Garden centre branches out for success

Showing extreme positivity and branching out from the norm has seen Palmers Browns Bay win the Speak First Committed Optimist Award at the 2009 Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards.

The Award, new in 2009, saw Palmers Browns Bay selected from all 36 category finalists after judges were captivated by the optimism in their entry. The judging panel are impressed with the way the Palmers Browns Bay team inject fresh innovation and energy into a conventional business and how this entrepreneurial creativity flows out into the community.

Palmers Browns Bay is a franchised retail business specialising in plants and garden products. To compliment the core business they have also established two gardening programmes.

An Allotments project sees the company work alongside the Salvation Army in a practical workshop teaching sustainable vegetable gardening to families.

Ten families have already been through the allotments project and according to director Roger Butt, Palmers Browns Bay is teaching gardening skills while also building up to being sustainable. Fruit trees have been planted on the allotment perimeter and there is a compost and worm farm system.

“There can be no greater gift than to provide fresh vegetables for your family from your own sustainable garden,” says Roger Butt.

A second project - Gardenscapes - brings landscaping to life within the centre to show customers a three dimensional ‘living picture’ of their gardening design so they can visualise the finished product before they replicate it at home. Customers can then buy the plants and accessories directly from Palmers.

In congratulating Palmers Browns Bay for their award win, Enterprise North Shore chief executive Terry Hoskins says he believes that optimism is a pivotal focus for enterprises.

“Palmers is living proof that embracing optimism and adopting positive attitudes can help a business, particularly during tough economic times. Their gardening projects have been a hugely positive addition to their business and have also assisted the community.”

See all 2009 Award winners

For more information contact:

Ainslie Stevenson

Communications Administrator

Enterprise North Shore

Ph: (09) 414-1343; Mob: (027) 500 8592

E-mail: comms@ens.org.nz