How did you get started? I am a third-generation customer of de Jager. When I discovered Mrs de Jager had retired, aged 77, and there was no opportunity for family to continue the business, I bought the company. I came from a financial investment background and was an amateur horticulturist until I...
What does your normal day involve? Everything to do with running a small company - my particular speciality is marketing including advertising, mailshots, organising exhibitions and PR. Also, I am still very involved in sales including visiting sites, designing sales areas and organising installations....
What is your typical day? Running any garden centre is the same as what any manager would do. You get the best team you can together and bring their skills to the table. You make sure everyone is doing their job. We're very customer focused we're on about that all the time. I like everyone to say,...
- How did you get started in horticulture? I took environmental studies at A-Level, which inspired me to set up an environmentally sustainable business when I left college. Eco-Charlie produces pest repellents made from 100 per cent natural products that are not harmful to the environment. I developed...
- How did you get started? I never considered working in garden care until I met (Bayer Garden UK head) Tommy Gill, who had plans to introduce the concept of category management into this sector. After working in the food industry, it seemed like an opportunity to transfer the skills I'd learned there...
- How did you get into garden retail? I'm a local girl and did business studies at Bournemouth University before working at B Q as a content manager on multi-channel elements like catalogues and the website. A short stint in financial services led me back to retail as I missed the variety and pace...
How did you get into garden retail? I used to be a florist and had a flower shop, but then I started to feel that I had had enough of that. During a stay with my sister while I was on holiday she asked me where I'd like to work. I said I would like to work in a garden centre and we searched around...
- What does your typical day involve? A typical day starts with responding to gardeners' questions and managing the growth of our 8,200+ plant database. I also respond to questions my retailer partners have about their plant data licence, and well as promoting use of the plant data Lite offer we have...
How did you break into the industry? Quite spontaneously. Although I have loved gardening since a young boy, and have designed and maintained my own gardens, I had no concrete plans to go into the industry. But I did want to own a business that would be different from a normal garden centre. On...
- How did you break into the industry? I never thought I would be talking about gardening on the radio when I started to work at Manor Nurseries 25 years ago. I'm from a family of seven who grew their own vegetables, and we all loved gardening. I was encouraged to develop my career by Manor Nurseries'...
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