Promotions at New Leaf Plants
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Mollie Higginson, Commercial Director New Leaf Plants
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David Higginson, Managing Director New Leaf Plants
Following a difficult year due to the sad loss of their Production Manager, Gareth, and terrible weather during the spring, owners David and Nicole Higginson are looking forward to a busy and positive 2025.
Promotions
Managing Director David outlined several changes that he and Nicole have implemented over the autumn and winter in preparation for the year ahead.
- ‘We are delighted to announce the promotion of our Sales Executive, Matthew Hoare to the position of Sales Manager. He has worked hard to build relationships with customers throughout 2024 and will be a very welcome addition to the New Leaf senior management team’
- Mollie Higginson is also promoted to the role of Commercial Director, overseeing sales, marketing as well as operations.
- Another addition to the senior management team is the appointed of Simon Neale as Chief Financial Officer. Simon has a wealth of experience from both within the industry and beyond.
“David said, when you suddenly lose a key member of staff it makes you realise how reliant the business was on one individual, which is not a healthy position to be in”. In addition to the re-organisation of the senior management team there have also been internal promotions to cover production.
“We now have a far stronger organisational structure which doesn’t rely on too few individuals, and we are well placed as we go into the 2025 peak trading period”.
Consultants from the automotive industry
“In addition, Nicole and I have taken a very long hard look at the business as we seek to deal with the effects of the last budget. I love visiting other nurseries and businesses to see what can be learnt and transferred to ours to make us more efficient and stronger. Having always believed we can always do better, we also decided to get another pair of eyes from outside the industry to look at how we operate”.
Consultants from the automotive industry, including a former JLR production director, have worked closely with Nicole to examine efficiency of processes across the nursery.
She said ‘we are making radical changes to the way we plan our production and picking for 2025. We’re really excited to see the improvements to plant quality that these changes bring’
Changes in production operations will also drive efficiencies and will allow the business to cope with the ever-increasing costs.
Our focus is quite clear
David concludes “our focus is quite clear as we go into 2025, quality, efficiency and service. I strongly believe that after a turbulent 2024 New Leaf Plants will continue to thrive in 2025 with our dedicated work force and with the continued support of our excellent loyal customer base.”
New Leaf Plants grows the widest range of climbers and clematis on its 25-acre site on the edge of the Cotswolds.
It supplies 750+ garden centres and retail nurseries the length and breadth of mainland UK.
New Leaf Plants will be co-hosting its spring 2025 Plant Buyers Conference with Bransford Webbs and Frank P Matthews on 26th and 27th February at Evesham Football Club and New Leaf Nurseries. To register please contact For more information, contact Nicole Higginson.... tel 01386 442055, email nicole.higginson@newleafplants.co.uk