Production is across 11 sites and 120 acres of mixed facilities. The four-year-old finishing centre handled 11 million plants in 2016.
Turnover grew by £900,000 to £19.07m and on its peak day in May 2016 the finishing centre achieved 1,819 trolleys, a 92% uplift on 2010 when it was 945 trolleys.
The 8,500sq m finishing centre was a £2.75m investment and batch control software has improved processing efficiencies from 5% of throughput in two hours to 28%, meaning faster turnaround of customer orders and greater volumes.
A new sales order processing system installed in 2016 delivered a 35% order time improvement, while BOPP Packhouse Accreditation has also been achieved - a prerequisite to supply Waitrose.
Farplants is known for its plant breeding and will deliver 575,000 nemesias in 2017. Martine Tellwright from Fleurie Nursery has been breeding nemesias since back in 1995, with 2.3 million sold by Farplants in five years.
David Tristram from Walberton Nursery is a breeder/selector of many high-volume internationally successful plants including Scabious Butterfly Blue (1.6 million sold by Farplants, 30 million globally), Scabious Pink Mist, Spiraea Magic Carpet and Coreopsis Flying Saucers.
Between 2013 and 2016 the added-value offering to garden centres saw sales reach 50% over budget expectations. There is now a new Christmas range, with 90 designs including wreaths.
Highly commended
Porters Fuchsias
Finalist
Topbuxus Growing Solutions
SEE ALL GARDEN RETAIL AWARDS 2017 WINNERS
