NEWS


GCA decides to postpone annual conference in wake of COVID


The Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) 56th annual conference due to take place at the end of this month has been postponed as a result of the ongoing spread of Omicron (January 2022). The organisation’s executive committee has taken the decision to defer the event based on safety concerns and made the announcement to members this morning (January 10). Tammy Woodhouse, GCA Chairman Elect, who is due to take office as Chairman this month, explains: “I’m very disappointed to announce that we’ve decided to postpone the January 2022 GCA conference.


“As an executive committee, we feel the risk to the industry from


wave of the virus. “We’re optimistic that we will be able to run a full conference later this year, as we feel it is important we’re able to celebrate and share our experiences of the last two years together, in person. “We’re currently investigating how we can run the AGM virtually and present the 2021 inspection awards to ensure the winning teams are recognised and rewarded in a timely way. We’ll announce the details on all this and a new 2022 conference date as soon as we can. “I


am personally


COVID is too great at this time and we need to act responsibly to ensure our teams and customers are kept safe and our businesses remain open through this latest


very sad


that we have had to make this decision but hope everyone can understand the reasons. I look forward to seeing members in person later in the year and


sharing the great line up of inspirational conference content that we had planned.” The GCA’s annual conference was to be held at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa in Blackburn, Lancashire from January 23 until 26, 2022. The body’s 2021 event was cancelled and the last time GCA members met for a conference was January 2020. The GCA represents nearly 200


garden centres nationwide. Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards


in customer


service, plant quality and reliability. For further information, please call 01244 952170 or visit www. gca.org.uk.


MKM helps transform pigsty into luxury wedding venue


The Oakwood at Ryther was recently a working pig farm, run by several generations of the Dennis family. Fast forward several years and the site is now home to a luxury wedding venue thanks to the excellent work of the family and help from its local MKM Selby branch. Supplying almost £500,000


worth of building materials for the project, from exterior bricks and flagstones to interior stairs,


doors, plasterboard and timber, MKM also supplied materials for 16 bespoke bathrooms and a luxury kitchen in the accommodation block.


“The Oakwood has gone through a magnificent transformation and is completely unrecognisable from its former pig farm days,” comments Simon Claydon, MKM Building Supplies. “It was fantastic to be involved in such an amazing and extensive


Strong Christmas sales for garden centre retailers reports HTA


renovation project. I really felt like an integral part of the team throughout both the design and construction phases and it was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the variety of products on offer at MKM that help with all aspects of a job this size.”


The accommodation building has 16 unique bathrooms, each with a different style to suit the theme of the guest rooms and


boast Aqualisa


luxury features such as towel


rails, Rhoper Rhodes mirrors and HIB tiles.


Robert Dyas starts its pricing journey with Competera and KIVALUE


more items to the monitoring scope every month.


The Horticultural Trades Association strong


(HTA) Christmas


reported sales


for garden centres. The organisation’s Garden Retail Monitor shows overall sales figures in the last four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve up on 2020 by between 10% and 20%.


Christmas ranges were up 15% on 2020 and 23% on 2019. Gift ranges were up 7% and 12% on 2020 and 2019 respectively. Catering showed a strong recovery on 2020


6 DIY WEEK JANUARY 2022


where much of the country was affected by tier 3 restrictions which closed their cafes and restaurants. Garden centre catering sales were up 52% for the period compared with 2020, however this is down 41% on 2019, which reflects the ongoing impact of the pandemic on hospitality. While gardening sales were down by 3% on 2020 these categories were up 38% on 2019, reflecting a sustained interest in gardening as a leisure pursuit in the UK.


Robert Dyas will enhance its competitive data monitoring with Competera’s Competitive Data solution and consulting partner KIVALUE. The partnership is the first step of the retailer’s pricing journey to AI-based price optimisation. After developing a rich brick- and-mortar history, Robert Dyas shifted focus to its eCommerce presence and omnichannel strategy. Nowadays, the company is


expanding its assortment


range to enhance its competitive advantage over marketplaces like Amazon, as well as dozens of other players in the DIY market. Within a short time, Robert Dyas has established itself as a digital destination for shopping DIY and home goods. As a part of its competitive strategy, Robert Dyas began daily monitoring of 30,000 SKUs and adding 5,000


“For a long while, competitive data collection was a manual process managed by a team of category managers at Robert Dyas. We’ve been using a competitive data provider before Competera but couldn’t move any further due to the limited solution to competitors’ price monitoring. However, for Robert Dyas, price optimisation is an integral part of our further development, so we chose Competera Pricing Platform to collect market insights and inject them into our pricing strategies. This partnership is expected to


bring increased automation


and further great results to our business,” commented Simon Spencelayh, E-commerce Director at Robert Dyas. “It’s vital and inspiring retailers


that recognise the


importance of optimal pricing for steady growth on the market and strengthening their positions against competitors,” adds Alex Galkin, CEO at Competera.


Furniture and barbecues top GCA’s BoT for sixth month running


Outdoor living items continued to come out top in the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade (BoT) for November (2021) – beating Christmas for poll position (December 2021). It revealed furniture and barbecues were up 59.97%, boosted by the ongoing trend for alfresco entertainment, which has become an all-year-round event. GCA Chief Executive, Iain Wylie explains: “Although during the cooler winter months it may seem unusual for us Brits to purchase outdoor living items, garden centres have seen customers keen to purchase ahead; gearing up for summer 2022 and also so they can continue socialising outdoors, as the weather allows, throughout the winter months too. “There’s been a real buzz in 2021 around entertaining outdoors and a welcoming garden has become vital, not just as a fashion accessory but also to enhance wellbeing. Making spaces look festive,


bright and


inviting is also crucial at this time of year and many are creating a cosy space to recharge in. “The understandable caution


around Covid-19 this winter, with the increased opportunity for transmission via Omicron, has also meant there’s been a prolonged preference for spending time outdoors too.” Again, the report revealed good sales in November overall with a year-to-date increase across all 13 categories.


Iain continues: “Christmas sales were pipped to the post by barbecues and furniture; however, sales were still up 1.08% year- to-date. Many member garden centres hosted late-night shopping evenings and other seasonal events throughout the month too.” The remaining categories that performed well, year-to-date, in November were clothing sales up 39.73%, gifts up 32.08%, food hall/farm shop up 27.01%, hard landscaping up 22.84%, garden sundries up 23.8%, as well as pets and aquatics up 21.53%. Overall sales in November were up for the month by 29.34% when comparing 2020 with 2021.


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