Garden Centre Retail April 2024

TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL

Ricky Towers

BGC’s restaurant director

shares his experiences

EV Charging 101

What opportunities exist for garden centres?

Loyalty schemes

A fad or a genuine benefit for your customers?

AI and gardening

How has AI affected the sector so far?

How can we help you?

If you would like more information or would like to speak with us about your situation then please call Emily or Vanisha on 024 7625 7481.

Welcome to the second-ever technology special issue of Garden Centre Retail.

I want to start off by mentioning that we have just celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the magazine, having launched in March 2014. It’s been a great journey for us so far, but we definitely feel as though this is just the beginning. Collectively, we’ve all seen a huge change in the industry in the past decade and we’re proud to be at the forefront of development.

One of the biggest developments we’ve seen over the past decade is the growth of technology within the industry. Over the next ten years, we will be focusing heavily on the influx of tech available to the sector, starting with these special themed issues.

It’s fair to say that a lot of the tech that we’ve seen is now very well established – EpoS systems as well as warehouse and inventory stock management systems (to name a couple) are fixed in place in most garden centres now. So in this issue, we’re looking into some of those systems that may not yet be as established, but have potential to be part of the fabric of our businesses.

We’ve got AI covered with a brand-new contributor, Holly Daulby of Honest Communications talking about how businesses can harness AI in a number of ways, and The Retail Trust now has a new AI-powered staff-wellbeing programme.

The other area where we seem to only be scratching the surface at present is the rise in EV charge points. Recent data indicates an 18% surge in electric vehicle registrations, so we’ve consulted charge point operators for insights on technology, revenue, and installation processes.

We’ve got a piece on Hillier’s recent digital revolution, focusing on its decision to go further with e-commerce, a look at how Lovania Nurseries implemented an ERP software system, and both the GCA and GIMA share their latest tech initiatives.

Finally, I was recently invited to the Blue Diamond Garden Centre Awards in Blackpool. Firstly, thank you to Alan Roper and Daniela Corizza for the fantastic hospitality. Secondly, it was wonderful to see that Blue Diamond is in such rude health; it’s a fantastic business with a real focus on its staff. The atmosphere between the Blue Diamond colleagues was incredible, which is testament to the way Alan and his team runs the business. Bravo. Whilst

We’re ghting deforestation one coffee bean at a time

Set a new standard and be part of the solution through the coffee you serve. We’re committed to providing you with traceable and ethical coffee, regeneratively grown in the Amazon rainforest, that your customers can feel great about sipping.

Be at the forefront of fighting deforestation, protecting biodiversity, and supporting indigenous communities around the world.

james@easyjosecoffee.co.uk

@easyjosecoffee

easyjosecoffee.co.uk

Contents

News

A roundup of the latest industry news

GROW Workshops

The Garden Centre Association shows its latest technology – online elearning courses

10

Embracing Tomorrow’s Bright Ideas

GIMA members share how tech has helped to enhance their offerings

14

Using Data to Revolutionise Garden Centre Retailing

Andrew Burton on interpreting data to improve business

17

Harnessing AI in the Horticulture World

We hear from Holly Daulby, Honest Communications

18

An Interview with Ricky Towers

The impact of catering at British Garden Centres

22

Staying Loyal

How garden centres are embracing loyalty platforms

27

Hillier’s Digital Revolution

The e-commerce growth at its Hampshire site

30

EV Charging 101

Two charge point operators give us a rundown

34

The Retail Trust and AI

How The Retail Trust uses AI to help with staff wellbeing

37

Can Technology Streamline your Catering Operation?

A roundup of a recent webinar that GCR hosted with Fourth

ERP Systems

How an ERP system changed the Lovania Nurseries business

Smart Products for the Garden and Home

A roundup of all the latest smart technology improving customers’ homes and gardens

News

Klondyke Group outdoor living showcase

Asprinkling of Sherbert through the Cottage garden; the simplicity and calmness of Urban Nature through to the mood and mystery of Moroccan Delights; these were amongst the main themes revealed at the Klondyke Group’s Outdoor Living Showcase Event hosted this month at the Polmont centre.

The event launched the 2024 Klondyke Group outdoor living ranges to 22 centres and is attended by Furniture Team members in order to experience the new ranges. With a continued focus on the garden as a space for relaxation, socialising and dining; the 2024 range includes bar concepts, tipi style dining, outdoor kitchens

and modular sets, as well as dining and lounge sets, bbqs, pizza ovens and grill concepts.

George Summerscale, furniture buyer for the Klondyke Group, comments: “This is the most exciting date in my diary; the one that I look forward to the most – to be able to show our team members our furniture and BBQ ranges for 2024. The showcase is the perfect platform for our teams to come along and get to fully know the ranges and ask our suppliers any questions they have on the products. By the end of the day, everyone is excited to get back to their centres and pass on this knowledge and inspiration to their customers.” klondyke.co.uk

Haskins Ferndown team leader celebrates 40 years of service

Haskins Garden Centres’ Ferndown site is celebrating the longstanding service of outdoor team leader Kevin Holmes, 56, who has been part of the Ferndown team for over four decades. Holmes is currently the business’ longest-serving member of staff after the chairman of the Haskins Group, Warren Haskins.

Holmes first started working for Haskins in September 1983, as part of a government youth training scheme. He has since

progressed through the business to his current role as Ferndown’s outdoor team leader.

Discussing his longstanding service for Haskins, Holmes says: “Haskins is a great family business that provides a new challenge every single day, and I feel so proud to be a part of the team at Ferndown.

“In the same way gardens evolve throughout the seasons of the year, so does our work at Haskins. It means there is always something new, and always something to enjoy.” haskins.co.uk

YGC Group adds two more sites to its portfolio

Bradford-based Yorkshire Garden Centres has announced it is to operate two more sites in Yorkshire. The two Dean’s Garden Centre sites at York and Scarborough will be added to the group that already has sites at Tong, Tingley, Otley and Bingley in West Yorkshire.

The Dean’s business dates back to 1968 when they opened the York store on a four-acre site at Stockton on the Forest. This was followed by the acquisition of the eight-acre Scarborough site in 1986. The business now employs over 100 people, and all the roles will transfer with the sale.

Richard, Helen and Sarah, who are the second generation of the Dean family to run the business, will all enjoy a very wellearned retirement.

Mark Farnsworth, managing director of Yorkshire Garden Centres, says: “We are delighted to welcome the Dean’s sites into the Yorkshire Garden Centres group in partnership with Altia Estates. We are grateful to the Dean family for letting us take the business forward, and we intend to continue to use the Dean’s name, which has become so well respected over the years. Whilst several members of the family retire, we are also really pleased that others have agreed to stay on and continue to work in the business.”

yorkshiregardencentres.co.uk

Hillier Garden Centres new plant releases

Hillier Nurseries has announced the launch of three new additions to its plant range, including two varieties bred by Alan Postill, one of the UK’s greatest plant breeders. This year’s selection of new introductions features a combination of both flowering and foliage plants that are suitable for both gardens and planters.

The new 2024 introductions include Mahonia eurybracteata subsp, ganpinensis ‘Meteor’ (Hillmah), a beautiful evergreen shrub bred by renowned plant breeder, Alan Postill. This mahonia features architectural foliage that is deep red when young, turning into a lush dark green later. It produces upright spires

Westland Horticulture launches Boost All-Purpose Compost

Westland Horticulture is announcing the launch of a brand-new peat free compost, Boost All Purpose Compost, specifically crafted to be the perfect partner to its Boost All Purpose Liquid Plant Feed.

Westland is tackling the challenges faced by consumers when using peat free compost in containers and baskets head-on, with the introduction of the Boost All Purpose Compost that features patented West+2 Moisture Lock Technology™. This proprietary technology helps to retain and lock in moisture. To further support this, Boost compost also includes water-storing granules and a surfactant that makes it easier for customers to rewet if it has been left to dry out.

Helen Amos, head of category at Westland, commented: “Innovation is at the heart of our business, and our latest peat free Boost All Purpose Compost is a testament to that. We understand the challenges many consumers face with container gardening, particularly with peat free, and our technology in both our compost and plant feed ensures plants stay hydrated and get the nutrients they need to thrive.” gardenhealth.com

with bold yellow flowers from late August to November, that light up the garden like meteors, hence its name.

Charles Carr, head of Wholesale Nurseries, is thrilled about the unique plants that Hillier will now be offering. He commented: “Our 2024 line-up is a result of a long period of development and consists of a beautiful mix of flowering plants and shrubs, which are guaranteed to add colour and texture to any garden. These launches are eagerly anticipated by fellow gardening enthusiasts who are always on the lookout for new varieties to add to their collection and we are excited to be offering something completely unique again this year.” hillier.co.uk

Dobbies expands own brand line of horticultural products

Dobbies, the “UK’s leading garden centre”, is introducing 69 new own brand product lines across horticultural categories this month, including gardening tools, indoor grow lights and a diverse selection of new bulbs. They are part of the own brand range, which features 700 own brand items across the gardening range, increasing from 200 lines last year.

The expanded range responds to the growing demand from UK shoppers for quality own brand products at affordable prices. A recent study by packaging manufacturer Amcor, found that 70% of respondents regularly buy private label products.

Marcus Eyles, horticultural director at Dobbies, says: “It’s important that we provide our customers with great quality basics to make the most of their gardens – no matter their experience or skills. We have been working hard to make sure that this year, we have even more great quality own brand products that we can be proud of, and are available to customers at affordable prices.” dobbies.com

TECHNOLOGY in garden centres

FROM DIGITAL HELPERS TO ANALYTICAL SYSTEMS, THE GCA SHARES TRENDING TECH DEVELOPMENTS

Within the Garden Centre Association (GCA) members’ businesses, technology has played a crucial role in improving efficiency, sustainability and convenience. We even have established our own GCA Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) e-Learning platform available to all GCA garden centre members and their teams, and also those at Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) garden centres too.

