Outside Spaces and How to Make the Most of Them

Outside spaces at the workplace can often be forgotten about, but we’re looking to change that.  An outside space can be a place for relaxation, re-energising, and creativity.  We strive to encourage more businesses to incorporate popular biophilic trends by blurring the lines between indoors and out – and we love to discuss the benefits of doing so.

Here, you can learn about some of the best ways to use your outdoors spaces, as well as how to bring a piece of the outdoors into your establishment with indoor office plants.

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Flexible Meeting Spaces

If you’re working in close proximity to a park or garden, using this space to hold meetings could prove to be great for morale – especially during warm weather.  Of course, we wouldn’t recommend hosting any meetings that will include information that is confidential to your clients, but taking a break from the office to discuss internal changes, processes or brainstorming will maintain efficiency with time, and may even help your workers to stay productive later into the working day.

 

Informal Lunch Area

Many offices have difficulty keeping their indoor air quality at healthy levels, so encouraging staff to take a break in the outdoors can improve  health and concentration. Particle pollution is known to poorly affect physical and mental health, and indoor spaces are typically ten times worse for this pollution than outdoors. Taking a break from particle pollution can do wonders for the help and headspace of your staff, so if it’s a nice day – why not suggest a picnic? Ideally, if you do have some viable outdoor space at your office, providing table and chairs to create an alfresco area which can be used for eating, taking a coffee break or having an informal meeting is an excellent idea.

Deckchairs indoors

Breakout!

Help to boost health and wellbeing, by turning your outdoor space into a useable attractive area for a quick spell outside for formalised lunchtimes. When under duress a break outside can help staff to reset and return with a fresh can-do attitude, whether they’ve just struggled with an intense call with a client or business partner, or a busy morning with back-to-back activity. Plants and nature have plenty of restorative qualities. Your business could easily be enjoying these benefits with minimal cost.  The added benefit of topping up vitamin D levels in the sunshine and taking in the view of green plants will also help to improve immune systems to work optimally and keep your workforce healthier and happier.

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Bringing the Outdoors IN

In many cases, a green attractive outdoor space may not be within a lunchtime walking distance of the office.  And you may not be lucky enough to have accessible outdoor space of your own.  In this case, you may be looking to bring aspects of the outdoors into your workspace so that staff and guests can still reap some of the benefits of natural elements and plants.

Looking around your office, you may find some areas that can easily be converted into a green space. Think about you dining area, or communal areas such as locker tops, or break out rooms.  Here are some popular methods that modern businesses use to bring biophilic benefits into their place of work:

Entrances

Often overlooked but integral to the first impressions of your business, the entrance can be a fabulous place to start adding some greenery.  Not only important for your guests, a green entrance will suggest positivity to your workers as they enter and leave your establishment.

Breakout plants

There are a number of methods for increasing your kerb-appeal, including window boxes and external green walls, but you might also choose to add an internal moss wall to your lobby area, large and unique planting options by the door, and table posies in waiting areas.

If you’re interested about installing a moss wall or green living wall for your business, we recommend reading our blogs on this topic:

Can I have a Living Wall?

It’s Alive! Buildings with Living Walls

Moss Walls: Q & A

 

Roof

Green roofing is a brilliant idea – looking out for your office window, a green roof nearby brings brilliant rural landscapes a little closer to city-orientated businesses. Our brains respond very positively to colour, and views to nature so the sight of a verdant green roof could prove to be quite inspiring, boosting productivity and creativity.

There may be a group near you that you can help to get involved with green initiatives. A BID (Business Improvement District) will typically group neighbouring businesses in an effort to improve their local working area together, and sometimes, this might include making their views greener by collaboratively installing green roofs.

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Balcony and Terraces

Balconies and terraces can be a great place for workers to enjoy a brief respite in the fresh air, but you can bring nature even closer by installing some beautiful window boxes or planters to add to the relaxing vibe and make them visually beautiful.

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Could your business be making more of outside spaces, or is it more feasible for you to create some green spaces inside your own office area?  We love all things biophilic and can help you with any green design queries that you might have, so speak to one of our friendly team about your ideas soon.


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Women in Facilities Management – Planteria’s Plant Technicians

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International Women’s Day is annually held on March 8 to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. So how is our industry doing in terms of inclusion of women? Planteria has been in operation for over 40 years, and our first female technician joined the workforce in 2013. Women now make up 33% of the technician workforce. I caught up with three of our plant technicians Catie Scott, Carol Nelson and Laura Kearsey to hear their views and insights on working in the Facilities Management and Horticultural industry, to find out what changes they have seen over the past few years and what they think about their role.

