the big interview There’s a lot of


noise out there, and a lot of competition for people’s time and attention


The challenge of rates is one not faced by


internet retailers, who also present a fairly major insurgence into traditional retail sectors. “The internet is a challenge for lots of product segments, but especially higher ticket items,” Peter adds. “Someone can come in here, check a price, then go and look online and try and get it cheaper. If we’ve got something at £1,499 and they can find it online at £1,200… You also have internet shopping being 24/7. We can’t open on a Sunday until 11am, so if a customer drives up and we’re closed, they can get onto their mobile device and it’s there the next day for them. It is a threat, especially on high ticket lines, where if people can save a bit more money they’ll shop around.” One way to combat those just hunting for a cheap price has always been delivering exceptional service.


Jill says: “There are people, and I’m probably one of them, who are happy enough to spend a bit more on a high value item because they know there are staff here to help if they have a problem with it. We’ve been out helping people sort out issues many times, even if it’s a mistake a customer has made, or if they just don’t know how to work something properly. You don’t get that sort of service everywhere.” Making sure any customer has a good experience when they come and visit is a major plus point, especially for an independent. “We try and do things in our own way, and we want people to be happy,” says Peter. “Our main consultants are our customers, you might say. We watch where they go, what they look at, and listen to what they say. If you hear an issue 10 times a day, then it’s something you can change to improve the experience.” Jill adds: “There are lots of people who love shopping. Their enjoyment, for a lot of older people especially, is in going round the shops. They like to spend a bit of time, and they almost always spend a bit of money too. People want to come out, somewhere they can park easily, and have a look around.” Peter also knows that a retailer should be happy that any customer, with the competition for their time, chooses to spend their mornings or afternoons in store.


“We’re just glad they come through the door really,” he says. “We want a happy customer. We don’t mind why they come through the door, as long as they come through the door. We’re providing an entertainment and a service, and our job is to entertain as many people as possible, and luckily we manage to


6 | www.gardencentreupdate.com


Engaging with customers and responding to their needs helps shape the business for the future


do it. I wouldn’t say retailing is getting any easier. It was a lot easier in the 70s and 80s. “Now you have a broader split between retailers selling everything as cheaply as possible, and the other end of the market where you have expensive items, but of high quality, which you might not find anywhere else. It’s a small percentage of the population that are in a position to afford that top end. There will always be that end of the market, but the majority of people are going to be price conscious.”


The price conscious may be increasingly pressed by price rises following the EU referendum, Peter adds.


“We’ve seen price increases from the supplier end already with inflation,” he explains. “It will affect everyone equally, at the end of the day. This orchid came from Holland; it’s going to be 20% more expensive because of the value of the pound. So either you pay for that, or you don’t have it. Maybe we’ll just be worse off because no one will have that orchid.”


Looking ahead


Despite the challenges of the market, Peter and Jill maintain their enthusiasm with plans for the future.


“A lot of garden centres are going for under cover sales areas now, and we’d like to expand ours,” says Peter. “I think it really works. Planning permission can be a challenge, as it’s quite onerous and time consuming, but we’d like to expand. I think it would bring in more customers, but it’s a gamble. You could always invest all that money and find that you’ve got the same number of customers. But we’ve always got lots of projects that we’d like to do. You don’t really stop, but we don’t want to.” He adds: “I’m not one to say, ‘We must do it that way’, or ‘We’ll copy them’. I like to do things our way. We don’t really go for consultants. We like to develop our own strategy. We like to be different and I think


people look for that. We don’t want to be a clone. We want to be independent, because that’s what we are.”


Getting new blood into the industry is tough, and training and development with an eye to the future is something that many in the trade will have worries about. “We would like to spend more time and


money on training our staff,” Peter says. “That's one area we could get better at. Traditionally work in retail and horticulture is not highly paid but we try to pay a competitive rate so that we attract the best. We have great members of staff; many of them have worked for us for over 30 years so we must be doing something right. “Succession for Jill and I is a problem, as it is


for many garden centres in the same position. It’s the choice of do you retire, when, do I want to be 90 doing this? I’d love that if I’m fit enough, but we do need a second group of people coming up to take over from us one day.”


For anyone looking to enter the industry, being keen to work with people and learning from mistakes are key skills.


“Not everyone is born into a family business, so if you’re knocking on someone else’s door, you need to have something to offer,” says Jill. “If the retail industry is going to survive, people have to enjoy going to your shop, so you need to be able to interact with those people, be that an old lady who lives by herself, or a young family. You have to take a bit of an interest, the experience has to be nice for them.” Peter adds: “You need lots of energy. If you make a mistake, don’t dwell on it, but move on and learn, and keep going. You need to take risks, make mistakes and be prepared to persevere. You can’t be frightened of hard work.


“Do what you do, and enjoy it. We have a very enjoyable time running our business. It’s fantastic; we love it really.”


GCU May 2017


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