HortWeek Podcast

A recent HortWeek survey of garden retailers found that only 10% had secured any convictions for shoplifting in last 3 years.With interest from police patchy at best, it is falling to garden centres themselves to tackle the problem.This week's HortWeek Podcast hears from James Evans from Ruxley Manor, Charlie Groves of Groves Garden Centre and Nathan Wilson from Blue Diamond Garden Centres to talk about why that is the case, how they are tackling shoplifters and whether the problem is getting worse.They discuss the merits and success rates of various methods they've deployed ranging from the high tech (facial recognition, tagging and ANPR services) to more preventative approaches, including "giving great service to deter".Wilson says garden centres have risen, in their appeal to shoplifters since the early phase of the Covid lockdown when they were one of the few shops besides supermarkets that were open at all.Jellycats, toys, camping equipment, candles, tools, food and alcohol are the most stolen items with "opportunist" thieves responsible for most thefts, many of them in their 60s, 70s and 80s.Groves says he believes the problem is growing with organised thieves prepared with as garden centres enter their most profitable time of year, Christmas stock only adds to the opportunities and temptations, for theft.Don't miss a special HortWeek report into garden centre shoplifting published next week (9/11/26) - only at HortWeek.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For about a decade, former ad man Dan Parker decided to deploy his marketing talents for the good of the nation's youth. Veg Power was the result and their campaigns have been a phenomenal success, leading to an estimated 1.4 billion extra portions of vegetables being bought over a three year period.In this week's HortWeek Podcast, Veg Power CEO Dan Parker reveals the thinking behind the "Eat Them To Defeat Them" campaign which has proved so powerful in changing the eating habits of younger children in particular. HortWeek editor Matt Appleby asks Parker if the lessons learned and advertising techniques used could be deployed elsewhere in horticulture to boost the sector.Parker gives his perspective on the UK fresh produce sector, how it needs to be more market-facing to tackle false perspectives on the cost of veg in a cost-of-living crisis.And he discusses new marketing opportunities presented by an interest in dietary fibre and a new "Growing to Love" schools veg growing initiative. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While one aspect of the peat-free debate has sparked fierce argument, surprisingly little rigorous science exists to settle it. "Is peat-free growing media really more 'sustainable' than using peat?Alexander Sentinella is Growing Media Europe director of science, and his new study provides the first scientifically grounded dataset on the environmental impact of the main raw materials used in growing media in Europe. His main finding is that there is no single “sustainable” ingredient.He talks in detail about his research, developed with Wageningen University & Research and published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. In an age where nuance and scientific endeavour have been often downgraded, Sentinella explains that a reduction in peat content in growing media might not always mean an overall drop in carbon emissions.He says yield and plant growth quality matters just as much as the medium itself and a that a whole life, holistic approach is needed to assess environmental benefits.Sentinella adds that more research is needed to integrate the performance of many different kinds of plants in peat-free to give a more complete picture, and how valuable it would be for there to be more sharing of trial data being carried out by growers across the UK.His work is set to reach wider horticultural audiences this autumn. He will speak at the GB Poinsettia Association Conference on 19 November as well as the RHS Sustainable Horticulture and Peat-Free Conference on 26 November. Please send your thoughts on this topic to [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special series, HortWeek columnist and garden industry consultant Neville Stein brings his Whatever Happened To... feature to the HortWeek podcast, exploring the stories and legacies of once-great horticulture businesses.In this episode Stein speaks to Richard Burt, sales director at Provender Nurseries, to take a deep dive into the precipitous rise, and ultimate demise of Coblands Nursery, once a towering presence in the UK amenity plant market.Coblands was a colossal operation with a massive geographical footprint stretching from Sevenoaks down to Tunbridge Wells and beyond, comprising a 20-acre cash-and-carry site and expansive nursery operations.The nursery capitalised on the golf course development boom, specializing in high-volume, low-value stock focused on trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. They supplied landscape projects, including Leeds Castle and the Crystal Palace dinosaur park.Burt joined Coblands as a student from Cannington College in 1993 and remained until 2007, finishing cash and carry manager. He describes a vibrant, youthful work culture that operated like a close-knit family business, where staff worked hard and socialised just as intensely. Stein and Burt discuss the numerous innovations, driven by frugality, brought about under the direction of the late Geoff Turner.The operational DNA of Coblands lives on at Provender Nurseries. Burt, along with around half a dozen former Coblands staff, transported and refined the Coblands cash-and-carry model. With this continuity in mind, the pair discuss lessons learned, what has changed in horticulture business since Coblands' hayday, and how some things, good and bad, remain the same.To find out more about this fascinating history, read Neville Stein's original article: Whatever Happened to... Coblands.Find dozens more horticulture business histories from the Whatever happened to... series HEREPodcast presenter: Neville SteinPodcast producer: Christina TaylorIf you enjoyed this podcast do check out our huge archive of HortWeek Podcast interviews with an unrivalled selection of prominent and fascinating figures from all corners of the horticulture sector.Make sure you never miss a HortWeek podcast! Subscribe to or Follow HortWeek podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast platform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Modern day plant hunter" Rod Richards or New World Plants has banked decades of experience in bringing plants to market and knowing what works.Richards tells the HortWeek Podcasts what makes a good plant introduction and reflects on some of his own successes, for instance Dicentra 'Gold Heart', Salvia 'Amistad' and Iberis 'Masterpiece' as well Geranium 'Black Beauty'.He gives his candid perspectives on peat, water, and what the industry needs from Monty Don's replacement.And he shares stories of antics from the good old days and discusses what he thinks has made New World Plants so successful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This September, Northern Roots launched the first phase of