gardening was among the few high - achieving industries for the UK economic system last year and aims to grow in 2022 , but HTA member warn that an increase cost base risks countermine the progress made
2021 sales figures were strong despite economic and other challengesData from horticulture ’s leading trade association show that 2021 was another incredibly strong class for garden center retailers despite the two-fold impact of post - Brexit trade restrictions and the pandemic .
The Horticultural Trades Association ’s ( HTA ) latest Market Update report demo that whilst many sectors have learn profits damaged after business wrestled with a host of challenges and negative effects , horticultural businesses were one of a handful of success report for the UK saving in 2021 .
Despite a host of Covid limitation , total garden center sales for the year were up 23 percent from 2020 and up 36 pct from 2019 . Within this , garden / gardening sales were up 32 per centum in 2020 and up 65 percent in 2019 . This is potential due to the increase demand for garden product , with HTA research read that pandemic gardeners loosely stayed operate in their fresh pursuit . Garden center supply gross revenue for the twelvemonth did however decline by 59 per centum from 2019 as restriction on hospitality get a line them unable to lock their catering services at full electrical capacity . Still , with nearly 60 pct of masses in the UK having had their booster thrusting as of 6 April 2025 , member are hoping that consumer will return to restaurants and coffeehouse in great numbers in the year ahead .
Consumers faced fiscal nisus and potential wellness risksWhen weigh against the backdrop of the increase fiscal strain face up by consumers last year , these cut-rate sale figures are telling . Consumer financial self-assurance stay comparatively downcast in 2021 though considerably higher than in March 2020 and succeed the 2008 fiscal crisis ; decreasing by only one point in December 2021 despite the looming scourge of platter - high inflation , fuel Mary Leontyne Price increase , and general living disbursement rising .
In the last month of 2021 , Christmas family sales in garden centers were strong , up 33 pct in December 2020 and up 17 percent on 2019 . Catering sales for the month of December were up 54 percent from December 2020 , when lockdown restricted indoor dining , but down 41 percent from December 2019 , pre - pandemic . This is probable because of business organisation about the spread of the Omicron variant in the lead - up to Christmas .
Fear of increase ordinance and restriction in 2022 could stifle growth plansLooking at the year onwards , it seems there is a temper of cautious optimism . HTA member research shows that growers and retailers are committed to endue in their businesses ( 49 percent plan to invest in fresh base , building , and quickness in 2022 ) , but they remain implicated that surplus cost burdens and regulating could muffle this ambitiousness . As our quarterly Member Voice tracking show , the convinced patronage outlook steadily declined quartern on quarter throughout 2021 . With post - Brexit costs consociate with importing plants increasing by between £ 25 m and £ 50 m last class , the cost of merchant vessels containers doubling over 2021 , along with eminent pretentiousness , increasing remuneration costs , and labor shortages coming through in 2022 it is likely to be a challenging twelvemonth of business organisation pressures . Around one in twenty role at garden centers and cosmetic grower firms are unfilled , think of recruitment and retention will be a cardinal constituent in 2022 for how well members grow their businesses .
David Denny , Futures and Sustainability Manager at the HTA , said : “ Last twelvemonth was a potent one for gardening . involvement in gardening that exploded in 2020 during the lockdown was , mostly , sustained through 2021 . Looking to 2022 , retain higher costs for spell and export plant is a specific administration - initiated burden on our industry , as well similar headwinds to those face the wider UK economic system , be that pretentiousness of costs and contender for labor and acquisition . Despite this , our fellow member businesses continue to lead the UK ’s greenish recuperation and are investing in succeeding growth . "
In June 2020 , HTA ’s consumer tracker survey uncover that 64 % of British adults said they used their gardens for growing plants , trees or flowers ; an growth from 57 % in June 2019 . Taking the British universe sizing of 52.6 million adults and the balance of these people with access to a garden or out-of-door space ( 83 % ) , this 6.71 % change was tantamount to an supererogatory 2.9 million people garden . When the survey was echo in August 2021 , the ratio of British adults growing plants , tree diagram or flowers fell to 62 % , equivalent to just about 670,000 few hoi polloi gardening than in 2020 ; though still 2.3 million more than 2019 .
For more informationHorticultural Trades Associationwww.the-hta.org.uk
