PEOPLE NEWS ON THE MOVE...
Hillier announces new buyer for garden centres After two years as senior sales manager in Hillier Wholesale, Adam Dorber has made the move to Hillier Garden Centres, taking on responsibility for the purchasing of horticultural
products for the group. Mr Dorber has worked in the horticulture industry
for over 20 years for some of the UK’s largest independent and garden centre groups, including Rosebourne, Burford, and Garden & Leisure Group, before joining Hillier Wholesale in 2017 and managing multiple accounts across the UK. Hillier director of retail and wholesale Chris Francis
said: “These are exciting times for Hillier Garden Centres as we continue to grow our business. Horticulture product is vitally important to Hillier.”
Wolesey parent appoints new chairman Ferguson plc, the US parent of plumbing and heating trade specialist, Wolesey, has appointed Geoff Drabble as a non-executive director, announcing that he will also
succeed Gareth Davis as chairman after the 2019 AGM, subject to shareholder approval. Mr Davis will step down as a director in January 2020. Mr Drabble joins Ferguson following a 12-year period as chief executive of Ashtead Group plc, the FTSE 100 industrial equipment rental company. He was previously an executive director of The Laird Group plc and held a number of senior management positions at Black & Decker. Mr Drabble is also a non-executive director of Howden Joinery Group Plc.
Wyevale Nurseries appoints new amenity sales executive Alan Young from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire has re-located to take up the role this month at Wyevale Nurseries, which is based in Hereford. He will work
on tenders and quotes for existing customers, as well as developing new business. Mr Young said: “I am very excited about my appointment… I’m really looking forward to being a part of a horticulturally-focused and driven sales team. My whole career has been in horticulture and I intend to bring my previous experience and knowledge to the position.” Prior to joining Wyevale Nurseries, Mr Young
worked as a sales development manager at Agrumi Ltd in The New Forest.
BHETA names new DIY sector manager Keeley Vernon has been appointed as BHETA’s new DIY sector manager for home improvement and garden. Ms Vernon’s appointment follows closely after that of
Seema Grantham as housewares sector manager. The two new roles were created as part of the recent restructure and both now report into newly- appointed CEO Will Jones, who was promoted up from his position as housewares sector director. Ms Vernon previously spent six years as national
account manager at paint firm Farrow & Ball, where she was responsible for strategically developing and managing the Homebase account.
6 DIY WEEK 24 MAY 2019
10 minutes with... Sean Elkins
Evergreen Garden Care sales director
What’s your background? I have spent nearly my entire career working in the FMCG industry, primarily in branded food, working with brands, such as Haagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Yoplait, Nature Valley, and Green Giant. I started working for Haagen-Dazs
straight from university; soon after its launch in the UK. It was great first job, working with a young, vibrant, exciting brand looking to disrupt a comparatively stable ice cream category, and bringing real disruption and excitement to the frozen aisle.
What have you learnt from your previous roles? Customer-focused businesses will always succeed. If you are able to put the customer and the consumer at the heart of everything that you do, the mutual business will flourish. Invest time in developing the very
best team that you can, give people the space to grow and they will succeed.
What attracted you to Evergreen as a business? I’ve always believed that I have to have an affinity and passion for the brands that I sell. As the son of very keen gardening parents, I grew up around Evergreen’s flagship brands. From what I could see at fixture, the company had lost touch with both its consumers and customers and the brands were in need of a little care and attention. I spoke to a number of keen gardeners, and they all talked about the brands with great fondness and loyalty. I see a huge opportunity to re-engage these shoppers and also make the business relevant to a whole new breed of gardener. When I first met [managing director]
Mark Portman during my interview process, he conveyed a clear vision for the business. He shared my passion for customers and demonstrated his motivation to be the architect for change. It was hugely inspiring!
What are the biggest challenges you face in your new role? It sounds simple but challenge one was to re-assert the value and importance of our customers – not just within the sales function – but across the entire business; operations, marketing, finance. It’s about putting our customers at the very heart of our decision making. Our customers are now meeting us
at our R&D site in Levington. They’re seeing first-hand all of the incredible
work we do there. And, our marketing team is meeting with our customers, sharing their insights and passion for the brands and the consumers.
What motivates you? Being empowered, making a difference, and seeing individuals grow.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? My Dad always used to say to me: “Be interested, not interesting”. For me, this is about being naturally inquisitive, seeking to understand before making a decision or jumping to a conclusion. My first six months with Evergreen have been spent listening to customers, consumers, manufacturing and of course my team. He also used to say: “only boring
people get bored” and “collect memories not possessions”.
What do you enjoy most about working in the garden sector? Every person that I have met so far (and it’s a lot) have possessed an incredible, infectious passion for the industry that we’re in. No meeting is ever short! Everybody wants to share their love of the industry, the stories, the history… and, of course, the weather! They also want to help us make Evergreen great again, they love our brands, and this is hugely inspiring and helps fuel the desire within the team.
What are the biggest issues facing the industry today? We’re seeing a new generation of ‘gardener’; one that may not even have a garden, whether they are living in flats with small balconies with pots and baskets, renting a single room, with just a couple of house plants or simply a plant on their desk at work. These gardeners haven’t inherited their parent’s expertise or knowledge – we need to help them by making the category much more relevant to them, making it easier to shop, with simpler packaging and messaging. Of course the shift towards both
digital media and online dominate our thoughts. More and more consumers are shopping online,. The UK is the leading market in the world for online spend. We are working hard to ensure that we better meet the needs of our shoppers by upskilling the team and being better equipped to talk to the digital-savvy consumer with a new digital marketing team.
The sustainability agenda is critical.
I passionately believe that we all have a duty to leave this world in a better place than when we found it. We all have a responsibility to help drive that change from within the industry – removing single-use plastics, harmful chemicals and becoming peat free. And, lastley, being more agile, to
better respond to the increasingly changeable seasons and better meet the needs of the gardener when they need to complete a specific gardening task. Last year we saw the The Beast from the East, spring didn’t spring in the way we’d hoped, then we had the long hot summer, and lawns were decimated. The season was turned on its head. This year we saw the early hot
spell, with the hottest Feb day on record and the abnormally-low rainfall since. The seasons are morphing into one another and we need to ensure that, as an industry, we are sufficiently agile to respond to this.
Do you think there is enough innovation from retailers and suppliers? I think there’s a huge amount of innovation taking place within the DIY industry, as a whole, both from retailers and suppliers; certainly within paint, home security, and online retail. I’m less convinced that this has been fully replicated within garden care, it doesn’t feel as though this part of the industry has evolved at the same pace, both at the point of purchase and with products on offer. We recognise that innovation in
this category has been slow. That’s why, under our new ownership and with the new UK management team in place, we are focused on 2020 innovation and beyond.
www.diyweek.net
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