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GCA CONFERENCE 2017 GCA CONFERENCE 2017


GCA CONFERENCE 2017 2017


Garden Centre Associa tion (GCA) members ga thered a t the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews for the associa tion’s annual conference and awards. Gregor Muir reports


anuary 23 and 24 saw GCA members attendA memb as sociation’s


the


annual conference, held this year in St Andrews, in Fife. After the welcome


GCA CONFER J


A C


exceptional quality of catering in the industry , and said: “Cateringy,, and pr ovides income for 12 months of the year , if you get it right.”r,, if you ge


from GCA chairman Julian Winfield of Haskins, Greenfingers chairman John Ashley took the opportunity to thank the support of the fundraising event on Sunday January 22, which raised £27,500 for Greenfingers. He added that across 2016 a phenomenal £430,000 was raised. He also ur ged everyone to get involved in y,, to be held on


Wi


Garden Re-Leaf Day, to b Friday March 17 this year.


Mike Burks welcomed new GCA inspectors Gordon Emslie, Michael Cole and Hedley T and thanked outgoing inspectors Ian Boardman, Andy Campbell and Alyson Haywood, noting their important r ole in the development and flourishing of GCA centr es. Each inspector then gave a review of their r espective area for 2016, and examples of best practice.


ey Tr Triggs,


Ian Boardman highlighted opportunities to be seen as an authority and display willingness to help and give advice, and suggested supporting the Royal Horticultural Society ‘Gr een Grey Britain’ campaign to get plants into fr ont gar dens.


Andy Campbell noted the volatile season had an ef fect on the market, and commended centres whic h showed off their local supply base, used colour blocking and link selling well and made the most of ‘activity-driven’ catering, with compelling events.


Roger Crookes noted that display disciplines have been excellent, but reminded retailers to maximise commercial opportunities. He added that plant areas are leading the way in how colour is used to


retail,


but that can be applied to other categories still to attract customers. Alison Hayward noted the


18 DIY WEEK 10 MARCH 2017


Julian Winfield added that theWinfield inspection pr ocess has helped to spr ead best practice over the years, and members consistently report it as one of the key benefits of membership.


The annual Christmas Competition saw Mr W We


Mr W ndustry


“We’r e so lucky we have this second season in our industry has grown hugely over seven to ten years.”


the last


Taking home the title in the gar den centre category was Castle Gardens, while Barton Grange won the destination garden centre category Judging the Ruxley Rose competition, which judges the


Judge AndyCampbell noted some ‘fantastic examples’, highlighting use of websites to showcase events, inspirational displays fr om r oadside all the way through centr es, use of link selling and making it easy for customers to self-serve. Ta


aking home the y..


Jon Wilks advised confer with eal wr


re Tw advised conference attendees to consider and act upon their business values re ence attendees to cons eal world applications


category was Cowell’s, while Squire’s T


GCA chief executive Iain W Westland


We Wy Twickenham took first


place for destination gar den centres. The finalists of the Rising Stars programme w ere introduced by ef executive Iain Wylie and


estland Horticulture marketing director Keith Nicholson.


report it as one of the key benefits of membership” garden centr es with the best plant


“The inspection process has helped to spread best practice over the years, and members consistentl y report it as one of the key benefits of membership”


and members consistently Iain areas, was Roger Cr ookes.


He cited the recent effort to reprioritise plants in the industry with the GCA holding a plant area forum in July at Ball Colegrave to allow retailers to shar e ideas and work on problems. He suggested using ‘novice friendly’ language, making it easier to impulse buy the right plants for a garden, while making sure the plant ar ea was a central focus in the r etail space. He also suggested opportunities in hedging plants, link selling containers with best suited plants and making it easy to find tr olleys. “Would you rather sell two plants,


ts in the industry y,, Wo ould you rath


or 20?” he noted. Winning the


Wiinning the garden centr e said: “The Rising Star s


programme started a few years ago, and we wanted to bring the experience of the Confer ence to younger, less experienced members.r,, From acorns, mighty oaks grow .” Keith added: “Young people are the futur e of our industry, so it’s right that we invest in these rising stars. The industry is changing, as is your r elationship with consumers. W e want to foster change and make best use of it.” five


added: “Y Yo y, We


e want The


finalists were


V isual Thinking founder Karl McKeever was the first guest speaker of the conference, discussing maximising the store experience. He noted that 70% of human interaction comes thr ough vision, suggesting retailers need to leverage sensory communication to engage with customers.


encourage expert


He advised r etailers to be distinct, innovation, deliv er execution,


retail


capability for sustainability via their people, track and measure pr ogr ess, and to think as a customer.


Jon Wilks Associates founder Jon Wilks asked attendees to consider their values – how would you explain your business to a newcomer? He noted that those values need to applicable to real day to day life, allowing your ambitions to match and inspire your staff.


John


Bradley of Stewarts, Kathryn Cr ouch of Haskins, Hana Parker of Monkton Elm, Rupert Sleight of Squire’s Cobham and the winner after voting from the conference attendees, Barton Grange’s Daniel Holden.


He discussed incremental improvement, making small differences to noticeably improve the entire picture.


To open the second day of Conference, Paul Cooling encouraged retailers to consider the International Garden Centre


Branching out To


o open the second day www.diyweek.net build


Wiinfield add: y.. Christmas


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