what will become the UK's largest urban farm and eco-park, transforming 160 acres of underused land in Oldham into a visitor destination, community resource and living testbed for tackling some of the country's biggest social and environmental challenges.Anna Da Silva, chief executive of Northern Roots, outlines how the project is transforming an abandoned post-industrial site into a community-centric green asset delivering ecological, health, educational, and economic benefits.She talks about the transformation of the land, the goals they have for it, and explains how many years of "banging the drum" for green prescribing has led to the project:"I was the programme director at RHS Garden Bridgewater in the set-up phase of that project. So I very much pioneered the RHS's initial work on being social prescribing, gardening for well-being on that site as well."Vegetables for the cafe are grown "200 yards away" by celebrated local chef, Mary-Ellen McTague, with an offering designed and priced to cater for all comers.Da Silva explains how the project overcame initial challenges including vandalism by liaising with community organisations and encouraging people to feel ownership of the project and "help create" Northern Roots. And, pending funds being raised, she outlines her hopes and plans for the project in coming years including creating various biking and sports areas and a habitat bank which she hopes will leverage biodiversity net gain funding."Critically, what we want it to be is a living, vibrant place where all sorts of different people come and come together and can ...grow their lives and help us grow. And I would hope, something that other places are coming to visit and seeing 'how could we have a thing like this in our place?'". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Butterworth has gained a higher media profile in recent years with stints on TV presenting for RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners' World.Despite his growing TV presence, Butterworth considers himself a gardener first and foremost, and by trade, a specialist grower of peat-free plants.The UK horticulture sector's transition to peat-free growing has been underway for decades. However, a persistent challenge has remained: many operations claiming to be "100% peat-free" have still been forced to import young plants and plugs grown in peat from overseas.Recent breakthroughs in the UK’s domestic peat-free plug sector have altered the landscape, sparking a movement demanding that peat-free should truly mean peat-free, from propagation to sale.Butterworth has fully embraced this shift. On this week's podcast, he opens up about the logistical and technical challenges of achieving 'true' peat-free status for his nursery, Form Plants - a commitment he has pledged to fulfill starting 1 September this year, as well as the hurdles facing the wider industry.Central to his strategy is bringing all propagation in-house. By doing so, Butterworth aims to:Gain total control over every stage of plant production.Reduce long-term costs by minimizing external dependencies.Break free from reliance on European supply chains, a goal he believes the broader UK horticultural industry should actively pursue.Looking back on what was supposed to be a "quiet" year, Butterworth reflects on navigating record-breaking summer heat and drought. Yet despite the environmental challenges, it has been a landmark year: his nursery, Form Plants, supplied greening projects for the UK Commonwealth Games, alongside personal milestones including a move to Cumbria and a new baby on the way.Podcast presenter: HortWeek editor Matthew ApplebyPodcast producer: HortWeek digital content manager Christina Taylor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As party conference season gets underway, and a new PM starts his tenure in earnest, HortWeek takes stock of where UK politicians stand on horticulture policy. MP Ben Goldsborough, has been vocal on horticulture issues since winning the Parliamentary seat for South Norfolk for the Labour Party in 2024 and was recently elected to the EFRA Parliamentary committee.He has a horticulture pedigree, having worked on policy for the RHS, helping save RHS Wisley from being shut during lockdown but, because of that lockdown, missing out on perks like going to Chelsea Flower Show.After writing an opinion piece for HortWeek (Modern horticulture deserves a bigger place in Britain's food future: Labour MP says Government policy must back the UK fresh produce production), we asked him on to the HortWeek Podcast to find out where he stands on issues affecting the wider horticulture sector. Goldsborough tells HortWeek editor Matt Appleby how he thinks the UK can balance between protecting domestic plants from pests and disease with the need to reduce trade friction for commercial growers.He give his views on how to address seasonal labour shortages and on ways to ensure green space, green infrastructure and private gardens are prioritised as Labour looks to meet its target to build 1.5 million new homes.As an MP in East Anglia, one of the driest regions in the UK, Goldsborough talks about the shortcomings of the Environment Agency and his belief that Water Boards are best placed to manage issues around water abstraction and long-term supply.For the retail and fresh produce sectors, Goldsborough raises the need for fair supply-chain terms when selling to big retailers and the need to eliminate 'flag washing'.And on peat-free, Goldsborough outlines his ideas on a way forward that can work for horticulture and the environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week HortWeek editor Matt Appleby and technical editor Sally Drury tackle the following topics: Four Oaks Trade Show: winning plants and productsPeat-free panel updateAnd HortWeek's plant-identification game which launched at Four Oaks and is taking the YPHA by storm, Hortle.life - how many can you score? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Diversification and multiple income streams is the name of the game for garden centres looking to future proof their businesses.One such income stream could be electric car charging and this week's guest on the HortWeek Podcast believes tapping this rapidly expanding market is the perfect way to "make existing space work harder commercially.ElectRoad is an independent electric vehicle charging network and infrastructure specialist and founder Richard Seppings believes “Ggrden centres already have the ingredients that make EV charging work: accessible car parks, customers who naturally spend time on site. He explains how their business model differs from "traditional" Charge Point Operators by working "in partnership with retailers", enabling them to retain ownership of their charging infrastructure and customer relationship. Meanwhile ElectRoad manages installation, monitoring, maintenance, payment administration and 24-hour support.Seppings added that retailers should stop thinking about EV charging as a piece of infrastructure and start treating it as part of the wider retail proposition so that the car park "can become an income-generating asset in its own right." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.