WEBBS GARDEN CENTRES LTD
Nursery Manager
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Webbs is an award winning Midlands based Garden Centre retailer with a 200 year old history, 3 sites and a growing ecommerce business. Our main site at Wychbold is a 100,000sq ft freehold retail destination just off Junction 5, M5, attracting over a million visitors a year. The site is a premium department store style retail operation with best of breed concessions, 6 acres of display gardens and our own 400 seat restaurant. Our recently renovated Foodhall & inhouse Butchery received Best UK Foodhall in the 2018 Farmshop & Deli Awards. Webbs is a Great Place to Work ™ certified Employer who has won Best UK Medium Workplace, Best UK Workplace for Women and Excellence In Wellbeing Awards. Our second site is a buzzing recently refurbished suburban garden centre in West Hagley with a 150 seat cafe. We acquired our third site in Cheltenham in September 2019 following the break up of the Wyevale group. Webbs are 25% shareholders in the Bransford Webbs Plant Company which grows over 5 million garden plants a year in the foothills of the Malverns. We also grow a range of environmentally sustainable plants for own retail & ecommerce in peat free compost from our production nursery at Wychbold. We are about to install enough renewable energy to power 95% of our total energy requirements for our whole Wychbold site & are committed to developing a green eco corridor through the site with the planting and maintenance of woodlands, arbore tums and display gardens.
Webbs is 100% family owned. Our customers choose us because we champion quality and style for inside and outside their homes. We hand pick exceptional products and showcase them with our trademark creative style. We create unforgettable customer experiences with our expertise. A visit to Webbs is full of personality and thoughtful service. We make customers’ lives enjoyable from the minute they arrive and we welcome the whole family like no one else does.
OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:
Reporting to the Executive Chairman this role will ensure the newly established nursery at our Wychbold site, produces environmentally sustainable garden centre quality plants that will drive not only sales but also horticultural credibility across our award winning stores and our ecommerce website. Growing of wide range of crops from premium seasonal bedding to perennials and shrubs.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Growing Top Quality Nursery Stock
•Line management of growing, despatch and potting teams ensuring right resource is in the right place to meet seasonal requirements and to budget
•Procurement of production materials to meet forecast potting of young plants such as peat free compost, recyclable plant pots and feeds & crop protection materials
•Overseeing deliveries of young plant material and ensuring deliveries are quality controlled and paperwork in order, passing any anomalies on to Asst Plant Buyer
•Overseeing weekly programme of plant maintenance in place at all times to ensure preventative crop protection & crop management in place for best quality plants for garden centre market at their seasonal peak
•Commitment to environmentally sustainable growing practices such as use of peat free compost, integrated pest management & sustainable water use
•Leading weekly crop walks for Asst Plant Buyer & Plant Category Manager
•To innovative and collaborative with Plant Buying Teams when looking at new crop opportunities
Developing People, Site & Systems for stock quality & efficiency gain
•Working with Head of HR in developing annual people plan to ensure training in most current crop management practice & lean process
•Recruiting team colleagues as required to meet seasonal peaks and conducting performance reviews and disciplinaries as required
•Working with Asst Plant Buyer to ensure stock control systems are kept up to date including quarterly stock takes
•Ensuring growing structures & irrigation systems are maintained to ensure best growing environments
•Work with Exec Chairman on site design & technology investment to ensure maximum efficiency & lean practice
Ensuring a safe working environment for colleagues at all times
•Work with Head of Estates to ensure all areas of Nursery Operations remain a safe place to work & that department health & safety responsibilities are adhered to at all times
•Regularly update Southalls Health & Safety programme with required training, risk assessments, & accident information
•Ensure all production machinery and vehicles are maintained to a high standard with regular service patterns
PERSON SPECIFICATION
•Good experience of growing a wide range of quality garden centre standard stock from bedding to hardy nursery stock
•IT literate in Office & strong working knowledge of excel a must. Tech savvy a major plus.
•Strong leadership skills with the capacity to listen and respond and proven management experience
•Strong coaching skills. You must be able to give feedback to ensure common ways of working.
•Good working knowledge of irrigation & sand filter systems, modern potting machines & an up to date spray licence
•Commitment to working sustainably and within Webbs Environmental values
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.
JOB DETAILS
•Location: Wychbold Onsite Nursery, WR9 0DG
•Flexible working options – peak seasonal hours with some weekend working & reduced off season hours
•Standard working week 39.5 hours
•25% Colleague discount on most categories from plants, gardening, furniture, clothing & food. 50% Colleague discount in our restaurants
•Holiday Entitlement 33 days inclusive of bank holidays
•Generous Pension & Healthcare schemes
•Salary range £28 - 35K DOE with discretionary company profit share at financial year end
If you have the required skills and experience and are interested in applying for this position, please click on the 'Apply Now' button.
***Overseas applicants - This job is not sponsored, so please do not apply unless you have the legal right to live and work in the UK and can commute to Droitwich, Worcs ***
