Highfield Garden World expands planteria team

Highfield Garden World in Gloucestershire has expanded its planteria team with two experienced new recruits, bringing the team total to 14. 

Ian Byrne joined in June as Deputy Planteria Manager, while Scott Ellis took up his role soon afterwards.  

Ian has more than 35 years’ horticultural experience.  After starting his horticultural career in an independent nursery and garden centre in County Durham, he has worked in a variety of roles including senior management positions with both Homebase and Wyevale.  Scott Ellis has worked in the industry for around 11 years, working for a number of different Wyevale stores. 

Jon Mason, a director of the business and Planteria Manager at Highfield for the last 22 years, said, “With recruitment in the horticultural industry being notoriously difficult at the moment it’s no secret that recruiting staff with good horticultural knowledge is tricky, and we struck lucky with Ian and Scott. 

"Now, with six full-time and eight part-time staff in the planteria team, we have the capacity not only to spend more time with customers, but to tweak and tailor our offering to reflect consumer demands and make the most of changing market conditions and offers through the seasons.”

Highfield, a family-owned independent, employs 132 staff across the overall business.  Turnover is currently £7.5m p.a., of which around 22% relates to planteria sales.