GROW courses cover a wide range of vital topics to help employees gain confidence and knowledge about products and services, so they can effectively assist any customers and colleagues who need help. It’s accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, making it convenient for people to log-in when it suits them.

But one of the most recent tech introductions, inspired by the essential changes spurred on from the pandemic, is the way some of our members’ cafés and restaurants work. From QR codes on tables to touch screen ordering, many eateries have changed dramatically; with these changes being readily accepted by their clientele, despite initial reservations.

Another area where automation has made significant strides is in inventory management with AI now helping in the analysis of sales reports. Businesses who wish to analyse their

data can use the data from EPoS systems to determine what products are making the most profit and then determine optimum stock facings and placement. This ensures popular items are always in stock, reducing customer disappointment and maximising sales opportunities. Furthermore, digital signage and interactive displays have become increasingly common. These provide valuable information to customers and showcase promotional offers and seasonal discounts.

Smart technology has also made its way into garden centres. Smart gardening tools, such as soil moisture sensors and weather monitors, provide real-time data on environmental conditions, allowing gardeners to make informed decisions. Smart lighting systems help optimise plant growth by providing the ideal amount and type of light at different stages so that plant can be grown in areas with no natural light.

While the initial investment in robotics technology may be significant, the efficiency and productivity gains can outweigh the costs over time. Moreover, robots can help reduce errors in inventory management, minimise product loss, and optimise space within a garden centre.

Lastly, sustainability has become a major focus for garden centres, with a large section on this topic included in the GCA’s annual inspection form and technology has played a significant role in promoting eco-friendly practices.

Robots have become increasingly common in retail environments and are finding their way into garden centres in Europe too. These machines can perform tasks such as watering plants, restocking shelves, and guiding customers to specific products with precision and speed. They will speak to absolutely everyone, can provide information about plants, offer gardening tips, and even help customers with plant selection based on their specific needs and preferences.

For instance, energy-efficient LED lighting is widely used in greenhouses and indoor gardening areas. Heat source pumps are helping to heat both air and water. Renewable energy sources are increasingly integrated, enabling selfsufficiency and minimising carbon footprints.

Far from being sceptic late adopters, the garden centre industry is welcoming technology and using it, where possible, to achieve the very best outcomes for both customers and staff.

About Peter Burks

Peter Burks, CEO of the GCA, is a fully trained horticulturalist and has worked in directorial and senior management roles for over 40 years. Peter helped set up/run the multi-awardwinning Sanders Garden World in Somerset. He also became regional manager of the South West for Wyevale Garden Centres, and general manager for Trelawney’s in Cornwall, as well as managing Fermoy’s Garden Centre in Devon. gca.org.uk

BRIGHT IDEAS EMBRACING TOMORROW’S

AS PART OF GCR’S TECHNOLOGY ISSUE, GIMA MEMBERS DETAIL HOW TECH HAS HELPED THEM INNOVATE IN TERMS OF BOTH PRODUCT DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES WITHIN THE GARDEN MARKET

Making a connection

Garden tools brand GARDENA says that smart technology has been a huge driver of innovation across its offer, helping to connect products and, in turn, making gardening easier and more intuitive for consumers. “From robotic mowers to soil moisture sensors and automatic irrigation, which can all be connected and controlled via the GARDENA Smart App, users can care for their garden wherever they are in the world. Using intuitive technology, the Smart App will alert users when their soil moisture level is too low and commence

automatic irrigation. Using live weather data, it will also factor in any rainfall due to prevent over-watering and a healthier garden.”

The advancement in digital technology is not just serving to enhance the consumer experience but is also benefitting retailers, as seen with Artevasi UK’s use of virtual reality to create an immersive showroom experience for its clients. The forwardthinking pot manufacturer explains: “Virtual reality is an

immersive experience that transports clients to new worlds, with a front-row ticket to a show they would never be able to see replicated through traditional marketing or commercial approaches. We offer an interactive virtual reality tool that presents our products and point-of-sale solutions, allowing you to experience an inspiring store concept that aligns with the market’s competitiveness.

“Our special glasses allow you to navigate through different spaces

designed in various styles and configurations, resulting in an immersive journey that showcases our ranges and solutions creatively.” In fact, the main image used in this article was designed using artificial intelligence.

Sustainable tech

When tech combines with a sustainable agenda, the resulting product innovations can only be a win-win for gardeners and the environment. For example, AutoPot uses simple, power-free technology to create accessible, sustainable, automatic plant watering systems for gardeners. These systems allow growers of all stripes to take gardening for pleasure as seriously, or as casually, as they like.

But, says AutoPot, “we’re also using our technology to produce eco-friendly means of year-round household food production. Requiring no electricity, no mains water, and operating with zero waste, our systems can be used practically anywhere, making them perfect for kitchen gardeners.”

Meanwhile, David Nicholson, UK NEU & ROW sales manager at elho, comments on how the B-Corp plant pot manufacturer harnesses the use of technology to drive sustainable innovations: “We are always exploring ways to turn waste into beauty, and our new coffee collection is the latest example of how we harness technology to create stylish and sustainable plant pots.

“To produce this range, we collaborated with Coffee Based, a company that collects used coffee grounds from businesses and processes them into bio-based granules. These granules then enter the elho production line, along with the particles of 100% recycled plastic, using injection moulding machines to create the collection, all powered by renewable energy.”

Driving efficiency

Many brands have utilised the latest tech to their advantage in improving operating and manufacturing efficiencies. One such example is Johnsons Lawn Seed parent company DLF Seeds Ltd, which invested £3.5m in new equipment to meet retail demand and significantly improve its overall product offering efficiency. The investment in its manufacturing facility in Worcestershire included new mixing plant technology, made to ensure continued quality, higher productivity, and improved energy efficiency.

The machinery, known as Titan, has 48 seed bins of seven cubic metres, which hold up to 1.2 tonnes of seed, depending upon the species being mixed. The pneumatic closed system inputs 12 tonnes per hour into bins and then 6 tonnes per hour from bins to mixers, improving Johnsons’ line efficiency with increased capacity and capability through automation. Titan’s rotary valves, diverter valves and connecting pipes are all selfcleaning, ensuring there is no contamination during the mixing process.

The bespoke control software is fully integrated with Nav, DLF’s operating software system, and the investment in Titan now brings all of its mixing and some treatments in-house, improving availability in season for consumers who want to care for their lawns in peak periods.

New technology has also enabled some manufacturers to branch out into other lines they couldn’t previously offer and expand their offering with exciting new additions. As of January 2024, Unipet International –a UK manufacturer specialising in suet-based wild bird products – has brought to market for the first time a range of pre-filled feeders under its Suet To Go brand. The Kent business operates all of its facilities in house.

About GIMA

Nicholson concludes: “As a result of this process, every pot contains the grounds from at least three cups of coffee – customers can see, feel and even smell the coffee waste that goes into the finished product.”

With technology continuing to evolve and ongoing investment by brands in vital NPD, who knows what changes we can expect to see across the garden manufacturing sector over the next year.

GIMA is a membership organisation of around 170 companies representing the majority share of suppliers and manufacturers in the UK gardening industry. Its goal is to promote the commercial, trading and industrial interests of its UK and EU-based members. Run by a team of professionals, and governed by a council of members, GIMA is funded by membership subscriptions and services. Its extensive range of services and support caters to all members. gima.org.uk

October

Securing a Brighter Future.

Embark on a journey along our Sustainability Trail at Garden Centre Expo 2024, where you’ll find companies deeply committed to sustainable practices. Whether they specialise in supplying solar panels, EV chargers or environmentally friendly retail products, these businesses prioritise the wellbeing of the planet and the best practices of garden centre operators.

Improve the sustainability of your business with the likes of...

Sustainability Panel With...

Mark Farnsworth

MD at Yorkshire Garden Centres

Winners of multiple sustainability awards

gardencentreexpo.co.uk

@gardencentreexpo

In partnership with

Representing sustainability as a core pillar of the event, the Sustainability Trail is designed to highlight the key exhibitors who are either helping the market to become more sustainable in every area, to achieve net-zero, or who have products that are individually sustainable.

This exciting new feature also acts as a roadmap for our visitors, enabling them to quickly identify exhibitors offering products, services, or solutions that can help pave the way towards a more sustainable future for their businesses.

Garden Centre Expo will take place on 15-16 October 2024 at the ExCeL London. Register for you free tickets here!

Luke Page, portfolio director

TECHNOLOGY Harvesting growth with

PLEYDELL SMITHYMAN’S ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ANDREW BURTON, EXPLORES HOW TECHNOLOGY SPURS SECTOR GROWTH

For decades now, the garden centre industry is one that has been driven by passion, entrepreneurialism, care and ever-improving standards. Each garden centre has its own personality, reflecting the owners vision and personal drive, sometimes using gut feeling or instinct, and sometimes in a data driven strategic way, but it is often with a little of both.

I love our industry, and every day I get invigorated by the passionate people around me, both in our office and also throughout

At Pleydell Smithyman, we have been working in the industry for over 30 years, and despite all the challenges the sector faces, I continue to see our garden centre clients develop.

As part of any development journey, confidence and information are key factors when it comes to making a decision. We are in economic times where confidence in anything we invest in is needed, and as garden centres continue to develop, we are seeing technology changes throughout our businesses, helping owners to improve processes, productivity, service, and ease of shopping.

By giving more specific data and confidence to owners and management, what I am seeing is the dawn of even more technology to help data analysis, which is identifying clear information and taking the risk out of future development.

was because awareness of what we needed was less. What we were unable to do was to identify specific data that gave me a huge amount of information to help with risk-adverse promotional planning, floor plans, marketing, staffing requirements and product ranging.