Carol has been working in the horticultural industry since 1992 and has been a technician for almost 20 years. What she most enjoys about her job is the freedom and the travel “ I love the freedom and responsibility, it’s my job to keep the customer happy and get the best out of the plant displays. I feel supported and encouraged by Planteria, it makes me want to do my best. I feel a valued member of the team and I’m proud to work with a company with such honesty and integrity “ says Carol. “My training has been gained on the job and through experience”. Carol has worked for several planting companies and in her experience has found more women in this industry than men. She has found that men have tended to do more of the large-scale jobs for example shopping centres, ladder work, fixtures and trees. But, she has been instrumental in changing this, involving more women in doing the outside work including fixture beds and training on tree loppers etc.

Laura Kearsey started working as a technician 15 years ago in a garden centre and training was on the job shadowing watching and wanting to know more. In her opinion, she has found that men and women have been always treated equally working in this field. She has faced no barriers to her role from being female the only comment is that the uniform manufacturer should make a female uniform cut.

Laura says “I think women are expected to do a more hands-on role now, so the future can only get better for us all. What I like most about my job is that happy feeling I get at the end of each day, knowing I’ve made a difference to the environment for hundreds of office workers, even though most probably don’t realise how important plants are to them. Each day is different, meeting new people and visiting different sites, variety is the key”.

Catie Scott joined Planteria six months ago. She started her career in horticulture three years ago at a large independent garden centre. Catie has a BA degree in Fine Art and Sculpture and went on to complete a professional floristry course in New York, her passion for plants and flowers has grown since then. Catie says “I have experienced some clients commenting on the fact that I am a woman as they are so used to seeing men doing this job. I don’t think I have faced any barriers in this role because of my gender, I am a confident person and feel strongly about gender equality not just in this job but in life general, so I tend to carry myself with strength. I have had occasional varying comments, and looks which I have struck off, it’s not an issue which I take seriously enough to worry about. I think times are changing and equality between men and women is becoming more and more important, so I can only see things improving in regard to that. What I like most about my job is a sense of empowerment and responsibility. I love being in charge of my own sites and dealing with clients directly. The level of knowledge I have about plants is a huge plus for me in terms of that sense of responsibility, as I am confident to speak with people about what I am doing for their sites and why. I also love to be out and about, every day is different and that definitely keep things interesting for me”.

By Katie Le Chevalier

With thanks to Carol Nelson, Laura Kersey and Catie Scott.


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Planteria Group Growing Staff

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Introducing two of our newest employees at Planteria Group: Bronwyn Anderson and Casey Gill.

Please join us in welcoming them to our growing team! To get to know Bronwyn and Casey a bit better, we asked a few questions and we’ve included their answers below.

 

Bronwyn Anderson:

Bronwyn’s role at Planteria Group is Executive Assistant and she joined our team in March 2017.

Q: What is your home town?

A: Buckhurst Hill

 

Q: What are 3 things people might not know about you?

A: 1) I wear Versace perfume

2) I love playing volleyball!

3) Worst food: peas!

 

Q: What is your favourite plant?

A: Ficus Ginseng

 

Q: What are your favourite flowers?

A: Hydrangeas

 

Q: What is your favourite thing so far about working at Planteria Group?

A: There is a good work ethic and culture!

 

Casey Gill:

Casey has also been with Planteria Group since March 2017 in her role as Social Media Coordinator.

Q: What is your home town?

A: Houston, Texas

 

Q: What are 3 things people might not know about you?

A: 1) I’ve lived in 3 different countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

2) I’m a certified yoga teacher and run a small yoga studio nearby.

3) Favourite colour: green! How fitting!

 

Q: What is your favourite plant?

A: Anything to do with succulents! I love all different types of succulents for their unique shapes and easy-care.

 

Q: What are your favourite flowers?

A: Lilies – particularly Stagazer Lilies for their gorgeous colour and powerful fragrance.

 

Q: What is your favourite thing so far about working at Planteria Group?

A: Everyone is so friendly and there is a great atmosphere in the office, it’s also a pleasure being surrounded by so much greenery!

 

Thanks Bronwyn and Casey! Welcome to our family.

Our team is growing like a Kentia Palm (aka: Big Ken) and we are proud of our core values.  If you are interested in a career with Planteria Group, please see our job openings and apply within.


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Bee Aware

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Bees have been getting quite a lot of ‘air-time’ of late, but for all the wrong reasons. They are in danger.

