Our August BoT figures are out!
August’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) is out today (September 22, 2025) and it reveals nearly all our categories performed well – with bulb sales getting off to a strong start as we head towards the autumn season.
Gifts leading the way
Eleven of the 13 categories recorded by our member garden centres were reported as being positive, when compared to 2024, with gifts leading the way at +10.1%.
Kickstart the autumn
Our CEO, Peter Burks, says: “We’ve a very encouraging set of sales figures for August after a slight lull in the hot summer months. Bulb sales have started very strongly, which has helped to kickstart the autumn gardening season nicely.
Appeal of the modern garden centre
“Once again, it’s great to see almost all the categories performing very well, which demonstrates the wide appeal of the modern garden centre offer. Early feedback from September suggests this gardening trend is continuing too. The percentage variance on last year was also very positive at +6.71%.”
Catering & co
Catering sales came second in August, when compared to the same month in 2024, and were up at +9.16%, followed by seeds & bulbs at +9.25%. Clothing at +8.63% came next and then furniture & BBQs at +7.86%.
The food hall/farm shop category recorded an uptick of +7.17%, with houseplants in seventh place at +4.88% and then garden sundries at +4.76%.
Tail end categories
Holding its own, in ninth, is the outdoor plants category at +4.63%, followed by Christmas +4.24% and pets & aquatics, also up, by +3.91%.
The two categories from the 13 that recorded negative results were miscellaneous at -4.45% and hard landscaping at -6.39%.