Here we are in 2024, and often the information we need is at the touch of a button via EPoS reports and similar technological systems. However, here at Pleydell Smithyman, we are also using up-to-date technology that allows us to drive improved shop performance and customer-focused strategies – which in turn, can enable garden centres to increase revenue and mitigate risk with data-driven decisions. In essence, this technology allows us to use retail planning data and analytics to allow businesses to plan better and increase optimisation.

Using data that specialises in pin-pointing specific places and customer location intelligence, we are gaining more clarity than ever before.

This data can be used to gain information in a number of areas, and alongside other aspects, it helps to identify customer footfall and garden centre flow, helping to clarify opportunities in a number of ways. These include: CONFIDENCE AND INFORMATION ARE KEY FACTORS WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING A DECISION

the businesses we work with. It is a unique industry, with lots of our businesses run by generational owners and new owners who are adding value.

I go back to the turn of the millennium and much of the analysis I had to do as a garden centre manager was in-house and done through driving my own investigatory schemes. This work had some effect, but it still left lots of things undiscovered, with some risk of incorrect data. I would say we were able to clarify what we needed to at that time but that

• Seeing trends across footfall, geographic origin, demographic, and cross-visitation to identify gaps, avoid cannibalisation, and maximise the performance of your stores.

• Identifying market potential by harnessing footfall traffic patterns and customer behaviour, to pinpoint high-potential areas for future expansion bespoke to the relevant site.

• Using data to stay ahead of market trends with location insights through optimisation management, which effectively drives efficiency and revenue growth through datadriven decisions, utilising mobility insights to fine-tune operations, inventory management, and supply chain strategies.

This data enables us to have a clear view of visitor insights, understand their departmental travel behaviour, helps to understand poor performance as well as identify opportunities. The impact that this has – if used effectively – can be massive, and it can help by:

• Understanding trends more. This helps garden centres to plan for seasonal and marketing-driven trade in a more structured and planned manner, essentially helping with sales forecasting and process management, all helping profit.

• Using the customer flow information. Shop floor layouts can then be maximised seasonally to drive sales through successful shop floor planning.

• Understanding the peaks, troughs and processes. This data can help to maximise operational efficiency, again, increasing profit if managed well.

• Using the demographic, which gives garden centres a detailed market analysis. This helps with buying ranging, marketing plans and overall customer propositions. This also includes seasonally changing demographics. I feel that when we understand who our customer is at any given time, this helps us to focus on key times and opportunities.

• Giving clarity about customer movement information through your shop. Once this is understood, it helps with floor plan layouts and improving cold spots and working hot spots as well as possible.

The data analysis this technology gives us can create a real impact on any size business if used effectively. Whilst I feel it is important that we still use experience and creativity, it is also essential that data is used effectively.

At a time when the economy is changing, as well as customer needs are changing – and in fact, our customers are changing too – then this is the kind of data that gives us a head start. The cost of this service isn’t excessive either, and even basic analysis can help to add profit through improved retailing or improve efficiencies.

The world is moving, and our industry is one that pivots and reacts well, but it is also one that has enough awareness to use every tool in the box to help its business succeed. I think that technology is not one to fight, but it is something that all garden centres should welcome with open arms, identify what technology helps their centre best, and use it to the best of their ability.

About Andrew Burton Andrew works for Pleydell Smithyman as an associate director, focusing on garden centre and farm shop advice, with an overarching aim of business strategy and development. He provides site development, and commercial and operational support. He sits on the Farm Retail Association Council, and previously on the Garden Centre Association Board. andrewb@pleydellsmithyman.co.uk

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HARNESSING AI in the horticulture world

HOW TO UTILISE AI INNOVATIONS TO ELEVATE GARDEN CENTRE OPERATIONS

customer communications is therefore one of the easiest ways to make use of AI. Tools like chatbots can help streamline customer services, ensuring individuals receive a prompt reply and round-theclock support, as well as directing enquiries or complaints to the correct department.

Advanced data analysis

As technology continues to weave its way into every facet of our lives, it’s no surprise that AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in the horticulture industry. What may have seemed like a thing of the future not too long ago, is now becoming an essential tool to help maximise time and resources while boosting efficiency. But if you’re yet to dip a tentative toe into the world of AI, knowing where to start and how best to harness the technology can be daunting. Here are just some of the ways it can help unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation.

Enhanced customer engagement

In an era of constant connectivity, customers have come to expect almost immediate responses, and many would sooner turn to a digital means of contacting companies rather than picking up the phone. Improving

Perhaps one of the most time-consuming tasks when it comes to managing inventory is diving into sales data – but luckily this is AI’s forte. By inputting your data into one of the many platforms online, AI can spot trends and patterns within a matter of mere seconds. What’s more, AI can even predict the future, taking its findings to forecast consumer behaviour and market trends.

Increased bank of assets

Ensuring you have a substantial pool of photography, graphics and materials to market the business is vital. With an increasingly competitive marketplace, brands must make it easy for consumers to spot their products or services, and offering eye-catching ways of communicating is one way to do so. Enter, AI! Whether it is AI-generated packshots or inspirational lifestyle photos, artificial intelligence can now produce an entire bank of assets to be used across websites, social platforms, in store, and more.

Challenges and considerations

AI undoubtedly holds immense potential to streamline marketing, but there are, of course, some limitations.

Customer loyalty is built on a foundation of trust, communication and emotional connection. While AI can help to enhance

customer engagement, some may prefer more traditional ways of communicating. Some may also be reluctant to get on board with new technology like chatbots, feeling it is an impersonal way of communicating and failing to build that all-important connection.

Analysis software can also be costly. While there are many free platforms available, more sophisticated software can be expensive to run and require experts to install and update.

WHILE AI CAN HELP ENHANCE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, SOME MAY PREFER MORE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF COMMUNICATING

Perhaps most importantly, AI doesn’t know your company quite like you do –and quite like your customers do. AI cannot encapsulate your brand voice and the wider context of the message you are conveying. In today’s marketplace, brands must showcase their personality, their values, and what they stand for.

About Holly Daulby Holly Daulby, founder of Honest Communications, the chosen PR and social media agency of many leading garden brands including elho, Hillier, Town & Country, WOLF Garten, and Wilkinson Sword, discusses how AI can help ease the marketing burden so that you can focus on doing what you do best. honestcommunications.co.uk

An interview with

Ricky Towers

HEADING UP BRITISH GARDEN CENTRES’ CATERING OFFERING, TOWERS SHARES HIS INSIGHT

Over recent years, UK garden centres have come to represent much more than simply just a place to go and buy plants.

To that traditional, and still much beloved, offer, for instance, has now been added an ever-increasing number of related goods, ranging from garden furniture to gifts and artisan food.

At the same time meanwhile, we’ve also witnessed the inexorable rise of concessions, offering products and services that the early

pioneers within the sector would probably never have dreamed of. The most obvious of these is probably pet shops but look around the country and you’ll also find everything from hobby craft to hiking gear.

Having said all that, the thing which has probably changed the identity of garden centres most profoundly over the years is the addition of restaurants. The sector has shifted firmly into the category of ‘lifestyle’ retail. Crucially, it has also given customers an extra reason to turn up out of season, thereby helping to keep the wheels turning the whole year ‘round.

One of the most interesting food offers in the country belongs to British Garden Centres,

UK GARDEN CENTRES

HAVE COME TO REPRESENT MUCH MORE THAN SIMPLY JUST A PLACE TO GO AND BUY PLANTS

which owns multiple sites up and down the UK. As such it offers an object lesson, not just in the provision of great food, but also in how to

maintain an artisanal, ‘local’ feel across different regions, at massive scale.

Multiple sites

Based in Lincolnshire, British Garden Centres operates 50-plus garden centres across the country, as far south as Bournemouth and as far north as Newcastle upon Tyne.

Established in 1990 at a single site in Woodthorpe Hall, by 2018 the company was operating 10 sites. A year later, it added another 37 from Wyevale to its portfolio, as well acquiring another eight when it bought Hillview.

Ricky Towers is the group restaurant director of the 62-strong garden centre group. Describing his background, both in the industry and out of it, Ricky says: “This is my second stint in the business, having started working with British Garden Centres 11 years ago. I re-joined in order to help it get ready for the growth we went through with the Wyevale and Hillview acquisitions.

“I’m responsible for everything to do with our food operation. I deal with food procurement, food safety, staffing, menu and concept creation, and everything in between. I’m also the health and safety director.

“We employ around 1,100 people across 59 restaurants, which would be quite a large operation in its own right, I’m incredibly proud of our staff, and the effort they put in to help make the business a success.”

Discussing the evolution of garden centres when it comes to catering, he states that it’s no longer enough to just offer “a slice of cake and a pot of tea.” The reasons for this – according

to him – including a changing demographic, has well as fundamental change in palettes, alongside a willingness to try new things.

“A far wider range of people visit garden centres now, including young families,” he says. “People of a younger demographic come to us now as well, for the wellbeing and benefit that garden centres symbolise.

“The other thing of course is evolution of the British palate over the years. Obviously, people still want sausage, egg and chips, but we also have a wider and much more robust taste than we’ve ever had before.

“All this ties in with the growth of garden centres themselves, with people bringing them into their hearts as part of the British way of life. As part of that, we’ve appealed to new parts of the market.”

With this in mind, the business currently offers two catering brands, in the form of Coffee Haven and The Gardener’s Retreat. The latter of these he describes has a larger table restaurant with counter/hybrid service. These restaurants serve “traditional meals” such as carveries and the egg and chips mentioned above, as well as regional specials.

Coffee Haven consists of smaller sites “with maybe a lesser food offering and a coffee shop feel”. This includes sandwiches, paninis and of course, the ubiquitous slice of cake and pot of tea.

“We try to serve regional dishes in all our restaurants, made individually. Obviously, there’s always got to be a ‘company’ approach with core menus and so on, but we do absolutely recognise the specific geographic areas that we operate in.

“So, in the North West, we sell corned beef hash with pickled beetroot and cabbage, as well as things like parmos [breaded pork or chicken, with bechamel sauce and cheese].”

