Industry News Bradford Garden Centre hosts


team awards evening A Bradford garden centre hosted an evening of celebrations in recognition of its team's performance recently. Over 180 of the 240 strong work force at Tong Garden Centre attended a dinner and disco at The Hilton Hotel in Leeds where a number of the team were given awards. Organised by Tong's People and Culture team, the event was their


second annual awards evening, after a break last year due to Covid. The annual event is designed to celebrate the values and behaviours that underpin the Tong Lane business. Throughout 2021, staff at Tong voted for their colleagues to be


recognised as monthly Values Award Winners in the six categories of Team, Excellence, Honest, Responsible, Accountable and Positive. The management team then selected the six overall champions from the 12 monthly winners. Each of the six main awards recognised team members' commitment


to championing the values that are at the heart of the business. The awards were presented by Tong's co-owner, Tom Megginson, Chairman, David Stanhope and Finance Director, Charlie Barker. The winners were: Terrance Waterhouse from the Mezzanine Kitchen was voted the


‘Team' values champion for showing support to colleagues in his own and other teams. Leigh Quinn from Marketing was voted the ‘Excellence' values


champion for only settling for GREAT! Kirsty Blake from Grass Hoppers was voted the ‘Honest' values


champion for being consistent and reliable. Edwina Whitwam from Giftware was voted the ‘Respectful' values


champion for being respectful, courteous and considerate towards everyone and everything. James Tolson from Garden Sundries was voted the ‘Accountable'


values champion for taking ownership in difficult situations and always taking pride in his work. Jane Day from Indoor Plants and Gift was voted the ‘Positive' values


champion for being great to work with and always finding a way to get the job done, even in trying circumstances.


Garden centres saw green shoots of recovery


in 2021 says GCA The Garden Centre Association (GCA) says garden centres were rallying and recovering from the pandemic in 2021 according to its overall Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures for the year released in February. Excluding catering, retail growth stands at 30.47% up during 2021


compared to 2020 and up 29.77% compared to 2019. Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “The growth in retail


sales during 2021 demonstrates the increased popularity in gardening during the past two years and shows that the industry is flourishing after a very troublesome time for us all. These figures are very positive and show how important gardening has become to the nation. It also demonstrates the ongoing trends for good mental health and wellbeing, growing our own food and the planet-friendly aspects of plants. “However, we expect now that the world is opening up more, that


there will be more competition for time and money with consumers potentially switching spending to holidays and other activities aside from gardening, as well as dealing with increased utility bills and inflation. Our members’ job is now to nurture those who became green-fingered during the pandemic and continue to educate them and promote all of the different benefits that come with gardening.” Due to the pandemic, sales in 2020 were down -4.34% compared


to 2019 overall, however, with catering excluded, as this was one of the worst affected departments, they were up 6.21%. In 2021, overall sales were up 31.41% compared to 2020 and up 18.84% compared to 2019.


Event Preview: The LANDSCAPE Show New year, new look, bigger show!


Showcasing the Landscaping industry more than ever before, The Landscape Show 2022 looks to bring more exhibitors, more visitors and more features than ever before to Hall 3 at the


National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on the 28th and 29th September. This year LANDSCAPE introduces brand new


features, including a Student Showcase by London College of Garden Design, and an additional program of ‘How to’ Seminars alongside their already outstanding program of 40 CPD accredited sessions for anyone in the industry to learn, grow, be inspired and expand their skills. Back again is the highly popular Pecha Kucha 20x20, Meet the


GCU Spring 2022


Designer, Best In Show Competition and Women in the Industry event, this year to run in conjunction with #Yes She Can. This year the highly anticipated design


competition, will be supported by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust. The LANDSCAPE Show 2022 is the chance of


the year to network with top industry professionals and keep up to date with the latest news and innovations at the largest event the industry has ever seen! Visit the LANDSCAPE website at


www.landscapeshow.co.uk to register for FREE entry to the most valuable event for the world of landscaping. Make sure to follow LANDSCAPE on social media to see the latest exhibition updates and be the first to hear about even more reasons why LANDSCAPE 2022 is the show you do not want to miss.


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