The brand new Creating Landscapes Trade Show will be the final event to launch into what some might think is fast becoming a fairly compacted space.
But whilst there have been two other landscape shows (re)launched this year, Creating Landscapes doesn't fit the mould of anything that's previously been done before.
Sure there are exhibitors and there are visitors but that's where any similarity ends because what we are trying to do, and it's always been my motivation, is to bring some reality to a trade exhibition.
Diversification the key to survival
I can assure you that the last thing on a landscaper or gardener's mind on an icy snowy day in midwinter is a piano bar and champagne...or a playground for the local council park for that matter.
For the small business owner - I would say the average number of staff for a landscaping or gardening firm is 1-6 employees - it is very difficult to fill a working year with very profitable projects, so most, if not all, will have to adapt and diversify to survive.
Despite TV portraying landscaping and horticulture in a rose-tinted manner where the buying public might perceive that all garden designers and landscapers are wealthy and all have a part-time media career, the reality on the ground is all so different.
The last two winters have seen the near destruction of many of our small landscaping businesses within our industry - some did not survive - and I'm very close to many of the practitioners who have endured real hardships. I'm talking to the men and women, on a daily basis, who've had to juggle a loss in income whilst still trying to retain key staff during increasingly difficult times.
Not only did the snow and ice bring chaos and an abrupt halt to earnings, higher fuel costs, increases in VAT, an extra bank holiday and host of other business challenges have brought a new reality to the landscape and horticulture industry.
It's not just the practitioner/end-user who's suffering either. If a landscaper or gardener cannot earn then they cannot afford to buy new or replace old machinery or equipment.
That's why the Creating Landscapes Trade Show's approach is unique. For one it's being organised by a lifelong landscaper and gardener, for landscapers and gardeners.
I've experienced all of the challenges and emotions that the business and natural environment can throw at you. I've seen a minus sign next to my business account balance during hard times with staff wages to pay and my own family to support and mortgage to pay.
Creating Landscapes, through its unique media arm Landscape Juice, has helped and will continue to help businesses and suppliers. That's why, with our unique approach we've thought outside the box by inviting companies who can help businesses to reduce their business fuel costs; that's why we've invited an accountancy firm who can help landscapers understand how to to best take advantage of the tax system or where to focus on reducing costs.
I've spoken long and often to machinery companies who've become frustrated with the exhibition scene who've been encouraged and feel refreshed by the Creating Landscapes' approach, helping them connect their products with the people who have a need.
Our machinery exhibitors, for example, are all companies who are providing tools and equipment that the landscaper or gardener needs to get the job done - there's not a swing or roundabout in site.
Taking last year's winter snow problem for example. Only yesterday, because of my knowledge of how the disruption caused major problems in the industry, I spoke with a machinery company who sells snow clearing equipment, about coming to the show.
A silver painted pot with plastic flowers might look good but a snow plough in January is so much more useful to a landscaper.
We're also planning - an industry first - to have live video feed so visitors can watch the build-up at the Capel Manor show ground and we also have planned 'walking seminars' (another industry first) where visitors can join an industry host on a tour of the landscaped gardens, talking about different subjects within gardening and landscaping.
The Creating Landscapes Trade Show takes place on the 25-26 October 2011 at Capel Manor College, Enfield.
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