UK garden centers experienced a meaning surge in activity and sales in April , driven by exceptionally warm and dry spring weather condition , which created solid consumer demand as people returned to their gardens . The latest data from the Horticultural Trades Association ( HTA ) May Market Update and Q1 2025 Business Barometer expose a robust starting time to the year for the environmental horticulture sector as a whole .
The positive course is further plump for by the HTA ’s Q1 2025 Business Barometer , which plow the catamenia up to the ending of March , get persuasion and carrying out across all HTA and Association of Professional Landscapers ( APL ) members , let in retailer , growers , landscapers , and manufacturers . Across the rank , business organisation report being an average of +3.9 % ahead of their sale budgets for Q1 , with 68 % meeting or outgo lucre targets by the end of March . Short - terminal figure clientele confidence ( looking in the lead 3 calendar month ) has reached its high layer since summertime 2021 . However , this optimism number with carefulness , as the strong sales performance is crucial to claw back some of the significant cost pressure members are now front with April employment cost rises , and positive numbers need to be suffer over a more extended time period to be considered a movement .
Fran Barnes , Chief Executive of the HTA , commented : " April was an supporting month for our sector , understandably demonstrating the impact of favorable weather on consumer behavior and sales . Building on the impulse from March , the combination of record sunniness and calm atmospheric condition brought customer out in declamatory bit , straightaway translating into impressive performance , particularly in core gardening areas . customer were clearly spending more per sojourn , with medium transaction economic value notably higher than this time last year , indicate strong engagement and large basket sizes . For many businesses , this plus start is providing a of the essence springboard for the year in the lead .
" Our Q1 Barometer across the entire industry also shows members ahead of budget on ordinary . Short - term business confidence is presently at a nearly four - year high , reflecting the strong trading conditions experienced in the early part of the yr . While this racy performance is tremendously welcome and indicate underlying sphere wellness , caveat remains in the retentive term . We are mindful of ongoing cost pressure , economic dubiousness , and the grow risk of drought if wry weather patterns persist , especially given the significantly dispirited rainfall levels seen in April compared to last year . Consumer sureness also see a far-famed dip , reflecting across-the-board cautious fiscal mindset .
" This is a polar time for UK horticulture . As we await forward to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show , just days out , and with the sun shine , this is all determine in the context of increase cost and ongoing border bedlam . The HTA bear on to highlight the sector ’s critical contribution to policymakers and the public . Our industry is not only essential for green our environment – it ’s also driving local job , economic growth , delivering green substructure , and supporting the UK ’s climate ambitions . "
reckon closer at the April Market Update data , top - performing horticulture class include BBQs ( +70 % ) , bedding plants ( +47 % ) , garden tool ( +32 % ) , and article of furniture ( +27 % ) . Other impregnable performers , such as hardy plants , shrubs , and trees ( +26 % ) , plant care product ( +28 % ) , and outdoor container ( +24 % ) , play up the demand in core gardening category . Non - gardening categories also regard unwavering growing , with food and farm store sales up by +21 % , gifting by +12 % , and indoor living by +8 % . home rainfall was just 40.4 mm in April , less than half of the April 2024 degree ( 111.4 mm ) , lift concerns about summer piss restrictions . Consumer confidence fell by 4 points in April to -23 , with outlooks on the oecumenical thriftiness specially conservative at -37 .
Insights from the Q1 Business Barometer disclose variation within the sector . Retailers without catering facilities significantly outgo those with catering , bear witness an modal sales increase of +10.6 % compared to budget , versus +7.3 % for provide retail merchant . This is largely owe to the strong horticulture sales in March 2025 . Although catering continues to do well on its own , horticulture family outpace catering ’s maturation , and garden center catering also typically has increased overhead costs , further reflecting the difference in gross profit .
However , APL members ( landscapers ) average slightly behind budget at -2.5 % for sales and -2.9 % for last profit . Long - term business confidence ( looking ahead 12 month ) stay on cautious across the sphere , gain its lowest level since record began in Q1 2015 for landscapers . cardinal headache reported by business included rising operating costs , uncertainty in client demand , changes to use practice of law , consumer expenditure major power on big - tag projects , and the impact of Autumn Budget 2024 insurance policy change coming into force .
For more information : Horticultural Trades Association[email protected]www.hta.org.uk
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