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which is excellent because it reduces the seasonality of our garden centers and ensures year-round sales. Our restaurants have also become a key part of each center, with the contributed percentage of sales rising year-on-year. We continue to bring in new products and ranges as we strive to become a shopping destination for not only gardening needs, but also lifestyle and home products.”

Building brand awareness

It’ s clear to see Amy’ s passion for the family business, and we’ re keen to learn more about how her role is changing.“ I always had a weekend job helping on the shop floor in our local centers throughout my A-Level studies,” she reflects.“ When I finished school, I wasn’ t sure what I wanted to do, and I ended up working for one of our key suppliers, supporting their

marketing department. However, around the time of the Wyevale acquisition, all hands on deck were needed at home, so I came back and joined the business in an official capacity. Since then, I’ ve worked in a variety of roles from plant buying and growing in the nursery to central and store management roles. I am currently looking after our marketing efforts and supporting central management.

“ We’ re now at the point of discussing what the future looks like in terms of our leadership, and it seems it would be a natural shift for me to move more into the operations of our portfolio,” Amy adds.“ I’ m already involved in decision making, and I’ m implementing gradual changes to our structure and processes to take the company in the direction it needs. There’ s still so much for me to learn, but I’ m spending as much time as possible with

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