Industry News
Shed prices set to soar
Britons could soon be paying up to 50 percent more for their garden sheds due to a global shortage of timber. Warm winters, an increase in home renovations and the impact of Covid-19 have seen prices soar in recent months. Now experts at leading shed manufacturer, Kybotech are warning prices will rocket as summer approaches and customers could be left waiting months for their outdoor building. They’ve vowed to lock prices on their sheds
and garden buildings for now but warn an industry wide hike will eventually have an impact. They say a combination of warmer winters, increased demand from China, inflation rates, a rise in home renovations and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world have all played a part in the price hike. And they believe smaller suppliers will be unfairly hit as they do not have the buying power of the bigger garden building manufacturers. Warm winters in Scandinavian countries, like Sweden, have led to less trees being felled with muddy terrain being impossible for heavy vehicles to navigate. Home renovations and DIY projects have gone up over the last year with locked down Britons stuck at home and there has been a huge increase in demand from China. Kybotech, owner of
BillyOh.com, has seen sales of Log Cabins increase by 142% over the last 12 months with an increased demand for outdoor living, working and storage space. Kybotech founder, Charles Walton said: “We’re now in the second year of timber shortages and the impact is beginning to be felt. We’ve had two consecutive warm winters which has meant considerably less timber being felled and resulting in a massive global shortage. Other factors have come into play too which have compounded the problem. “Combined they have the potential to push up timber prices by as much as 50% and at some point a proportion of that cost will be passed on to the consumer.”
Squire’s Garden Centre Reigate receives GCA GROW training award
Squire’s Garden Centre Reigate has been presented with the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) award for completing the most GROW training modules last year (2020). The award was first introduced in 2015 to
encourage GCA members to utilise the programme by rewarding an individual garden centre whose employees complete, on average, the most courses throughout the year. Antony Snow, Instructional Designer for
GROW at the GCA, said: “Last year was a very difficult time for numerous reasons, but the national lockdowns and restrictions on travel meant that the more traditional on- site face-to-face training of employees wasn’t always possible.
“However, GROW users were able to continue to access valuable training, even when on furlough, as the system is available 24/7 from any device. While the overall number of course completions was slightly less than previous years, it was encouraging to see so many users participating in courses last year and the average number of completions among the top 10 centres was still very high. “It’s great to see garden centre staff benefitting from GROW and we’d like to say a huge ‘congratulations’ to all staff at Squire’s Garden Centre, Reigate.”
Thanks to the GROW e-learning facility, garden centre staff can improve their knowledge, gain confidence and expertise and improve the quality of the customer’s experience at their garden centre.
Bruce’s Doggy Day Care opens at flagship Dobbies Garden Centre location
Industry-leading doggy day care provider, Bruce’s, has opened its newest centre at the Woodcote Green Garden Centre in Surrey, owned by Dobbies. This is the second Bruce’s Doggy Day Care to launch at a garden centre location, demonstrating the success of this new concept for garden centre concessions. Bruce’s Doggy Day Care centres operate like a children’s nursery, but for dogs. Following 12 years of growth and success, Bruce’s continues to expand and the identification of new site locations is a priority. The Bruce’s brand has already opened four new centres, with plans for further site roll-outs over the coming year. Garden centre locations are naturally aligned with the Bruce’s doggy day care concept. Often semi-rural and with excess outdoor space, and often have wide green areas where dogs can exercise and play, with the opportunity for small, indoor areas for
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reception where the dogs can choose to snooze if they wish. Bruce Casalis,
Founder of Bruce’s, said: “The demand for doggy day care services is booming and as the UK’s leading provider, the Bruce’s brand is set to grow. As we’ve
researched sites for new day care centres, it has become clear that a garden
centre setting is beneficial to us, while the arrival of our customers is beneficial to them. It’s a perfect match and we are hoping to replicate more as we grow.” To discuss the suitability of a Bruce’s Doggy Day Care centre for your garden centre, please contact Ed Daniell, Head of Property, on 07840 379618 or email him at
ed.daniell@bruces.dog
GCU May 2021
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