anyone had any luck at B&Q

[jimbo]

I had some great bargains today in B+q Altrincham got around £40 of plants for £4.55
a Phoenix canariensis_CIDP nothing wrong with it apart from a cracked pot £1
2 lavender that had flopped looking good as new with a good soak £1
a tray of 8 new guinea impatiens 1 missing 1 dead 50p
delphiniums 50p each and a few other £3 plants for 10p

trafford centre B+Q isn't half as good for discounts

[GoggleboxUK]

That's the big problem with DIY sheds. The managers get intensive courses on each of the sections when they start work there but the staff tend to be made up predominantly of casuals, students or pensioners doing only a few hours a week.

The full time staff seem to be pushed into section managing regardless of their interests or abilities. Females get housewares, blokes get timber and building supplies because of the heavy lifting involved.

Trying to find a garden centre mamnager willing to work for the wages they pay is like trying to push butter up a porcupine's 'arris with a red hot needle. Anyone with horticultural experience knows full well there are easier ways to make a living.

When I managed a Do It All I managed to get Head Office to agree a Garden Centre Manager salary and hired a guy on the same wage as the Deputy Manager. He ran the section single handedly, placed ordders for plants seperately to the rest of the stores and more than quadrupled section takings inside 6 months. There was never any dead plants to skip and we were often able toincrease plant prices as unsold stuff was repotted and grew bigger.

With an average 300% markup on everything it amazed me why the whole chain didn't follow suit.