Klondyke Group Limited, owners of Klondyke Garden Centres and Strikes Garden Centres, the largest family-owned garden centre group in the UK, are pleased to announce the acquisition of Lady Green Garden Centre at Ince Blundell, Merseyside.

Shortlisted for no fewer than seven 2008 MX Awards by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Hozelock, the UK's leading manufacturer of garden watering, spraying and pond equipment, has announced a £1m investment in new state-of-the-art injection moulding machinery, tooling and engineering resources.

Gardeners all over the country are being given the opportunity this and next month (April and May 2008) to find out about using peat-free composts in their garden and also about making their own compost.

Grosvenor Garden Centre has welcomed a new addition to its team with the appointment of Emma Anzani as new Lifestyle and Seasonal Buyer.

Haskins Garden Centres have appointed Leon McGready as the company's first Training Manager. The new role will draw upon Leon's 18 years experience of retail management, training and HR support with Homebase and more recently Sainsburys in Southern England.

TV gardener and retail columnist David Domoney will be touring the UK this spring sharing key merchandising and selling techniques.

One of the most important events on the 2008 calendar of flower lovers across the globe is coming to the UK. Having previously been held in Canada and Australia, the World Tulip Summit is set to take the small market town of Spalding by storm, especially as it will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the town's famous Tulip Parade.

There is a serious element behind this question.  Lets face it, my picture hardly shouts out "here is a man who has spent 40 years in journalism and gardening pr" does it? It will be changed for the next issue!

Over the last few years the garden furniture business has become far more fashion orientated, with the end user looking to recognised brands such as Barlow Tyrie to produce high quality, well designed products that reflect their aspirations.

Grange was established around the time of the birth of modern science fiction, Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" was published in 1865 and the godfather of the genre, H.G. Wells, was born only one year later in 1866. So they celebrate their own anniversary this year in very good company and have introduced some of their own 21st century classics to mark the occasion.

Tetra, the makers of the UK's best selling pond food, is now making its popular Variety Sticks product available in a 15 litre (2120g) bag.  Previously available in 1, 4, 7 and 10 litre packs, the new 15 litre pack will be offered in a re-sealable waterproof bag to significantly improve the storage of the fish food, protecting it from light and humidity, and keeping it fresher for longer. 

Minster's new garden lantern collection features a stunning range of decorative metal and glass lanterns for the summer season.

Recent weather may make you think otherwise but spring really is on its way. So now is a good time for retailers to make the most of sales opportunities from the pond sector by providing good help and advice to customers who want to prepare for the season.

Draper Tools is launching a high quality retail garden tool catalogue, featuring over 300 products for general gardening and landscaping.

Lyco, the UK's leading lighting supplies company, has launched a child and pet-friendly 12 volt outdoor lighting range. The range is fully rain and weather resistant with a three-year guarantee.

Bahco's new Ratcheting Bit Screwdriver incorporates a clever six-bit storage compartment within the palm of the handle.

Running a garden centre is tremendous, for lots of reasons: the mix of outdoors and indoors, the wide variety of customers, the different kinds of business all wrapped up in one - plants, garden materials, furniture, cafes and restaurants, services - it's exciting to have so much going on, but difficult to manage.

EML Ltd's 24 years experience of design and manufacture of point of sale equipment is reflected throughout its extensive and regularly updated catalogue range. EML constantly strives for new ways of presenting goods for brands and retailers to attract and retain customer interest; always aware of research that has highlighted 70 per cent of purchase decisions are made at point of sale.

Organisers of Glee Retail Services, taking place on September 21st to 23rd at Birmingham's NEC, have recently announced that the sector is set to be the strongest yet, with over 39 exhibitors already booked. Key names within the sector will include Salepoint, First Franchise, Thermoflor and Wanzl. 

In 1987, with the introduction of low cost IBM-compatible personal computers, we moved into general business computing and became involved in Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) systems as a result.

With more than 20 years experience in the garden centre and general retail industry, Stagecraft's managing director, Tom Davis (pictured), has witnessed many changes in the way traders have developed the channels of access to their goods and services.

Stoyden Limited, the UK's leading independent non-food merchandising company, is giving suppliers the opportunity to sample the significant benefits of sub-contracting their merchandising operation before entering into any long term agreement.

The smoking ban really made a difference to the Ritz Casino in London, because it's just one of those venues where smoking had always taken place. To ask clients to smoke outside definitely meant offering them a covered space and so the search was on for a suitable solution.

If you want to give your retail store a fresh and inviting make-over then Red Cherry are the people to make that happen. And you can stay open while they re-fit!