Supply chain

Another key indicator of the way the British palate has evolved is an increasing awareness of the way our food is sourced, something which in the trade is known as provenance. For an organisation such as British Garden Centres, the concept is important on two levels.

The first is simply to do with the quality of the food itself, the locus of which is of course the supply chain. How is livestock treated? Are farming methods organic, or is produce saturated with chemicals? This in turn feeds into ‘provenance’ as a marketing tool, linking

both to the notion of ‘local’ identity touched on above, as well as broader ideas around ‘lifestyle’ dining. Or to put it another way, the garden centre demographic, at least in the main, wants wholesome, wellprepared food, that makes them feel good about where and what they eat.

Discussing BGC’s approach to this crucial aspect, Ricky says: “We do our very best source the best quality food that we can find. For instance, our beef is from a single food butchery supplier. This is quite simply because we care about the quality of what we serve.

“That said, it’s probably harder for us than for a smaller business to go out and source locally, simply due to the size of our operation. We have to run safety checks and do our due diligence [across many suppliers], which means spending a lot of time with providers, constantly reviewing, tasting and so on.

“So, while I fully appreciate, and absolutely value, provenance, there are the logistic challenges that you face with a business of our size. Once you start having 50 restaurants with 50 different bread different types of bread

supplier, it becomes very complicated indeed. For instance, you have to take the mixing of different ingredients into account, looking at things specifically from a health and safety perspective.”

One example he does offer is of a local supplier is a Norfolkbased ice cream manufacturer, which the business has a relationship with for its East Anglia offer. Other produce from that area includes cheese and cut meats.

With all of this in mind, and with the industry having come so far, where does Ricky believe garden centres sit in relation to more ‘mainstream’ catering? And what is British Garden Centres’ main competition in the field?

“I would say that we now represent valid and credible competition with anyone in the vicinity, from a food operation point of view. I know from my time working in pub restaurants, we already felt the pressure when a garden centre opened a restaurant, seeing it as much as anything else in terms of customer numbers.Honestly, I want to take my market share from local carveries and restaurants. And I feel our food offer is strong enough to stand against them.”

OUR BEEF IS FROM A SINGLE FOOD BUTCHERY SUPPLIER. THIS IS QUITE SIMPLY BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WHAT WE SERVE

One way that this is achieved, according to Ricky, is to actually model that competition. For instance, looking at different ways of working, technology, suppliers of equipment and so on.

Discussing this, he says: “We use them as inspiration to drive our offering. Any business should always use their competition to try and find out how they can do things better.”

Catering has become one of the most important elements of the garden centre offer across the country. British Garden Centres are proof that it’s possible to operate across a massive estate, and still give customers exactly what they want.

THE BENEFITS OF LOYALTY SCHEMES

in garden centres

POINTS, VOUCHERS, DISCOUNTS AND MEMBERSHIP CARDS – HOW CAN THESE CREATE CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE?

Loyalty cards have become a popular trend in the retail industry, and garden centres are no exception. From traditional plastic or paper cards to apps, loyalty schemes offer countless benefits for both the green-thumbed enthusiasts and retailers in stores.

For businesses, loyalty cards are an effective tool for customer retention and encouraging repeat visits. Having a loyalty programme in-store also provides valuable data and insights into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing businesses to tailor their strategies to meet the needs of their target audience and build stronger relationships with their customers. They also create a sense of

THEY ALSO CREATE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY BELONGING AND APPRECIATION, AS CUSTOMERS FEEL VALUED AND RECOGNISED FOR THEIR LOYALTY

community belonging and appreciation. We spoke to garden retailers to find out how their loyalty cards compare – and how they make the most out of them.

Dobbies has a loyalty club which was first introduced to drive greater spend and frequency through personalised offers and communication. Since it launched, it has grown by more than 500% with more than 1.3 million members and

won numerous awards including Marketing Week’s Best Use of Segmentation in 2023.

With two tiers, one free and one paid, the scheme is available across 77 stores and online as Lindsay Docherty, head of loyalty, customer

community that welcomes new members at no cost. We currently have a strong network of 75,000 individuals in the programme which offers a personalised experience through a loyalty card and key fob scanned at the tills

on events, a lifetime guarantee on hardy plants, and enter a monthly draw to win a £50 gift card.

“The main benefit of the scheme is having a goldmine of customer data. From this, we can see what customers are doing in our centres, where they are spending, and segment this data to focus on specific groups with targeted offers and rewards. For example, we can see which customers spend regularly in-store, but not in our restaurants and send them an incentive, like a free slice of cake, to encourage them to try the restaurant. We use this data to prevent lapses, reward loyalty and encourage further spending.”

Rosebank Garden Centre started its customer loyalty scheme which has proved to be a gateway direct to its community and allows the store to interact with members with the aim

posted out to customers although we are moving towards a paperless mailer via email or through our app by the end of the year. This allows us to promote in-store and online promotions and provide additional incentives to encourage customers to repeat visit. Having a loyalty scheme like this is useful in the quieter months.”

Fakenham Garden Centre underwent a significant transformation in its reward scheme, shifting from a traditional postal-based system to a digital, email, and app-based approach. Nick Haydon,

our traditional mailers. Over six months, we increased promotion, giving customers time to sign up for the app using multiple channels, including email, in-store, and social media.”

The transition proved successful, with over 70% of registered reward customer sales coming

OUR MARKETING TEAM SENDS OUT MONTHLY EMAILS TO STAY CONNECTED WITH OUR CUSTOMER BASE

through the app. The Christmas promotion in 2023 saw a 150% improvement over the previous year. This gave Fakenham valuable data from the app, enabling targeted marketing efforts and insights into customer behaviour.

Moving forward, Haydon says he plans to further develop the app, including implementing a reward scheme and more targeted coupon offers. “We remain committed to delivering a great customer experience through our loyalty app and leveraging the benefits it provides, such as personalised notifications and improved communication channels with consumers. Working with Redfish has enabled us to realise our vision, positioning our store for future success in the competitive market.”

British Garden Centres run a loyalty scheme known as Family Card, a homage to being

the UK’s largest family-run group with 62 centres across the UK. Lucy Hewitt, marketing coordinator, shares: “Members can enjoy exclusive offers, vouchers, and invitations to special events throughout the year. Every time they shop at any of the British Garden Centres group, they scan their card at the till to enter a prize draw and have the chance to win back the cost of a whole month’s shopping.

“As a member, they receive regular offers and vouchers, as well as loyalty rewards for drinks and meals, members-only shopping events, exclusive competitions, and priority ticketing for events. We operate this through email marketing, the BGC website, and local

BY ANALYSING SPENDING PATTERNS,

WE CAN

ADJUST OUR PRODUCT OFFERINGS AND MARKETING STRATEGIES

centre pages. The core benefits of the Family Card programme include discounts on seasonal and speciality products, as well as exclusive information tailored to customers’ interests.

Helen Bent, head of marketing has implemented “be inspired” at Bents which has been reaping dividends for the store in Warrington for over 10 years. She said: “Customer care has always been at the top of the agenda for us and our “be inspired” privilege club, launched in 2012, further reinforces this commitment, with members rewarded with exclusive member-only prices and privileges, personal benefits and special surprises.

“We are very aware that our customers choose to visit us and “be inspired” is the perfect way to say thank you. The more our customers visit us, whether online or in-store, the more we get to know about what they love so can treat them with little extras that are specifically tailored to them as individuals.

“We currently have over 150,000 members with an ongoing target to grow this by 350 new signings each week and it accounts for almost 60% of our sales so is a hugely important

initiative for us. The biggest change to the scheme came in 2022 when we updated and re-launched our smartphone app, which acts as a virtual loyalty card, registering purchases and making members aware of their benefits such as hot drink and dog treat rewards or reminding them of their special birthday treats.

“They can also choose to receive push notifications to inform them when “be inspired” benefits and promotions are introduced instore ensuring they don’t miss anything. We also realise that not everyone uses email or has signed up to the app so whilst we work to convert as many members as possible onto these platforms, we continue to use more traditional methods with those who prefer these forms of communication.”

Hillier’s has run its incredibly popular Hiller Gardening Club for many years now which Chris Francis, Hillier Garden Centre and Wholesale Nurseries director, talks us through: “We are proud to say that we have over half a million members. It is free to join, and members can enjoy an extensive range of exclusive rewards, discounts, gardening tips, and offers all year round. Customers can sign up in-store at the till, or online via the Hillier website.”

When it comes to the benefits of the loyalty scheme in-store, Francis said: “The Hillier Gardening Club strengthens customer relationships, drives sales, and improves efficiency within the business. All members’ details are stored in our CRM system and by analysing membership data, we can tailor our communications to meet customers’ needs, fostering stronger relationships and increasing loyalty. Exclusive deals and personalised content encourage repeat purchases, while targeted promotions and offers drive incremental sales. By analysing spending patterns, we can adjust our product offerings and marketing strategies to maximise engagement and sales opportunities.

“Members can access exclusive deals and savings on various gardening products, making it more affordable and accessible. The club also gives Hillier customers priority ticket booking to some of the UK’s most popular gardening shows and events, such as BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair and Live. Members can enjoy offers in restaurants and coffee shops and participate in exclusive competitions. They also gain early access to workshops, talks, and events. Twice a year, members receive vouchers based on the points they have earned.”

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The digital revolution OF HILLIER

JOIN

CHRIS FRANCIS,

DIRECTOR OF RETAIL, AS HE DISCUSSES THE FLOURISHING SUCCESS OF E-COMMERCE INITIATIVES AT HILLIER

As the landscape of retailing continues to adapt, e-commerce and omnichannel retailing is more prevalent in the garden centre sector than ever before.

Previously seen as behind the curve when it comes to technology, the garden retail industry isn’t just catching up, it’s beginning to lead the way in the wider retail picture.

