Association Comment: HTA Helping businesses


navigate change By Boyd Douglas-Davies, Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) President


It’s been over a year since coronavirus first reached the UK, causing major shiſts in the way we live and do business. The Horticultural Trades Association has been there to help businesses navigate each change and obstacle since day one of lockdown. One of our greatest victories so far has been getting UK Governments to recognise garden centres as essential retail.


Though garden centres are considered retail businesses, they are uniquely tied to health and wellbeing in a way that most retailers are not. Gardening has been proven to positively affect mental and physical health, which has become increasingly important in this time of isolation. During lockdown, many people turned to gardening to relieve stress and anxiety. However, when garden centres closed, this became much less accessible.


The Horticultural Trades Association knows how important garden centres are to the British public as well as the economy. When the UK locked down in 2020, we got right to work advocating for governments to reopen the centres.


We couldn’t have done this without help from our incredible HTA Council Representatives in the devolved nations. One example is Nicola Pugh, our representative for Wales, who launched a petition to reopen Welsh garden centres. It gained an impressive 11,000 signatures, which was more than enough for Welsh government to take notice. This, paired with lobbying efforts of our policy team, paid off on 12 March when it was announced that garden centres across Wales were finally able to resume business.


In Scotland, though garden centres were initially classified as essential businesses, Covid rates continued to rise and the government made the difficult decision to declassify them. This meant that our members in Scotland were forced to shut up shop. Our HTA Council Representative for Scotland, Helen MacDonald, circulated a petition advocating for Scottish garden centres to stay open. Meanwhile, our team worked closely with the Scottish government, having many meetings and conversations about why garden centres are so necessary and why they are lower risk than other retailers due to their large, open-air set ups. It took some convincing, but in the final hour the Scottish government came through, announcing that garden centres could reopen. Perhaps the biggest challenge we faced in our attempts to reopen garden centres was in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland’s coronavirus restrictions barred garden centres from even running click and collect services. This was a terrible loss for our members there and for the customers who rely on them. With the support of our council rep John Shannon and by engaging the Department for Health, the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and the Department for Economy, we were able to help the government understand why keeping garden centres open was in everyone’s best interest. Garden Centres reopened on 12th April, nearly a month before they were originally set to resume business.


Garden Centres across the UK have now reopened and are continuing to serve Britain’s gardening community, just in time for spring. At the HTA, we are proud to represent these businesses and are committed to helping them thrive through all the challenges this year may present. Visit the HTA website at hta.org.uk for more details.


GCU May 2021


A profit boost for garden centres with barista-quality coffee


Since Melitta Bentz developed the world’s first coffee filter in 1908, the family-owned company has enjoyed a truly unique success story. Melitta


Professional Coffee Solutions, which supplies specialist


equipment and coffee to the commercial sector in over 50 countries, including hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, is set to bring a welcome boost to garden centre businesses across the UK with a generous discount on its tailor-made coffee solutions. It’s common knowledge that, whatever the time of year, revenue


generated from onsite cafes and restaurants can make up-to 40% of a garden centre’s overall profit, but as consumers become increasingly coffee savvy, a premium hot drink solution is critical to the continuation of this success. In recent years, significant technological improvements have seen business-to-consumer coffee machines matching the quality of traditional, hand-prepared coffee, delivering consistent, high-quality beverages that no longer rely on highly skilled staff. This means garden centres can now effectively compete with busy high-street coffee shops and baristas - but only with the right equipment, ingredients and menus. Melitta works directly with garden centre businesses to create menus that are specifically designed for their customer bases, with bespoke offerings that dovetail with key seasonal retail periods. As such, the company, which sources and roasts its own blends, can create and supply seasonal drinks that incorporate winter, summer, Halloween, Christmas and Easter recipes with coffee syrups and other products, along with marketing materials and staff training. Melitta machines and products take away any potential issues with


inconsistency, whilst guaranteeing that all drinks are delivered to the same high standard. The business provides staff training for using, filling and cleaning the machines, which are all easy to operate with on screen guides. What’s more, Melitta machines ensure that the aesthetic presentation of every drink is delivered to the high standards customers expect. When it comes to choosing the correct equipment for a garden centre’s specific needs, the team at Melitta works closely with its customers to consider several factors, such as footfall and peaks and troughs of business, which will determine the required capacity and power rating of the machine required. Operational factors will also be considered, such as whether the machine will be used by a member of staff or self-service, where innovations such as contactless, or Q code, drink selection for the self-service market and Melitta’s in-house telemetry can assist the customer with full management information. Once the correct machine is established, the customer will enjoy consistent quality, ease of use, minimal staff training and peace of mind, with the machine manufacturer’s in-house service team on hand to maintain machines for 360 days per year.


Melitta offers a range of flexible finance options for all businesses, including leasing and interest-free payments. For all garden centre businesses, the award-winning provider of complete solutions offers a 20% discount on all new machine and coffee contracts. Contact a Melitta representative to discover more and claim your discount at: www.melitta-professional.co.uk/20-off-machines-and- coffee_gcu.html


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