industry news


Perrywood celebrates first year of trading at former Wyevale site in Sudbury


A garden centre which was saved from uncertainty last year, when family-run Perrywood Garden Centre bought the business to expand its portfolio, is celebrating its first anniversary. Now known as Perrywood Sudbury, the site on Newton Road in Sudbury, Suffolk, was bought from Wyevale by the directors of Essex- based Perrywood Garden Centre, and had its first day of trading on 25 September, 2018. In just one year it has benefitted from significant changes and investment.


Since Perrywood took over the centre, the company has created 13 more jobs, and increased contractual hours for nine of the ex-


Wyevale team. The site now employees 34 people in total.


Working hard to turn the fortunes of the centre around over the past year, the team has focused on improving the offering and bringing a ‘Perrywood feel’ to the store introducing how-to leaflets, moving houseplants to the front of the store, and bringing in more stock, including new ranges of bird care, gloves, tools, pots, and indoor and outdoor plants - not including plants from the Perrywood Grown range.


The company has also invested more than £100,000 in a new kitchen and coffee shop; reopening it as a destination for customers


Christmas tree shortage hits the UK


The UK is facing a shortage of real Christmas trees this year due to new legislation which will push up red tape and importation costs. For the first time this year, Christmas trees over three metres in height will require a ‘Plant Passport’ to enter the UK.


This new legislation, introduced to protect UK woodland against the risk of pest and insect infestations that importation of plants can cause, will drive up the costs of giant Christmas trees by around 200%.


The UK market is heavily reliant on Christmas tree imports, with £3 million-worth of real trees imported last year alone, most commonly from Denmark, Belgium and France.


This, combined with ongoing uncertainty 8 | www.gardencentreupdate.com


over Brexit, is expected to have a huge impact on the availability of large trees for 2019 as costs continue to increase. Businesses seeking giant Christmas trees for


their premises in the lead up to Christmas will be hardest hit by the introduction of this new tax. In response to the increasing costs attached to importing real trees, leading Christmas Tree supplier, Christmas Tree World, has reported a 40% increase in sales for their giant artificial Christmas trees in the retail sector year-on-year. Stephen Evans, managing director at Christmas


Tree World, commented: “This new legislation is adding additional costs and pushing up red tape on real trees, but it’s great to see the government taking steps to protect our woodland from the danger of insects and disease.


“As Brexit looms closer, there is so much uncertainty about importation costs, so the expense of real Christmas trees is only going to rise further until we are certain of the outcome. New plant passports will make importing more bureaucratic, expensive and challenging as it remains very unclear. “Increased importation costs are likely to


cause a shortage of giant Christmas trees this year, so as a result of this limited stock, people are looking for alternative options. “With an artificial Christmas tree, the worry


of plant passports and fungal infestations isn’t there. Instead, you’re able to have a realistic tree which is safe and easy to dress, avoiding the stress and worry that accompanies a real tree.”.


GCU October/November 2019


looking for home-cooked breakfasts, soup, hot lunches, freshly made sandwiches, cakes and of course Perrywood’s famous scones. To help celebrate its first birthday, staff hosted a week of in-store promotions and social media competitions.


Perrywood has more than 30 years’ experience running its award-winning Tiptree garden centre, which comprises of a plant production nursery, gift and home shop and 260-seater coffee shop and restaurant. As a £10million turnover business, the company employs 164 staff and is ranked at number three in the Garden Centre Association (GCA) league table of UK garden centres.


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