British appetite for gardens and gardening remains strong despite a cold February

DIDCOT, UK: The Horticultural Trades Association’s (HTA) Market Update report for March shows across Great Britain sales of garden/gardening categories were 69 per cent up in February 2021 compared to the same month of last year, helping to mitigate the impacts of closed catering outlets.

Average Transaction Values were up 79 per cent on February 2020 as consumers started to prepare for the warmer spring months and the new rules permitting garden socialisation at end of March.

Importantly, three-quarters of British adults now state they feel confident visiting a garden centre, the highest level recorded since September 2020.

This month’s report also discusses consumers’ post-lockdown intentions and concerns. Encouragingly 18 per cent of British adults expect to do more gardening once lockdown restrictions are eased, while eating out in cafes and restaurants are what consumers are looking forward to most.

However, it is important for garden centres to continue to promote their safe trading environments as keen gardeners are more likely than the average British adult to feel concerned about other members of the public following Covid-19 guidelines and venues having appropriate measures in place (TGI survey, Kantar Media January 2021).

HTA Market Update is available free for members to download from the HTA website, by logging in and visiting the Market Update page here: https://bit.ly/3cbGBXZ