Conference to get ‘fresh perspectives on leadership’

DELEGATES attending our golden jubilee conference in January (2016) will be treated to some insider tips on how to hone their leadership skills.

We have booked human resources specialist Lucy Adams to speak at our 50^th anniversary annual event, which this year takes place in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016.

Lucy was the BBC’s HR Director during one of its most turbulent periods. Responsible for all aspects of employee relations, reward, training and development, she reduced the BBC management team by over 30%, saving the organisation £25m a year.

In her five-year tenure Lucy saw four DGs come and go, oversaw the move to the Salford site and coped with numerous, very public crises including executive pay-offs and the Savile scandal.

This alongside the everyday work of talent retention, development and remuneration, HR policy, and the challenges of a publicly-funded organisation, working in a highly commercial, fast-moving sector with over 20,000 employees. And of course at the moment the BBC is currently in the headlines again with regards it review and future funding so this is all very topical.

Prior to working at the BBC, Lucy was Group HR Director at Serco, the government services business covering everything from transport to nuclear facilities to schools.

Lucy, who now runs a communications agency called Firehouse, was in position during a period of extensive expansion and acquisition for the business. Before this she worked for the law firm Eversheds.

Lucy told us: “During my speech I will discuss how to deliver real change within an organisation, and why it isn’t always popular: balancing the need for quick decisions with possible moral backlashes and issues relating to employee engagement.

“In an uncertain world, many accepted ideas of leadership aren’t up to the job and by looking at everything from management theory to neuroscience, I consider fresh perspectives on leadership, employee engagement and management organisation. I also address how businesses can deal with public scrutiny and adverse publicity, and the nature of leadership and change in organisations.”

More than 300 delegates are expected to attend our annual conference, which will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016.

As always our conference will provide attendees with pertinent information on key aspects of the garden centre industry to assist members in achieving their business goals.

The information shared will focus on a wide range of topics, including merchandising, marketing and management. There will also be plenty of opportunities for delegates to network and socialise.

Next year is an extra special one for us. 2016 will see the association celebrate its 50th anniversary so the annual dinner in particular will be a very special event.

As well as the celebrations the conference will be the usual mix of top quality speakers, analysis of inspections and garden centre best practice, and the unveiling of competition and award winners. We will be announcing more details shortly on how to book places for the event via our website www.gca.org.uk.

The schedule for the golden jubilee conference will be as follows:

• Sunday – Greenfingers’ Challenge Cup
• Monday – inspection and competition round ups plus keynote speakers – based around operational issues. An evening dinner themed, networking event for garden centres and associate members.
• Tuesday – a day of strategy with keynote speakers on subjects such as the economy, challenges facing business and direction of future market trends with an emphasis on maintaining and enhancing profitability. In the afternoon there will be the supplier exhibition. In the evening we will host our Annual Gala Dinner and awards presentation, plus a special celebration of our 50th anniversary.

To book a place at our conference, please visit the members’ area on the GCA website via www.gca.org.uk or call us on 0118 930 8918.

Chance to compete for the Worrall Cup

Calling all members – you are being invited to compete for the chance to win the Worrall Cup for your marketing activities this year (2015).

During our annual conference in January (2016), when we also mark our 50^th anniversary, the garden centre judged to have the best marketing campaign or initiative will be awarded the prestigious cup.

This represents a great opportunity for members to showcase their marketing skills to win this significant association award.

We’re on the hunt for the garden centre that has come up with the best, most inspiring marketing campaign or initiative in the last 12 months. We want our members to show flair and creativity and most importantly inspire other members to follow suit.

As this award is not influenced by the annual inspection all entries have an equal chance of winning when the judging panel meet to assess the merits of each submission and decide the winner.

To enter you can request a form via info@gca.org.uk or download one from www.gca.org.uk.

Entries can be submitted via email at info@gca.org.uk. The deadline is 5pm on Friday, January 15.

The entries will be judged by an independent panel of judges with marketing expertise.
The winner will be announced during our annual dinner awards ceremony, which takes place at the end of our golden jubilee conference, on the evening of Tuesday, January 26.

As always our conference will provide attendees with pertinent information on key aspects of the garden centre industry to assist members in achieving their business goals.

The information shared will focus on a wide range of topics, including merchandising, marketing and management. There will also be plenty of opportunities for delegates to network and socialise.

Our annual conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016. More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the event.

For other information, please give us a call 0118 930 8918, visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociation or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.

Come to our conference and be inspired to be champions

A BRITISH Olympic Silver and World Championship Gold Medallist has been booked for our conference in January (2016) to inspire you to bring out the best in your teams.

Roger Black MBE will be one of the speakers at our golden jubilee event, which will be attended by leading independent garden centres from across the country.

Roger is the first presenter we’ve booked for the event, which also sees our organisation mark its 50^th anniversary, and we’re very much looking forward to all he has to say about being a champion and the dynamics of being in a highly successful and motivated team.

He was part of the famous quartet that clinched gold from the Americans in the World Championship 4 x 400m relay in Tokyo in 1991.

