and mean temperatures 0.5⁰C higher than the long-term average. By contrast, rainfall was 25% higher than average for the month of September, bringing the most rain in its month since 2000. This issue of Market Update looks at garden centre sales and overall market performance. The topical feature in this issue looks at HTA member business confidence. HTA members are generally feeling positive about the outlook of their business over the next three and twelve months, with over 8 in 10 leaning towards the positive end of the scale. Over half are definitely looking to introduce new products or services, and one quarter are definitely looking to engage in training for their staff and business.


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