 

Bee populations are declining

Since 2010, there has been a 45% decline in the number of commercial honey bees. Pesticides play a large part, but agricultural techniques have changed too over the decades, with an emphasis on increasing productivity which has meant a loss of the bees’ natural habitat as wildflowers have disappeared from our countryside. It has been estimated that we have lost 97% of our flower-rich grassland since the 1930s.

Just why is this so important?
Bees are the world’s most important pollinator of food crops. It’s estimated that one third of the food we consume each day relies on pollination, mainly by bees. These crops include, vegetables, rapeseed and sunflowers as well as cocoa beans, tea and coffee. Crops used to feed livestock also rely on that same pollination.

It’s not just food crops that the bees play a huge part in, cotton crops rely on bee pollination too. The annual global cotton crop is estimated to be worth $170bn.

 

So what can we do about it?

On an individual level you can include bee friendly planting into your own garden, balcony or window boxes. In the UK alone, domestic gardens cover over one million acres.

  • Think about adding bee boxes for them to nest.
  • Bees love flowering plants which are rich in pollen and nectar.
  • Lavender is an easy to care for option that bees love.
  • Avoid using pesticides, especially ‘bug killing’ sprays.

Wildflowers are important for bees, so why not allow a space in your garden to let things run a little wild, and encourage bees and other insects for flourish?

At Planteria we use flowering bedding plants for our client’s outside spaces, and we are fans of including lavender for its attractive colour and fragrance as well as its bee-friendly factor. We also grow sedum for green roofs, the bee’s just can’t resist it, so it makes a perfect green roof for city locations which are so often lacking in natural bee habitats.

Go to http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/why-bees-need-help/ for more information and to find out what else you can do.


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Core Values Demonstrated with a Smile

Smart New Uniforms Bring a Smile

At Planteria Group we are proud of our core values and our big smiles which drive our approach to providing you with reliable quality service and the most stunning planting & floristry services you’ll find in the UK. We believe that with great values comes great service.

As a family-run business for the past 40 years we hold our values close to our hearts, and believe that this is one (very important) thing that makes us stand above other companies out there. Our values embody our personality and our dedication to service whilst shaping every aspect of our business to ensure we always give our best.

 

Outlined below are our principle values:

– Integrity

– Dedicated to Care

– Always Smart

– Committed to Excellence

– Relentless to Improve

 

Integrity – Our business was founded on integrity from day one and we continue to do what is right, acting responsibly and always following through on our commitments. We are honest and hard-working and will always work to achieve the high standards you have come to expect.

Dedicated to Care – we are in the business of nurturing and nothing feels better than the sense of achievement that comes with a job well done. There’s nothing we can’t handle and we thrive on attention to detail from the initial consultation through to the design process, planting and after-care maintenance. Nurturing plants, flowers and clients since 1977 – that’s something we are quite proud to announce!

Always Smart – Image isn’t everything but it is a big part of good business and it goes a long way in promoting loyalty & professionalism. Whether you visit us at our head office or if you use our services and view the results you will find us smart, tidy, professional and efficient.

Committed to Excellence – Anything less is not an option. We won’t settle for second-best and nor should you. We believe a job is only worth doing if it is done properly and professionally. All of our staff receive rigorous training and everyone at Planteria Group is an expert in their own field giving you the best possible experience.

Relentless to Improve – We are constantly challenging our designers and pushing boundaries above and beyond industry standards, driving innovation, design and execution of our services. We continue to explore and innovate using new concepts and technologies bringing you the best possible results.

Whether you’re a new client or an existing client (or perhaps a future client) we are confident that you will love our services and the benefits they bring to your business.

If you’d like further information about what we can do for your business or workspace, please contact us or request a FREE QUOTE online.

Planteria Group provides stunning planting & floristry for businesses & offices since 1977. Not only attractive to the eyes but other health benefits of greening your space include cleaner air, increased productivity & creativity as well as reducing stress & sickness creating an overall happier place to be. Interior & Exterior planting & flower designs available.


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In Safe Hands Across The UK

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Proud to be a national provider of corporate planting and floristry services

We often tell our clients that we are a National Provider and we do so with some pride, but why does that matter, who does it matter to and what does it really mean?

We are currently 65 staff strong including a team of 31 technicians and florists covering 1700 client sites for both planting and floristry services. We cover the whole of the UK which currently means Dundee to Exeter, though we’ll happily go further.

Our technicians are directly employed by us, they are not contractors. We see this as important to providing the very best service and accountability to our clients. Our team receive full in-house training working to the Planteria standard.

We have long lasting relationships with our technicians who are part of the Planteria family. Many of our technicians hold long service awards with Planteria, for more than five years continuous employment, and the majority have impressive knowledge of, and experience in the horticulture industry. One has even published a book on the subject.

