UK garden centre group reveals fabulous festive statistics
One hundred miles of wrapping paper and 15,000 Christmas crackers are just two of the statistics British Garden Centres has on hand for this festive season – along with 581,750 baubles and 13,500 pigs in blankets!
The UK’s largest family-owned garden centre group, now with 62 outlets across the country, BGC has been looking at the various seasonal staples as the countdown to Christmas gets underway, as pr team member Cassie King explained.
On the Christmas tree front, the company has over 25,200 artificial versions ready for sale, while cut trees are the most popular with an astonishing 29,925 ordered and sold in the run-up to the holidays.
The most favoured is the Nordmann Fir, grown in Ireland by Emerald Trees, and supplier pot-grown trees the Norway and Blue Spruce keep things on the smaller slide with 3,559 households taking one home – and 16,872 poinsettias will also be sold, all grown by BGC in Essex.
There will be plenty of eating, drinking and being merry in BGC’s Gardener’s Retreat restaurants where owners the Stubbs family estimate 15,000 diners will book in, pulling the same number of Christmas crackers, consuming 13,500 pigs in blankets, and enjoying 10,500 portions of festive pud with lashings of custard.
And the centres have various decoration themes on offer, with 35million energy-efficient LED lights in store, equivalent to 1,325,240 metres of lit length, or 823 miles which is just more than the road distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats – you can watch how BGS’ Brigg garden centre is transformed into a winter wonderland in the video below.
BGS’s Christmas stores are also bursting with baubles with 581,750 on the shelves, along with 65,785 garlands to adorn bannisters and doorways plus 32,825 wreaths for a warm and traditional welcome to your front door – and 14,893 gonks are also expected to find new homes for 25 December.
Cassie added: “You can be sure we have Christmas all wrapped up as our shoppers will use 158,026 metres, or nearly 100 miles of wrapping paper to dress up their gifts and presents.”
Top: Beautiful baubles at BGS’ Tring centre – some of the 581,750 it has on sale
