RETAIL INSIGHT
Tell us a bit about your company. Squire’s is very much a family business with 15 garden centres in Surrey, Sussex, north and west London. My grandfather D.J. Squire started the company in 1936, initially as a landscape gardening business, which then developed into one of the first garden centre businesses in the UK when my father, Colin Squire OBE opened Squire’s in Twickenham in 1964. My father has been the company chairman for the past 30 years or so, and it is now my great privilege to take on this role.
What’s your background? I was immersed in Squire’s from an early age, working as a Saturday girl whilst still at school and then in the university holidays. My parents had been expected to join their respective family businesses and were keen to ensure their children had other opportunities. They encouraged me to gain a qualification and a skill to bring back into the family business. I qualified as a solicitor, spending six years in private practice specialising in commercial property, and then returned to Squire’s in 1995. I have worked in various roles across the company and was appointed chairman in February.
What’s your working week like? Our group office is at Badshot Lea in Surrey, so I spend some time there and also at our registered office in Twickenham.
I also try
to visit each of our garden centres as much as possible, although it’s all too easy to become more office bound than I would like.
The best part of the job is visiting our centres and talking with colleagues and customers. In addition, I’m always tempted to buy plants on my travels - returning home to the customary refrain from my husband: ‘Where are we going to put that?’
SQUIRE’S? WHAT’S IN STORE FOR
Squire’s Garden Centres chairman Sarah Squire shares her plans for the family-owned horticultural business.
8 DIY WEEK 14 JUNE 2019
My favourite day of the year is our plant show at West Horsley Nurseries each February, when we are treated to a preview of some of the lovely plants coming our way later in the season. Our business is very seasonal and highly weather-dependent. That keeps us grounded! But it also means that no two days are ever the same. No year is the same. Sometimes it can be something of a white-knuckle ride just waiting for the spring to arrive and customers to start gardening. It’s always a relief when the sun comes out and we realise, once again, that the great British public still want to enjoy their gardens.
www.diyweek.net
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