In February 2022, Hillier launched a brand-new online shop. Garden Centre Retail speaks with Chris Francis, director of retail and wholesale, at Hillier, the man behind this launch,

to find out what was done, what benefits the business has seen overall, the effect it’s had on the physical retailing and the future development plans for the digital revolution of the business.

What made the business want to explore e-commerce?

Hillier has been an innovative business from the very beginning, and in 160 years this philosophy has always remained at the heart of the company, so e-commerce had been in conversation for several years. There was a Hillier e-commerce site over a decade ago that despatched items from a garden centre, but as the business grew this model was no longer sustainable.

So, we embarked on a project to reinvent our e-commerce offering with a new website platform, new warehouse, and new team, to drive this channel to be as successful as our bricks and mortar garden centres.

The project was fast tracked during the pandemic where we had to launch an e-commerce solution very quickly during the initial periods of lockdown and closures. Following this, the project really took off at momentum to build a more significant, more robust solution.

E-commerce for Hillier has never been about moving the business to an online model, but about expanding the business through online channels to reach new customers with an omnichannel approach to retailing.

What was the process behind setting the initiative up?

The initial and most important step for us was to set up a project team that consisted of all relevant departments, so that we could gather all the requirements for an e-commerce solution and have a clear understanding of what we wanted to be able to offer our customers. Once we had this outlined, we were able to search for businesses that would be able to help us to build this platform and deliver our vision, not just for the website but for distribution and warehousing as well.

Who were the key people involved?

This project included stakeholders from marketing, purchasing, EPOS, IT, and finance. It was a real team effort with everyone involved in ensuring that the final solution met all requirements for the entire business.

How does it work with customer orders, is it delivery or click and collect? Is it national delivery or local?

We offer national delivery from our central warehouse based on our nursery in Hampshire. This enables us to look after plants on the nursery until an order is placed and then deliver direct from the nursery, maintaining high quality care right up until despatch. Click and collect from our garden centres is another channel we are currently working towards launching.

Explain the technology involved with the online retailing, how is stock managed and how are orders processed?

There are a lot of considerations in terms of the technology that powers an e-commerce solution. It’s not as simple as just building a website. There are many systems that need to talk to each other to give the best customer experience with up-to-date pricing and stock levels.

The website needs many APIs to communicate with; product information management platforms; EPoS and nursery management systems; warehousing management; payment gateways; and distribution networks. Following the order,

there are also order and delivery updates both on website and email.

All this needs to be set up to be automated in real time to ensure accuracy of stock levels, to make the order processing as efficient as possible, and to enable scale and growth.

What types of products are available online now?

Currently, we have a wide range of products available online across all key garden categories. We’re continuously adapting and enhancing our product range as we continue this journey and gain more understanding, data, and learnings about what works through an e-commerce platform. Nursery stock includes the shrubs and herbaceous stock that we grow on our own nursery so that we have full control of the quality that we are delivering. We are continually adding new products and

investigating new options to expand our product range through additional distribution channels such as drop ship.

How has the online business grown since its launch?

In two years, almost 50,000 Hillier Gardening Club members have created an online account, and sales have doubled each year in terms of revenue and transaction numbers.

What are the future digital developments for the business?

Our e-commerce solution is still new really, and there are a lot of plans to enhance this with additional distribution channels, enhanced functionality and ordering options to increase average transaction values, and new solutions to provide the customer with a more personalised online experience.

Digital developments don’t just stop at e-commerce, we’re investigating many new solutions and opportunities across the business in marketing, merchandising and operations to see where digital can assist with taking our business forward.

WE ARE CONTINUALLY ADDING NEW PRODUCTS AND INVESTIGATING NEW OPTIONS TO EXPAND OUR PRODUCT RANGE

Electric Vehicles CHARGE UP!

GCR TALKS WITH BE.EV AND CALM CHARGING TO DISCOVER HOW GARDEN CENTRES CAN ADOPT EV CHARGING STATIONS

Cryptocurrency. Social media. Artificial Intelligence. These technological developments have all had their recent noteworthy growth bursts. But as the world becomes more sustainably aware, electric vehicles are the next huge growth area in the tech market.

It’s fair to say that we’re currently amid the growth period – as of the end of February 2024, there are over 1,000,000 fully electric cars on UK roads. Nearly 315,000 battery-electric cars were registered in 2023, a growth of 18% on the number registered in 2022.

With the growth of the product, there must come a growth in infrastructure. With home charging a given, what do EV drivers do when they are out and about or on a long journey and need to top up their battery? Enter the opportunity for garden centres.

With ample car parking space and the majority of garden centres having an on-site restaurant or cafe, and with garden centres locations across the country, are EV drivers a customer demographic that can be enticed into garden centres as a stopping point?

Exploring the many options available with suppliers, charge points and even the financial options, it can be tricky to know what’s best for your business. We’ve spoken to Be.EV and Calm Charging, EV charging companies to offer you an insight into what’s available for garden centres.

What does your company do?

Adrian Fielden-Gray, COO of Be.EV: Be.EV started in 2019, and we’re a ChargePoint operator. We deploy, manage maintain a whole network of EV chargers, originally started in

Greater Manchester, and the northwest, but now we’ve got a general national rollout. Our Dobbies partnerships are a good example of that. Our mission is very much to deliver a fair, equally spread network that’s there for everybody.

WHAT DO EV DRIVERS DO WHEN THEY ARE OUT AND ABOUT OR ON A LONG JOURNEY AND NEED TO TOP UP THEIR BATTERY

And ultimately want to become the consumer’s number one go to CPO brand, when they are out driving.

Mal Hay, Business Development Director of Calm Charging: At Calm Charging, we believe EV drivers deserve a much better charging experience and our vision is to deliver just that. Why should EV drivers and their passengers have to make do with filling station forecourts, processed food and lousy coffee when there can be a better option? Every Calm Charging site is carefully selected not just for its fabulous location but also the broad range and high quality of amenity it offers.

How does the garden centre market fit in with your business ideals?

MH: Many garden centres fit our customer criteria perfectly. We are members of the Garden Centre Association and work closely with well-known industry professionals to ensure our offering is aligned with the sector’s needs and values.

AFG: We’ve already started in the garden centre space and retail in general is very much a target sector, or us. Garden centres have large volumes of customer, often quite large sites, and often they are on well-connected routes. It’s attractive from our perspective, but also, importantly, and I’m quite passionate about this. it needs to be right for the for the host or for the landlord.

In terms of the charge points, how does the revenue work?

AFG: Customers pay to charge, a bit like they would pay to fill up petrol. And then we then have a commercial arrangement with the garden centre, which can either be fixed or they can do a revenue share model. Some people like to feel like they’re aligned and get some of the upside, or there’s a flat known income stream.

MH: We work in partnership with our sites, with EV charging providing both a service to existing

WHY SHOULD EV DRIVERS AND THEIR PASSENGERS HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH FILLING STATION FORECOURTS

customers and an attraction to new customers. With us, garden centres pay nothing. We essentially lease parking spaces from the garden centre and, in return, they receive both a fixed guaranteed rental and a share of the profits. A percentage of the profits also goes to community causes and charities nominated by the garden centre. One important distinction between Calm Charging and other operators is that we DO NOT require 24-hour access to a site, a massive issue for the garden centre sector in particular. Because our focus is on premium, our philosophy is that if a site’s not open, we don’t want our customers charging there.

What are the time constraints on installation?

AFG: When we can start work on the site, the install work is quick. We’ve process-mapped the hell out of a project, to really optimise that to really minimise the disruption for the host. The longest piece is ordering the kit. Some of the substations and the power banks, they can be on quite long lead times, but at least that is there’s no disruption on site for that.

What does green energy mean? And with a sustainably aware industry for garden centres, where do you see this option fitting in?

MH: Calm Charging has been built to be a responsible and ethical brand and we are in the process of working towards full B Corp certification. We began working towards B Corp status by having our sustainability partner conduct a full stakeholder engagement involving key people from across the garden centre industry. This gave us real insight into what matters most to the sector and what it expects from a responsible EV charging partner. Our purpose, vision and values are fully aligned with the outcomes of that stakeholder engagement and are firm commitments reflected in every facet of our business rather than through hollow promises.

AFG: All our chargers are powered by very deep green power, which is traceable. But for us, this shouldn’t even be a question. We always try and deliver things in the most socially responsible way. So be that from an environmental perspective, be that from a society and community perspective, we’re always wanting to make sure that we’re doing the right thing to everyone. Green energy is one example of that.

In terms of your overall business, how are you working towards sustainability?

AFG: We are working with a tier one supply chain, always trying to find new and innovative ways that can reduce the impact of the install itself. Rather than pouring concrete plinths, we have these chambers, which are all made from recycled plastic, and the chargers drop in. We’re one of the first charge point companies doing this.

like buying only renewable energy and the like, but to keep getting moving forward we have to make positive changes to our own operations but also those of our supply chain and partners.

What types of chargers do you install?

MH: We install high-powered DC ultra-rapid chargers only. The speed or power of our chargers has been set to strike a perfect balance between charging times and dwell times.

Calm Charging promises that each of its charge points can always deliver 100kW regardless of how many cars are plugged in.

Are you looking to work with all types of garden centres?

AFG: We’re always looking at any kind of garden centre, for sure. Ultimately, it comes down to the sites themselves. In terms of the ease, naturally, it’s always going to be easier to deal with one client that’s got lots of sites, but we know that isn’t always the case. You might find that your small independent owns the land, doesn’t have any other shareholders to deal with and actually can have a very clean and quick transaction. The other option that would be to maybe do a mini tie up, if for example five garden centres have got similar type of locations, you could create a cooperative and partner with us that way.

MH: We are constantly working to make ourselves more sustainable. We do all the basics

AFG: Our general install is rapid and ultra rapid chargers. There’s a lot of chargers that are going to be required over the coming years to really help make the transition to electric vehicles, we don’t want to end up in a place where we’ve just got complete litter of way too many but slower charges. It’s unsustainable, and it can cause frustration if you’ve got a million different chargers on the pavements – we just don’t believe that’s the right approach.

