DIDCOT, UK: This is the final call to join friends and colleagues attending Cultivating Retail – the new one-day Conference and Dinner – for growers, retailers and suppliers, supported by Evergreen Garden Care UK. Organised by HTA and GIMA, this ‘must attend’ event tackling the key issues and opportunities facing the garden retail supply chain takes place on the 13 November, 2018 at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham.
The action-packed programme, hosted by journalist and Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman, is full of relevant and topical content from speakers from inside and outside the industry.
Know your Customer
- David Denny, HTA Marketing and Insights Manager, will set the scene for the day by looking at the economy, consumer confidence and recently launched industry sizing report.
- Keynote speaker consumer and shopping behaviourist Ken Hughes will be asking ‘Is your supply chain millennial ready?’
- How is technology in the home, in the retail environment, and in the consumer’s hand changing expectations of shopping? How are best-in-class retailers responding to these changing demands, both online and offline? Just how important is experience, and who is raising the bar of experiential retail? Futures analyser Will Seymour hopes to answer some of these important questions about the future of retail.
Business inspiration and the Environment
- Trewin Restorick, founder of Global Action Plan and founding CEO of Hubbub, will be asking whether green concerns driven by the use of single use plastics are just a blip or part of a longer-trend? Does it represent an opportunity or threat for the garden industry?
- In this panel session on plastics in horticulture we bring together growers, suppliers and retailers to look at the issue of plastic and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Panellists include David Chilvers (The Bransford Webbs Plant Company), Andy Merrick (Farplants), Adam Wigglesworth (Aylett Nurseries), Mark Portman (Evergreen Gardencare) and Nick Mathias (Floramedia).
Optimising the retailer/supplier relationship
- Supply chain expert and Operations Director for Reynolds CS Paul Pegg will look at the challenges faced by the fresh produce sector and some of the innovative ways in which this sector has overcome them.
- Chaired by Cathy Newman this head to head panel session on supply chain issues brings together retailers and suppliers to look their respective needs and how they might work together to create better relationships. Key topics on the agenda include selection, pre-season ordering, and industry consolidation. Panellists include: Adrian Davey (Hozelock), Keith Nicholson (Westland Horticulture), David Hibbert (Stax Trade Centres) and Boyd Douglas-Davies (Hillview Garden Centres).
Promoting your Business
- Leading business figure Claire Harper has unparalleled experience with some of the UK’s leading brands, including Argos, Ocado, Sainsburys and Mamas & Papas before sending up her own kids clothing brand IndiaCoco in 2011. Claire’s understanding of online retail as well as ‘bricks and mortar’ shopping, and the passion that led her to take a new business into a crowded marketplace, by building it on values and customer service, and by selling the highest quality of product, makes her one of the UK’s most formidable business leaders.
- Managing Director of the newly expanded Blue Diamond Group, Alan Roper, will be sharing his thoughts on innovative and experiential retail.
At the event dinner delegates will be able to hear from inspirational and record breaking speaker James Golding who will tell his compelling, uplifting and honest story – ‘One Step at a Time’, along with the latest news from Greenfingers, our charity partner for the dinner.
A great forum for inspiration, discussion and debate on the industry, in an accessible location with good transport networks, this event represents amazing value – just £295 +VAT for a full conference place for HTA and GIMA members (£199 + VAT for conference only). What are you waiting for! Book your place now at www.hta.org.uk/cultivatingretail
