MERCHANT FOCUS: THOMPSONS OF CREWS HILL
PUTTING GARDENS AT THE HEART OF THE HOME
Landscaping merchant Thompsons of Crews Hill has enjoyed more than 70 years in business selling soil, garden products and hard landscaping, as BMJ finds out.
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estled in north Enfield is an area known as the ‘Golden Mile’ of garden centres. Drive down Cattlegate Road and you’ll pass greenhouses, nurseries and florists, until you reach landscaping merchant and IBC Buying Group member, Thompsons of Crews Hill. Thompsons is a soil, turf and paving specialist that has been on the site since 1948. Founded by Roderick
E.Thompson, four generations of the Thompson family have worked in the business, which is now run by Roderick’s grandson, Rod, his wife Jan, and children, Claire and Bill. When first created, the business grew and sold crops such as cucumbers and flowers throughout London and the Home Counties, becoming well-known throughout the region as experts in plant nutrition and soil conditioning. The business continued successfully for decades until, in the early 1980s, Thompsons expanded and began selling soil and soil conditioners. Then came the hurricane in 1987, which changed the focus of the business forever.
Manager Claire Thompson explains: “My grandfather had already started selling the soil they used to grow the cucumbers, because it’s so incredibly nutritious. Then the hurricane blew all our crop greenhouses down, and they decided to focus more on selling soil and soil products.”
Throughout the 1980s the company began stocking most types of soil, turf, fertilisers, mulches, composts and everything connected with soil. They also began offering a delivery service. By 1990, Thompsons had finished commercial growing and switched the whole site over to selling soil products, as well as introducing rockery stone, cobbles, pebbles, chippings, aggregates and sleepers. This expansion into garden landscaping has continued and Thompsons now also offers paving, block paving and hard landscaping products, many of which are sourced through IBC Buying Group’s Supplier Partners. Thompsons’ expansion hasn’t just been limited to its product range, and the company operates the very latest plant and machinery
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to facilitate its business, including new robotic soil bagging machines, as well as a fleet of modern vehicles that comply with ULEZ and have achieved FORs Gold standard. The site also became physically bigger when, around 2013, the opportunity arose to purchase the land next door to Thompsons’ original site, taking their premises to around four acres.
Originally the additional space was going to be used for storage, as Thompsons was still focusing on its soil and turf products, being “one of the biggest distributors of turf in London and the home counties”, Thompson says.
“But there were so many people coming to us asking for hard landscaping, and we realised that if people couldn’t get these products elsewhere in Crews Hill, despite the vast number of garden centres then there was a real opportunity there. So we created a Paving Centre, started selling hard landscaping, and we haven’t looked back.” Despite now offering heavyside products, she is clear that Thompsons is a specialist landscaping merchant, rather than a typical builders’ merchant. “We don’t sell lintels or
bricks. We want to focus on landscaping products, because the more different types of products you sell, the less likely your staff are to have in-depth knowledge of all the stock. We want our staff to be experts and know exactly what products they’re dealing with. Because if you know your product, you can sell it in the right way.”
Having staff who are experts in their field is particularly important, considering the high percentage of the company’s customers who are householders and end users, not just tradespeople.
“The landscapers and builders who visit us know what they’re doing, but the general domestic householder needs guidance and honest advice from someone who is going to point them in the right direction,” Thompson says.
“You have to have an exceptional knowledge and understanding of the products you’re selling. If you go into a merchant and ask someone a question, and they haven’t got the answer, I’d have to ask why you’re buying from them. If your staff are confident in the products, they’re going to sell them well, and that confidence will show to our customers.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net May 2023
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