Garden Centre Manager

MorePeople; Wales; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

MorePeople is seeking a Garden Centre Manager for a recently acquired independent garden centre in Bridgend. You will drive commercial performance, manage a team of around 12, and shape the centre during its redevelopment into a premium garden and lifestyle destination.

You will oversee merchandising, horticulture-based offers and a premium homeware/lifestyle proposition with autonomy to influence direction and ongoing growth.

Qualifications

• Experience managing a garden centre or garden retail management.
• Strong commercial awareness with focus on sales and profitability.
• High standards in merchandising, presentation and customer experience.

Responsibilities

• Taking overall responsibility for commercial and operational performance of the garden centre.
• Leading, motivating and developing the existing team.
• Driving sales, margin and overall retail performance.
• Raising standards across merchandising, presentation and customer experience.
• Working with the owner during redevelopment and transition to life the long-term vision.
• Ensuring the horticultural offer remains strong and well presented.
• Developing premium homeware and lifestyle proposition.
• Managing staffing, rotas, recruitment and performance.
• Building the management structure required as the centre develops.

Skills

Leadership

Commercial awareness

Merchandising

Customer experience

Horticulture understanding

People management

Retail operations

Job description

Salary: Flexible DOE

A recently acquired independent garden centre in Bridgend is entering an exciting new chapter, with significant investment planned to transform the site into a premium garden and lifestyle destination.

This isn't about simply taking over an established operation and keeping things ticking over. The business is investing heavily in the centre and is looking for a Garden Centre Manager who can help shape what it becomes, build on the existing customer base and raise standards across the site.

The long term vision is a high quality garden centre combining strong horticulture with premium homeware, lifestyle ranges and an excellent retail environment.

The Role

As Garden Centre Manager, you'll take responsibility for the overall performance of the site, initially working closely with the owner as the centre goes through its redevelopment and transition.

You'll inherit an established team of around 12 employees and will have the opportunity to develop the structure around you as the business grows.

Key responsibilities include:

• Taking overall responsibility for the commercial and operational performance of the garden centre.
• Leading, motivating and developing the existing team.
• Driving sales, margin and overall retail performance.
• Raising standards across merchandising, presentation and customer experience.
• Working closely with the owner throughout the redevelopment and helping bring the long term vision for the centre to life.
• Ensuring the horticultural offer remains commercially strong and well presented.
• Helping develop the centre's premium homeware and lifestyle proposition.
• Managing staffing, rotas, recruitment and performance.
• Building the management structure required as the centre develops.

What they're looking for:

• Ideally, you'll already be managing a garden centre or have held significant management responsibility within garden retail.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to understand what drives sales and profitability.
• A good understanding of garden centre retail and the importance of horticulture within the wider offer.
• High standards around merchandising, presentation and customer experience.
• Someone comfortable working within an entrepreneurial, growing business rather than a heavily structured corporate environment.
• A manager who wants genuine ownership and the opportunity to influence how a garden centre develops.
• This is an unusual opportunity to join a garden centre right at the beginning of a significant transformation.
• You'll have substantial support and investment behind you, but also the autonomy to make a genuine impact on the direction of the site. The wider business has ambitions to continue growing, so for the right person there could be significant longer term progression as the estate develops.