Drop in the UK’s garden centre sales reflect challenging conditions amid economic pressures

The Horticultural Trades Association has released its monthly Market Update for October, which shows a slowdown in sales, reflecting the challenging trading environment for the sector.

Garden centre sales in October 2024 were down by -6 per cent compared to October 2023, and excluding catering, this sits at -9 per cent.

Whilst October is traditionally a smaller month in the annual garden centre calendar, contributing approximately 7 per cent of total sales, this year shows significant variation among retailers, influenced by the timing of Christmas department openings and clearance of garden furniture stocks.

Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the UK’s industry body HTA, commented: “The unseasonably dull weather discouraged plant purchases, with bulb sales down -6 per cent, a concerning trend during a crucial autumn planting period. This is reflected across the garden centre, with core garden and gardening categories experiencing a -14 per cent decline in sales compared to October 2023.

“The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget has compounded the challenging trading environment for HTA members—increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage, as well as other tax changes, place additional financial pressure on businesses. The HTA’s recent Member Survey evidences the impact, with 66 per cent of members reporting the need to increase prices and 40 per cent indicating they will postpone or reduce business investment. We are presenting these findings to the government and urging a pause to implementation of these changes until there has been consultation with the industry to understand the full impacts on our members’ businesses and the industry’s growth ambitions.”

Barnes stresses that the last three months of the year are important for garden centres.

“We are encouraged to see that Christmas sales began strongly, up +5 per cent on October 2023. Fragile consumer confidence, which dipped by -1 point from September to October, may be encouraging earlier festive spending to spread the cost. Additionally, garden centre cafes and restaurants reported a +4 per cent increase in transaction numbers compared to October 2023. This performance will provide critical cash flow to support businesses through the quieter winter months ahead of the 2025 gardening season.”