MH: We’re happy to chat to any garden centre. This is a fast-developing sector, and we recognise that while a garden centre may not meet our criteria today, it probably will tomorrow. Also, we recognise just how valuable parking spaces are to garden centres. For some operators, particularly those where parking is limited, now may not be the right time to install EV charging. It may be better to wait until more customers are driving electric cars.

We’re always happy to chat and advise garden centre operators. We’re all about happy customers and partners, not sales targets.

The Retail Trust AND AI

THE RETAIL TRUST TURNS TO AI TO HELP IMPROVE STAFF MENTAL HEALTH AND PROVE THE VALUE OF WELLBEING STRATEGIES

The Retail Trust turns to AI to help improve staff mental health and prove value of wellbeing strategies. Retail industry charity the Retail Trust has developed a generative AI powered dashboard to help retailers including FatFace and Next to improve staff mental health and prove the value of their wellbeing strategies.

The new ‘happiness dashboard’, built in partnership with a handful of leading retail employers and the Retail Trust’s technology partner BJSS, allows employers to track staff wellbeing trends and improve the effectiveness of support.

The platform works by identifying trends around which Retail Trust wellbeing services employees are using to generate recommendations on how to improve engagement, reduce levels of absenteeism or

presenteeism, and increase staff retention. It also shows each employer exactly how much initiatives to improve mental health are saving their business and the economy, by calculating the financial value of fewer staff calling in sick, working while unwell, quitting their jobs or turning to the NHS as a result.

Research by the Retail Trust found 80% of retail workers were experiencing declining wellbeing last year, with a fifth (19%) struggling to meet their monthly outgoings due to rising costs and nearly half (47%) feeling unsafe at work amidst a wave of assaults and retail crime.

Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, says: “We’re concerned that four years on from the pandemic, wellbeing budgets are coming under strain across the retail industry despite the knock-on effect this will have on staff sickness and retention, because

employers can no longer show the direct impact to their bottom line.

“They need more help to prove the tangible financial value of investing in their people’s mental health for their business and the economy, and to more effectively identify and address the causes of poor wellbeing. We believe this approach could be rolled out

WELLBEING BUDGETS ARE COMING UNDER STRAIN ACROSS THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

across every sector to help improve workplace wellbeing and tackle the UK’s increasingly high sickness absence.”

Analysis by Deloitte*, which has been adopted by the Retail Trust for the new happiness dashboard, estimates that mental ill health currently costs UK employers up to £56m a year but measures to support staff wellbeing provide a £5.30 return on every £1 spent.

The Retail Trust’s happiness dashboard also uses the Wellby standard, a measure backed by the Government’s Social Impact Task Force, which has found that improving someone’s life satisfaction by just one point on a scale of one to 10 could be worth £13k to the economy. This includes the amount saved for the NHS and by reducing sick pay claims.

Tracy Gilchrist, resourcing and retention lead at FatFace, says: “We have really enjoyed being part of developing the ‘happiness dashboard’ with the team at the Retail Trust. The dashboard has provided us with valuable insights to how our colleagues truly feel and how they interact with the resources we share and recommend.

“One of the insights the platform helped us to identify was that our remote workers had lower scores around feeling anxious and having information shared openly with them. We found this useful as we were then directed to Retail Trust content that we were able to share with these colleagues, and it also meant we took time to discuss how we communicate important messages so remote workers felt included.”

Andrew Jurd, head of retail HR at Next, adds:

‘Understanding and supporting the wellbeing needs of our colleagues is an important part of creating a great working environment where colleagues are valued.

“Working with a trusted partner like the Retail Trust means we not only gain a better understanding of how our teams are feeling, but through their interaction with the Retail Trust’s wealth of knowledge, experience and resources inherent in their services, we can gain actionable insights into the wellbeing needs of the amazing people

The platform, part of the Retail Trust’s ‘better you’ data and insights offering, identifies data and patterns from colleagues’ interactions with Retail Trust services and wellbeing surveys to provide an overall picture of staff mental health

EMPLOYERS CAN ALSO MONITOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE WELLBEING IN REAL-TIME who work for us, while supporting them along the way.”

and actionable insights, to address specific issues like stress, financial worries or safety concerns at work, and provide the financial value of wellbeing strategies. Employers can also monitor the effectiveness of initiatives to improve wellbeing in real-time and benchmark their performance against industry standards.

Kerry Lee, client principal for retail at the Retail Trust’s technology partner BJSS, also comments: “The dashboard is a real game changer

for the industry. It delivers actionable insights on employee wellbeing that retailers’ HR teams can use to accurately target welfare initiatives and measure their impact in financial terms. We believe it will be instrumental in helping retailers across the sector improve welfare outcomes for staff.

“The platform helps small, medium, and large companies realise that investing in welfare initiatives isn’t just nice for the workforce but has a real positive impact on financial performance. We hope it encourages retailers to do more to continually improve outcomes for staff, which is what the Retail Trust is all about.”

Half of retail managers interviewed for the Retail Trust’s health of retail report last year said staff absences were rising due to mental health issues. The report also uncovered a rise in staff theft due to the cost-of-living crisis, and an increase in the number of suicidal workers.

And research published by the Retail Trust in November revealed attacks on shop staff are worsening amidst rising levels of in-store crime, with two in five (41%) now shouted at, spat on, threatened or hit every week. 66% said the incidents had left them feeling stressed or anxious about going into work and 42% consider quitting their jobs or leaving retail as a result.

The British Retail Consortium said last month that violence and abuse against shop workers had risen to 1,300 incidents a day, up by 50% year-on-year.

SUPERCHARGING

your dining operations

FOURTH’S STUART MARANELLO UNVEILS THE BENEFITS OF AN INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND ITS POTENTIAL TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR CATERING OPERATIONS

Garden Centre Retail recently hosted a webinar with inventory management software company –and Garden Centre Expo exhibitor – Fourth. Post-webinar, we are here to share the expert knowledge of Stewart Maranello, solution director for inventory management at Fourth, to find out how software solutions have the potential to supercharge your dining operations.

We looked into a recent – and very positive – HTA Market Report launched at the end of

January, showing that revenue driven in garden centre restaurants in 2023 was up 23% vs 2022, and up 50% compared to 2021. 55% of adults who visited a garden centre in 2023 also visited its restaurant. Each adult that visited the restaurant, visited an average of 4.9 times, equating to 149 million restaurant visits in the year.

The challenges

With the rise of garden centre restaurants, customer expectations have changed

dramatically in recent years. Gone are the days that garden centres can get away with a pre-packaged sandwich and an at-best average coffee. Most customers using the restaurant facilities in garden centres now expect a premium product, freshly made to order with high-quality ingredients. This presents challenges for the back of house team. Maranello explains: “Hospitality tends to have regional suppliers, specialist suppliers of local meats, a local bakery, etc,

which typically means regional cost variations.”

The hospitality supply chain is also said to still be problematic with regards to availability and sourcing, for example. That, alongside a different type of ordering – in hospitality we tend to see smaller, more frequent orders – contributes to the creation of numerous invoices. This presents one of the most significant problem areas.

Invoicing, and the number of invoices generated by a catering operation, is vastly

WASTAGE NEEDS TO BE CONTROLLED, AND PREVIOUS SYSTEMS DON’T ALLOW THAT – ENTER TECHNOLOGY.

different to general retail. “Retail is a lot simpler in the fact that you tend to order something in and sell it on, not that I’m saying retail is simple by any means,” Maranello shares.

On top of that, complexities of legislation, allergens, calories, ingredient lists, and Natasha’s Law come into play. “How are you calculating that? How are you displaying that? And how will you keep up to date?” he asks.

The old ways are no longer sufficient for hospitality businesses. Wastage needs to be controlled, and previous systems don’t allow that – enter technology.

The solutions

Fourth’s inventory management system, and in fact, other solutions, allow garden centre restaurant teams to have two key elements – efficiencies and control. These cloud-based software programmes allow restaurant directors or catering managers to draft recipes in a system as opposed to either Excel, or pen and paper. If it’s in a system, you’ve got much clearer visibility across the stakeholders. It also can cost out a full menu and model based on volume.

Maranello explains: “Silly things like putting an image on a menu can have a huge change in the volume of dish that you’re going to sell and increasing the gross profit of the menu – being

able to model out those scenarios in a system is huge.”

Controlling waste to control costs

And having previously mentioned wastage, it’s another key area that businesses can get more control over when they introduce a system like this. “Once you’ve modelled out what those sales are going to look like, you can start to understand what your volume is going to be on a single product. Are you going to get enough throughput on a certain product in certain dishes, to warrant listing those or do you need to go back and start looking at different pack sizes and start to look at what that will mean from a supply chain point of view.

“Then the ability to review that and push that out to locations, it’s all managed end to end in a system which leads on to the control with purchasing. You’ve locked down your ordering

catalogues based on the recipes assigned to the locations. Therefore, you’ve got control of the right ingredients, from the right supplier, with the right approved substitutes which is key these days with things like allergen control.

“We always talk about wastage as one of the easiest ways to control your costs; understanding the value of your wastage and understanding the reason behind it. Is it out of date? Is it down to quality? Could it be mistakes made because a lack of training? There are lots of different reasons why you might waste something. It’s having the ability to see that cost across the whole business. Being able to see the top three things you’re wasting across the whole business across the month is huge. Why are we wasting so much of this product? Is it a throughput issue? Is it a supplier issue? Have you had a bad quality product? The data allows you to see that, understand that and start reacting to that.”

Financials

Invoices are dealt with in an efficient way, too. It’s an area that Maranello can wax lyrical on. “A system allows you to deal with that volume of invoices in a way that you need to,” he says. “The way we approach it is that we automatically reconcile those invoices, and we only really show you the ones that don’t match. This way, you only manage by exceptions. 80% of the volume, you shouldn’t even need to look at.

