JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Plant Area Manager
Reports To: Garden Centre Manager
Hours: Full time
Salary: Competitive, Dependent on experience
To Manage and maintain the extensive plant sales department, to achieve sales and profit targets and offering a high-quality customer experience by motivating the plant sales team to maximize all sales opportunities and inspiring them to offer the highest standards of customer service.
General Purpose:
With an obvious passion and knowledge for plants, you will enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, be highly motivated, commercially aware and able to create inspirational displays to tempt customers and showcase a changing seasonal offering. With excellent presentation standards, you will be able to illustrate the need for careful watering and plant husbandry, and the impact this has on maintaining plant displays in a retail environment.
Working outdoors in all weather, you will have past horticultural experience, preferably in a comparable role in a garden retail business and enjoy sharing your knowledge and passion for plants and gardens to advise our customers on their plant choices and other garden related questions.
Competent in the use of IT, you will manage the plant area EPOS data, including management of special offers, to ensure the smooth operation of plant sales through the tills.
While garden retail experience is preferred, consideration will be given to exceptional individuals who are able to illustrate in depth horticultural and retail experience.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
- Financial management of the plant are income and expenditure budgets, analysing weekly sales performance, wastage and invoices.
- Responsible for the ordering of products as per seasonal requirements, in line with sales targets, seasonal trends and footfall to anticipate demand, and ensure effective maintenance of plant displays without excessive wastage.
- Responsible for merchandising to maximise sales opportunities, creating colourful seasonal display, promoting stock that customers will wish to buy at different times of year, and developing a program of effective offers to encourage customers to increase spend.
- Production of Point-of-sale material in line with the Aylings Brand and house style.
- Responsible for stock management within the plant area. To include monitoring wastage and discounting to achieve maximum profit, including regular stock taking and management to ensure that the EPOS system is accurate.
- Manage the plant area team, seasonal and weekend staff as required, and identify and coordinate staff development in conjunction with the Garden Centre Manager.
- Lead and always promote the highest standards of customer care and service.
- Create and maintain a safe working environment for staff and customers and visitors to site ensuring the compliance with Aylings Health and Safety Policy.
- Conduct regular reviews and appraisals of all staff and develop effective developmental plans with individuals as required.
- Working as part of the wider team and carrying out duty manager responsibilities
Person Specification – Plant Area Manager
| Essential | Desirable | |
| Qualifications | Degree in Horticulture, or similar, or RHS level3 / HND Horticulture, along with extensive experience in gardening & retail. | |
| Experience | Minimum 2 years working in a similar garden retail role.Experience of plant care, gardening, and retailExperience of staff Management.Customer serviceTeamwork | Previous experience as Plant Area Manager / Supervisor.Experience of EPOS management |
| Knowledge | Extensive Knowledge of Plants & GardeningKnowledge of retail plant sales, watering, and Husbandry | |
| Skills | Able to work as part of a team, following instructions as directedAble to show initiative and be self-motivatedAble to work quickly and to tight timescalesAbility to be flexible and to adapt to changing and challenging circumstancesAble to communicate effectively verbally with a range of people |