After contending with numerous injuries and serious illness, including a leaking heart valve, diagnosed at the age of eleven, Roger collected 15 major honours in total during his athletics career. He won two Olympic silver medals, beaten only by Michael Johnson in the 400m, in 1996.

Having achieved success both individually and as part of a team, Roger understands what it takes to become a champion.

As a television presenter, Roger has fronted athletics coverage and appeared on shows from

Tomorrow’s World to Strictly Come Dancing. He also markets his own range of fitness products and acted as an ambassador for Team GB at London 2012.

Roger told us: “I'll focus on the Olympic mindset by sharing with the audience the lessons learnt throughout my athletic career that enabled me to run fast, overcome adversity and achieve my dreams both individually and as part of a team.”

Our annual conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016. More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the event.

As always our conference will provide attendees with pertinent information on key aspects of the garden centre industry to assist members in achieving their business goals.

The information shared will focus on a wide range of topics, including merchandising, marketing and management. There will also be plenty of opportunities for delegates to network and socialise.

Next year is an extra special one for us. 2016 will see the association celebrate its 50^th anniversary so the annual dinner in particular will be a very special event.

As well as the celebrations the conference will be the usual mix of top quality speakers, such as Roger, analysis of inspections and garden centre best practice, and the unveiling of competition and award winners. We will be announcing more details shortly on how to book places for the event via our website www.gca.org.uk.

The schedule for the golden jubilee conference will be as follows:

• Sunday – Greenfingers Challenge Cup
• Monday – inspection and competition round ups plus keynote speakers – based around operational issues. An evening dinner themed, networking event for garden centres and associate members.
• Tuesday – a day of strategy with keynote speakers on subjects such as the economy, challenges facing business and direction of future market trends with an emphasis on maintaining and enhancing profitability. In the afternoon there will be the supplier exhibition. In the evening we will host our Annual Gala Dinner and awards presentation, plus a special celebration of our 50th anniversary.”

To book a place at the conference, please visit the members’ area on our website www.gca.org.uk.

For further information, please call us on 0118 930 8918. Alternatively, log on to www.facebook.com/GardenCentreAssociationorfollow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.

September sees sales of clothing and food soar

Our member garden centres saw good sales in clothing and food hall/farm shops during September according to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) results.

Clothing sales were up 30% compared to the same month in 2014 while food hall/farm shop sales were up 14.5%.

The weather during September gave gardeners great conditions for beginning their autumn planning and planting. Sales in clothing were up during the month so it would seem customers were not only preparing their gardens for the changing season, but were preparing themselves too by stocking up on wellies and waterproofs.

It was only back in July that clothing and food hall/farm shops were on the rise and it is interesting to see this repeat for September. With the onset of autumn many food halls and farm shops changed their seasonal produce so had something new and tasty for customers to pick up and try.

For the month of September the overall garden centre performance was up by just 2% compared to the same month last year.

Paul Gingell, Managing Director at Burford Garden Company in Oxfordshire, said: “September on the whole saw very favourable weather conditions for the autumn gardener, with sunny days accompanied by chilly temperatures overnight. On the back of the boost to plant sales throughout the month, we have also seen excellent growth in both clothing sales and cafe and food hall sales.  

“Aside from the boost a new season always gives us, clothing sales growth has come on the back of our focus on natural fibres in our ranges, creative merchandising in collections and dedicated staffing to maximise sales opportunities. Both our café and food hall have surged ahead of last year’s sales performance, with significant growth coming from luxury grab ‘n’ go meals to eat in or take home. Our insistence on cooking from scratch every day, using only local produce and ingredients, gives us a great advantage over many chain-based competitors.”

Catering sales were up 8.33% compared to 2014 while Christmas sales start to rise with a change of 8.5% compared to last year.

Gifts were up 4.5%, pets and aquatics up 5% and furniture and barbecues were up 9.8%

A rise of 9.5% was seen in sales of houseplants.

Katie Eckley, Manager at The Old Railway Line Garden Centre in Powys, which was recently named Best Garden Centre in the Wales & West at the GCA’s regional awards, said: “Overall September was quite a flat month for us even with the weather being pretty good. Plants and outdoor living suffered but catering, clothing, garden sundries and food hall pulled it back for us.

“We have just re-fitted our food hall ready for what will hopefully be a good Christmas season. For the month of September it was up 4.4%. Clothing showed very strong sales and was over 54% up. As a result of these sales we have added more lines for the autumn.

“The restaurant and coffee shop have had a great month with the restaurant 7% up and the coffee shop 78% up. We have just re-decorated our original coffee shop to give a new lease of life and this seems to have attracted more customers. We are hoping to extend the opening times and expand the menu available here over the coming weeks to try and ease the pressure on our restaurant and offer a different experience for our customers.

“Garden sundries performed well during September considering plants suffered, normally we see the two rise and fall together. Garden sundries bucked the trend and was up by over 12% which shows that with the weather being good our customers were still gardening but their summer bedding plants were still looking too good to replace.”