“A system allows you to simplify stock processes by having the right products on your account, and being able to manage that online, on a phone or a tablet gives much more control. It’s not on scraps of paper that get put on the side, covered in sauce, or lost. It’s all the things that anyone has worked in any kind of hospitality setting will know about. There’s no having to re-key that into a system from the paper, trying to work out what the numbers are. A system allows this process to be much quicker and ultimately, much simpler.

“One of the other things we see is how many invoices right now are just getting paid because you’ve got an invoice and you need to pay it?

With that volume, without a system, there are a lot of invoices that just get paid without checking if the pricing is right on them, or an item is missing. Having a system doing those line level checks and looking at that data, capturing all the credit opportunities and helping you manage those all the way through to completion helps. Being able to follow all those through to make sure they all get closed down is great.”

Real-time results

As many garden centres know, retail and hospitality can often be data-driven. Technology allows garden centre owners to see real-time results on their phone, tablet or laptop.

So, what are Maranello’s top three tips? “Once you’ve put a system in, there is suddenly going to be a wealth of data available to you. Probably so much you might not know where to start,” he says. “My biggest tip is that there are a couple of key things to look out for in that initial data before you start winding it out. Stay focused on a couple of key bits: Are you compliant? Have you got your allergy data in, and is it accurate? And have you worked out your calorie information?

What about your theoretical costs; your recipe costs; and ingredient costs? Setting up for success means that when you have results, you have something to compare against.

Thirdly, focus on the actual vs theoretical gap. What is the gap, what is driving that gap and how can I fix it? If you get those three focused on initially, once they are right, you can start looking at the fun, exciting things you might want to start looking at in your data.”

If you’re interested in seeing the full webinar of the conversation between Garden Centre Retail and Fourth, email: joe.wilkinson@eljays44.com

The beginnings of Tea from The Manor is a delightfully simple story. James Green was a military man. As tea is central to a life of soldiering in good times and bad, James’ interest in tea became the passion which sparked the founding of Tea From The Manor.

Since creating Tea From The Manor with his daughter Charlotte in 2011, they have served many parts of the food and beverage industry. Supplying their products to places like garden centres – which focus on serving the local community – is something which Tea From The Manor takes great pride in. It delivers tea to the likes of British Garden Centre group, Haskins and Bents all year round.

Ricky Towers, the group restaurant director of the British Garden Centre’s Group, comments: “Having had a relationship with James and Tea From The Manor over the last four years, I can honestly say it’s been a pleasure to do business with such a passionate and diligent supplier.

“You can see that passion in every product we are delighted to serve to our guests. From the very first meeting to now, the relationship with Tea From The Manor has been an example of a partnership in the true sense.”

“Passionate About Tea” TEA FROM THE MANOR

LEARN ABOUT THE COMPANY’S SUSTAINABLE OFFERINGS...

Tea From The Manor’s partnership with garden centres is a natural fit with sustainability at its heart. Quite often, James will remark: “green by name, green by nature”.

All tea bags in retail packs are made from soilon, a biodegradable corn-starch material. The string is also made from the same bioplastic and the paper tag means it can be composted together. Better yet, the loose-leaf tea arrives in large recycled packets and it is then just a case of spooning out your tea.

There are plans to install solar panels at Tea From The Manor HQ soon, further progressing the green way of life.

Whether it’s a strong English Breakfast, an aromatic cup of Earl Grey with a dash of lemon or a calming camomile, there are plenty of flavours ready to wake you up in the morning, give you a hug in a mug or to lull you off to sleep.

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled in your local garden centres to spot the family-owned business, Tea From The Manor.

A common misconception is that loose leaf tea is more expensive than tea bags. However, it is cheaper and kinder to the environment than many high street brands, whose tea bags can contain up to 25% plastics. Contact Tea From The Manor James

James in our tea tasting room

James and his daughter Charlotte having tea

Lovania Nurseries TAKING STOCK

LOVANIA SHARES ITS EXPERIENCE WITH ADOPTING AN ERP SOLUTION TO BETTER THE BUSINESS

Incorporated in 1988 as a business providing supermarkets with fresh produce by the Ball family in Lancashire, Lovania Nurseries diversified into bedding plants at the turn of the millennium. After a twenty-year growth period, peaking at a £20m turnover in 2021, it has recently implemented a company-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, designed to help the business be more efficient.

The company, which now works from 13 different sites, over 40 acres of outside and greenhouse growing space, consists of around 120 full time staff and is a specialist plant supplier of over 45 million plants annually to

over 800 customers. According to the son and grandson of the founders, James Ball, head of strategy at Lovania Nurseries, the business would like to be at the forefront, leading a technological revolution in the sector. And it has turned to NetSuite to help achieve this.

NetSuite

NetSuite is an all-in-one ERP cloud business management solution that helps organisations operate more effectively by automating core processes and providing real-time visibility into operational and financial performance.

With a single, integrated suite of applications for managing accounting, order processing,

inventory management, production, supply chain and warehouse operations, NetSuite gives companies clear visibility into their data and tighter control over their businesses.

“Since the business was incorporated until this project began, all our data was really collected using Excel spreadsheets, office programmes and a lot of information contained in peoples’ heads as well, whether that’s the sales team, the production staff, or the growers,” explains Ball.

“It got to the point where we had grown to such a size, that we didn’t have any real data year-on-year that we could use to forecast things like sales volumes. We didn’t have access

to particularly useful financial information from a management perspective, so we didn’t have margin data by plant variety or by customer in some cases. So, for large chunks of the business, £10m worth of turnover, we couldn’t attribute to varieties and customers. We knew what we were forecast to make on paper, but couldn’t measure the performance to the detail we wanted.”

Ian Land, finance director of Lovania Nurseries, was part of the leadership team that implemented the new digital system. He says: “It’s fair to say that we didn’t have a stock system, just a programme that could raise sales invoices and process purchasing invoices. But it really didn’t give us the data that we needed to interrogate what was doing well, what are the wins and losses.”

Lovania Nurseries explored a lot of different options such as SAP, Sage 200, OrderWise, Microsoft Dynamics and NetSuite, and concluded that NetSuite was the most suitable. Land explains: “It’s probably the easiest to use, it had a lot of core basics off the shelf, we can tailor it to suit our requirements, and in

fact, we went live with just the finance package solution last year. We added the stock part of the system in January 2023. It gives us flexibility –we started simple and as time progressed, we added extra modules onto it.”

One issue that Lovania had, and a reason they researched ERP systems, was the ability to monitor stock. With millions of plants produced and sold, and trollies making their way to garden centres weekly, the business was finding that often the sales team were producing orders for plants and being several trollies of a variety short.

Ball explains:

“Through this software, and the scanning project we’re working on now, we should be able to have an accurate stock count of what’s on the ground. We’ll have live figures as they’re scanned out the door, that will flow back to the sales team.”

Better reporting

Scott Bethel, head of supply chain within the business, believes that the ERP system has

allowed them to better price their products, offering a quick and easy look at what has been profitable for the company, and maybe where they can better focus their resources.

“It’s given us the ability to reaffirm the decisions,” explains Bethel. “With NetSuite, like any other system, it takes time to build up data, so the more data you can get in, the information that we can pull today versus the information we’ll be able to pull in year two, three, four, it just grows exponentially. It will enable these good decisions for us and the customer.”

Customer interaction

The initial view on implementation of the ERP software was that “it benefits us, which in turn, benefits the customer”. But there are direct customer benefits too. Customers will have an array of reports available to them, will have better visibility on stock at the nursery and there’s the possibility of better pricing.

Ball explains: “By collecting this data on accurate volumes to fulfil the sales that we need, and on selecting the most popular varieties, we in turn will be more efficient when it comes to production. We’re not going to over order, so we’ll suffer less wastage because we’re growing the correct amount and we’re not growing the varieties that are challenging perhaps. That improves our efficiencies, and it helps us control

our costs so we can make sure the price that we charge our customer is controlled.”

Wastage and sustainability

Having been able to access more data this year, Lovania Nurseries has grown somewhere in the region of 800 thousand fewer pots, whilst increasing their profits. They’ve thought smarter about order volumes and are now able to link pot volume to turnover.

And by controlling the number of pots, and limiting the amount of wastage, there’s certainly a thought that the business is becoming more sustainable. Bethel adds: “We’re all trying to use less. From a buying perspective, we’re always looking to make sure we’re using recyclable products.

“Historically, if something has been disposed of, that plastic pot will sit somewhere forever and a day. We can now get that back in, cleaned and back onto a stock system so that pot gets reused. We make sure any stock that’s dumped is recycled, sent somewhere for processing, and potentially goes onto our own fields as fertiliser so we’re always trying to make sure we’re reducing what we use and reusing where we can to maintain that sustainability cycle.”

And wastage costs, too. It’s often a hidden cost that impacts businesses that aren’t planned for. In fact, Ball believes that the cost of labour

for a disposed-of product is higher than the labour cost for a sold plant.

Land explains: “With the bill of materials module, we’ll know that we’re making say five thousand of these plants, and use two bales of compost. Once we’ve made them, we’ll have half a bale left. In the past, no one would’ve known about that or where that was. That will now be recorded on the system, and we’ll know we’ve still got half a bale of compost left that we can use on something else.”

Staff challenges

When you try and wrap a system around it all like this, it does create work for certain people that they didn’t have to do before.

Ball, Bethel, and Land all agree that, as with all major software roll-outs, it’s been challenging getting staff on board with the project and there have been teething issues from a customer perspective, which the company has had to react to. Now that the system has been integrated into the day-to-day running of the business, it should only improve in 2024 and beyond.

Ball says: “It’s fair to say this is not the most technologically advanced sector – generally, there’s a resistance to technology. Doing what we’ve done for 20 years, we’ve got into bad habits, and we’ve got accustomed to what we do.

