Glee 2025 Live: GCA’s Peter Burks & Boyd Douglas-Davies on merchandising that sells, skills that stick, and the power of community

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The Underground

The Underground Pod

73 episodes

5 days ago

Exploring the future of garden care. The underground podcast is a place where the disparate worlds of horticulture and marketing collide. Kate Turner, the Gardener Guru and Phil Wright, co-founder of creative agency WrightObara, team up to discover the trailblazers and innovators shaping the future of garden care in the UK. With content that’s as relevant to start-ups as it would be to established players, we look to cover the hottest topics and trends you need to know. From plants to products, environmental concerns to legislation, we’ll dig deep to bring you the inside story.

Home & Garden

Leisure

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Home & Garden

Leisure

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Glee 2025 Live: GCA’s Peter Burks & Boyd Douglas-Davies on merchandising that sells, skills that stick, and the power of community

The Underground

59 minutes 23 seconds

1 month ago

Glee 2025 Live: GCA’s Peter Burks & Boyd Douglas-Davies on merchandising that sells, skills that stick, and the power of community

Recorded on the show floor at Glee 2025, Phil & Kate sit down with Peter Burks, Chief Executive of the Garden Centre Association (GCA), and Boyd Douglas-Davies (The Boyd Partnership; Chair of Greenfingers) for a rapid pulse-check on garden retail: what’s working now, what’s changing, and where the next wins are. Expect practical takeaways on merchandising, training, social media, and turning your centre into a community hub—plus a Greenfingers update straight from Floral Thursday.

What we cover

Merchandising that moves product. What retailers can learn from the best Glee stands; why simple, instructional POS matters (especially in Ferts & Chems); and how “show it like you’ll sell it” translates back in-store.
Trading picture 2025. A rocket-fuelled spring, a heat-hit summer, and how non-gardening categories - catering, gifts, food halls - propped up performance. Plus the squeeze from labour and NI costs hitting service levels.
Skills & education. GCA’s Grow e-learning (now 98 courses) and the push for better product knowledge on the shopfloor, from peat-free watering/feeding to translating supplier science into customer-friendly advice. Brands + retailers = two-pronged training.
On the Glee floor. Plants return to the Green Heart; quality over volume at the show fringes; packaging clarity for first-time gardeners; useful gift lines (hello, watering-can envy); and smart merchandising solutions that could merit future awards.
Greenfingers now. From “pretty” to therapeutic hospice gardens, public-facing shows driving awareness, next-level maintenance via garden advisors, a £400k project at Hope House (Shropshire), and why Floral Thursday matters.

Why listen
If you’re a buyer, marketer or operator in garden retail, this episode is a compact field guide to 2025 priorities: sharpen the sell-through, upskill slimmer teams, make digital count, and turn footfall into belonging.

Plus
Floral Thursday vibes, a shout to YPHA’s student of the year, and a nudge to support Greenfingers’ next chapter.

Subscribe, share with your team, and join our mailing list at theunderground.fm for new episodes and sector insight.

GCA: http://www.gca.org.uk

The Boyd Partnership: http://theboydpartnership.co.uk

Greenfingers Charity: http://greenfingerscharity.org.uk/

Discover more about our hosts:

Kate Turner: www.gardenerguru.co.uk

Phil Wright: www.wrightobara.com