“Slowly though, it’s turning round, certainly in the sales team. They like it now that they can see the benefits. It’s now quicker to key orders, the system saves information and it’s all pre-populated. They can see what customers have previously ordered so they can give them that feedback, which they like. It should free up time to connect with customers and drive more sales.” Lovania Nurseries was able to move forward with these plans thanks to a grant from Made Smarter, a government scheme aimed at helping businesses implement technology and software. The overall three-year investment, including implementation cost and licences, is around £180k.

And moving forward, there are several other technological implementations that Lovania are looking towards, all based on the success they’ve had with NetSuite. Ball shares: “The information that is now available isn’t necessarily information customers want or care for, but it’s the direction in which the world is moving. As and when they need that and when they realise the data is there for them, we’ll already have implemented this and can give them the info!”

AUBI ZOO

www.baytreeliving.com

& AubiChick

Supreme hemp bedding for all animals and birds

Baytree Living Startup Package

Baytree

Baytree Living Startup Package

All Products Pictured – 18 In Total

All Products Pictured – 18 In Total

Baytree Living Startup Package

All Products Pictured – 18 In Total

Baytree Living is a UK based wholesale company, who offer a vast range of garden plant supports and planters. Working primarily with UK manufacturers, we emphasize on quality so our products are created to last.

TOTAL £556.30 EX. VAT!

TOTAL £556.30 EX. VAT!

TOTAL £556.30 EX. VAT!

Tel – 07712676545 Email – sales@baytreeliving.com

Tel – 07712676545 Email – sales@baytreeliving.com

Tel – 07712676545 Email – sales@baytreeliving.com

www.baytreeliving.com

www.baytreeliving.com

www.baytreeliving.com

With an aged look, they simply improve over time.

To find out more about AubiZoo or AubiChick, to request a free sample and our usage guide, please email info@aubiose.co.uk

100% natural Saves time and money

Less waste

Sustainable and organic Produced without pesticides

Highly absorbent

Reduces smell

Low dust

Composts fast Nourishing for the land

Great for allotments, gardens and land maintenance

“I’ve switched over to AubiZoo for my rats and absolutely love it. It reduces my costs as I use less and it retains odours much better than my previous bedding. It’s great as any waste goes straight onto the garden and my plants are loving it!”

Jody Hampshire

aubiose.org

Products Smart products

DISCOVER THE CUTTING-EDGE SMART PRODUCTS TRANSFORMING GARDEN CENTRE BUSINESSES

The Smart Garden 9 Pro Click and Grow

The Smart Garden 9 PRO is an app-controlled innovative self-growing garden for every home and every plant growing need. Experience the benefits of having a garden, no matter where. Grow 100% organic herbs, fruits, salads and flowers, free from GMOs and pesticides, fresher than any plants available in stores. The new Smart Garden PRO allows users to control the lights by both touch-control and the Click & Grow app.

RRP £249.95

clickandgrow.com

The LX PB21 Solar Panel Power Bank Yard Force

The brand new LX PB21 Solar Panel Power Bank combines a sleek design with high functionality. It is compact, lightweight, and efficient, transforming how we power up devices on the go. The power bank has three highly efficient, integrated solar cells that can convert up to 24% solar energy into electricity providing 21W of reliable and sustainable power. Featuring dual USB ports and a triple charging cable which fits most mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, tablets and even drones – delivering reliable portable power anywhere.

RRP £99.99

yardforce.eu

Flower Power Parrot

The Parrot Flower Power is a sensor to be “planted” close to a plant, indoor or outdoor, in a pot or in open ground. It precisely measures, in real time, the parameters that are crucial for the growth and good health of plants: soil moisture, fertiliser, ambient air temperature and light intensity. The free Parrot Flower Power App will send real-time alerts and statistics of plants’ needs. The app has a database of more than 6,000 plants, trees and vegetables (2,000 species).

RRP £57

parrot.com

CUPPERS CHOICE SHARES HOW IT COULD HELP YOU CATER TO A YOUNGER, MORE DIVERSE CLIENTELE

In the dynamic landscape of the UK’s hospitality sector, garden centres are uniquely positioned not just as havens for gardening enthusiasts but also as vibrant hubs for social gatherings, leisure, and culinary experiences. As these centres evolve, they’re attracting a notably younger demographic. Recent studies and trend reports have illuminated a significant shift in clientele, revealing that over half (54%) of millennials would prefer a visit to a garden centre over a nightclub. This preference highlights the growing interest among younger generations in the unique combination of retail and leisure experiences that garden centres provide, presenting an exciting opportunity for garden centres to diversify and enrich their offerings.

Cuppers Choice is at the forefront of this transformation, offering more than just exceptional coffee; we provide a partnership aimed at creating distinctive coffee experiences

that resonate with all visitors, including the increasingly younger demographic. Recognising the challenges and competition in the hospitality sector, especially for garden centres striving to stand out, we believe that offering something extraordinary – like a memorable cup of coffee – can significantly enhance the customer experience. Our approach turns what might have been a one-off visit into a cherished weekend routine, fostering a sense of community that keeps customers returning. Our commitment to ethical sourcing and excellence in coffee production not only sets the standard for quality but also aligns with the values of the more environmentally conscious visitors.

By choosing Cuppers Choice, your garden centre not only elevates its coffee offerings but also champions a story of sustainability and global community support.

To ensure your team can deliver this exceptional coffee experience, Cuppers Choice offers comprehensive staff training programmes, tailored to equip your staff with both the skill and passion needed for crafting the perfect cup.

Recognising the essential role that equipment plays in ensuring consistent coffee quality, Cuppers Choice partners with esteemed brands such as La Marzocco, La Spaziale, and Mahlkönig to furnish your cafe with premier coffee machines. Through flexible purchase options, we make sure garden centres are equipped with the finest tools to meet their high demands.

By partnering with Cuppers Choice, your garden centre is poised to cater to an evolving audience, offering not just a visit but an experience to remember.

Smart Products Continued...

Automower® 450X NERA

Husqvarna

A robotic lawn mower which gives a perfect cut 24/7 on lawns up to 5000m². From intelligent object avoidance to reliable operation – rain or shine – with less tracking and smooth performance, it navigates every corner with ease. Even cleaning is simple with a hose. Achieve precision mowing with virtual boundaries via the Automower® Connect app and Husqvarna EPOS™ Plug-in Kit, available as an optional accessory.

RRP £4,849 husqvarna.com/uk

Smart Home Weather Station

Netatmo

With Netatmo’s Weather Station you can experience weather tracking like never before. Get real-time weather data straight from its doorstep sensors. Uncover insights from past data, monitor current conditions, and predict the future using the app. Discover indoor and outdoor weather data, such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, CO 2 and noise levels. Plus, enjoy seamless compatibility with Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa for a truly smart weather experience.

RRP £169.99

netamo.com

Spotlight Cam Pro Battery Ring

Spotlight Cam Pro Battery offers 3D motion detection, colour night vision, two-way talk, and HDR video to provide pro-level security for your outdoor spaces. Receive real-time notifications whenever motion is detected or check in on a live stream of your camera at any time from the Ring app. Put it anywhere, adjust the viewing angle with the included mount, and stay powered with the included quick release battery pack that simply swaps in and out.

RRP £199.99 ring.com

Bluetooth ‘Rock’ Garden Speaker

Lithe Audio

This all-in-one Bluetooth Rock Garden Speaker is designed to blend in perfectly with garden surroundings and offers superb sound quality. It comes ready to plug and play with an in-built amp – no drilling and cabling required. Simply plug in using an IP68 outdoor power connector, connect your Bluetooth device, and play. Voice control is available when connected to Alexa or Google devices. Housed in tough resilient fibreglass, it’s waterproof for use all year round.

RRP £300 (single speaker); £450 (pair). litheaudio.com

Cloud Controller Hozelock

Offering the perfect solution for gardeners into tech or for those looking to embrace automatic watering, the Cloud Controller gives ultimate control of garden watering from anywhere in the world, using a smart phone. The app allows users to remotely set, pause and adjust watering schedules and features a local weather summary. The hub plugs into the internet router and links wirelessly with tap unit that can be positioned up to 50m away.

RRP £149.99 hozelock.com

B-hyve Orbit

B-hyve technology helps you make watering decisions based on the ecological needs of your yard while giving you the freedom to control watering from anywhere with your smartphone. To date, B-hyve has helped conserve over 100 billion gallons of water around the world. It’s the smarter, cheaper, greener way to water.

RRP £129.99 orbitonline.com

Smart Water Control Set Gardena

The smart Gardena Water Control Set, consisting of the Smart Water Control and smart Gateway, automatically controls the water supply in your garden and thus ensures flexible irrigation of your plants. The set is ideal for automatic irrigation with the Gardena Micro-Drip-System or the Gardena sprinkler system.

RRP £244.99 gardena.com

The hose that puts itself away... anywhere!

• Automatic rewind with brake system

• Large wide wheels

• Front kickstand

• Premium kink-resistant hose

• Child lock

• 3-in-1 Nozzle included

• Adjustable handle and feeder hose tidy

• Accessory storage

What’s coming up...

May 2024

Workplace wellbeing with Pughs Garden Centre

Amy Stubbs, British Garden Centres

Laylocks Garden Centre restaurant refit

Hand tools

…and more!

With you from 1 May 2024

GARDEN TRENDS

COLLECTION 2025

Available for purchase in our digital showroom & Web Shop as of April 17th.

EVERYTHING FOR A COMFORTABLE AND ATMOSPHERIC OUTDOOR LIVING SEASON

• The newest trend colours

• Attractively priced products

• Sustainable materials and packaging

• Smart retail solutions

More than 1,700 items in: 1,700 ITEMS

SOLAR LIGHTING - GARDEN FURNITURE - POTTERY - FOUNTAINS