Our technicians are the face of Planteria Group and we know that they, in turn, build lasting relationships with our clients who sing their praises, some have also won industry recognised awards for their work. Furthermore, our team are incentivised on a customer feedback score. We use a tried and tested scoring system, the Net Promoter Score -read more about it here NPS and customer service.

Many of our clients have multiple sites. For them, having one provider for plants and plant maintenance is a sensible move. The benefits include having one point of contact and having one invoice if required. We provide them with a client web portal to view visits to all sites in one place. They also get consistent maintenance and consistent plant designs and styles, if that is something that is important to them. We take the time to understand our clients, who conversely could have a completely different requirement for corporate planting and floristry at each location and need a bespoke approach. Consolidation of contracts eases admin, simplifies life and creates cost savings.

To mention just a few examples, we are currently serving 57 locations for a well-known brewery, 12 locations for a luxury hotel chain, 66 client locations for a leading Facilities Management Company and 25 buildings for a property management company with our services for plants and flowers.

What can we do for you? – Please get in touch with us for a free quotation or when you are next putting your contract out to tender.

Contact us today.


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Press Release: Planteria Group Acquires Jungleworld

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Planteria Group Acquires Jungleworld

In a move that makes them one of the largest privately-owned plant services companies in the UK.

Planteria Group, nationwide corporate planting and floristry experts, and provider to the FM industry,has acquired competitor Jungleworld, a specialist in the hospitality floristry sector. Both companies have a wealth of experience and a strong client base, which will combine to greatly benefit both customers and companies.

Family run Planteria Group established in 1977, made the strategic decision to buy Jungleworld. Planteria’s Managing Director Matt Anderson said, “The acquisition complements Planteria Group’s current operations, increasing our staff by 20% at our head office near Stansted with easy transport links across the UK. The move allows for an increased offering geographically for our floristry services, strengthens our buying power and sees us increasing our presence in the hospitality market sector. The coming together of the two companies has been seamless, we purchased our head office in 1996, with ambitious stretch goals in mind and had ample space for the expansion of our business.”

Both companies will run under their existing names for the current time.


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GOSH Fundraising Donation

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Fundraising through charity events at our office is one of the ways that we work together to support those in need. Most recently, we supported Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children with a bake sale, raffle and table tennis tournament.

Following our fundraising event and after counting all of the donations, we were incredibly honoured to see the grand total of £700 on an offical cheque to GOSH. Matt Anderson, Managing Director of Planteria Group presented the cheque in person at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Our donation helps seriously ill children and their familes when they need it most. Donations can help contribute to the building and refurbishment of the hospital, support ground-breaking research and development of new treatments, fund the most up-to-date equipment and also provide support and accommodation to children and families in need. We are proud to support Great Ormond Street Hospital and the excellent and meaningful work they do.

Each quarter our employees help select a meaningful charity to support and we work together to plan events and make donations that make a difference. This quarter we will be supporting Meningitis Now, a charity that is close to the hearts of our employees.


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NPS & The Importance of Customer Service

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‘Our customers are at the heart of all we do. We enjoy the feel good factor and sense of achievement in a job well done and we like to think there is no circumstance that we cannot handle.’

‘Nurturing is natural to us: plants, flowers, clients. It’s all in the attention to detail. This is why people who choose Planteria, stay with Planteria.’

This is reflected not only in our core values but also in the care we offer to all of our clients no matter how large or small, new or old. We always strive to go above and beyond what is expected and we’re so committed to excellence that we select a number of clients each week and ask directly for feedback.

At Planteria, we measure our performance using a simple, non-biased survey to measure customer satisfaction and also understand whether our clients like us enough to recommend us to others. This is pretty powerful stuff.

Our customer satisfaction is measured with something called Net Promoter Score®, or NPS® for short.

NPS measures customer experience and also reveals how likely our clients are to suggest our services to others. This proven metric provides the core measurement for customer experience and the surveys are not only straightforward, they are also easy to understand and complete without taking too much time from our clients.

The most important question asked is: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company’s product and services to a friend or colleague?”

In other words, the question asks what is the likelihood of promotion? As such, the question not only gives an indication of customer satisfaction with the brand, but also the level of customer loyalty.

Respondents answer by choosing a number from 0-10, with 10 being the most likely to recommend.nps benchmark formula

Depending on the score our customers give, they are then classified as promoters (score 9-10), passives (score 7-8) and detractors (score 0-6).

The scores from all customers are then aggregated into one single number, which is our overall Net Promoter Score. Here’s the formula for calculating the NPS score:

NPS = (% of Promoters) – (% of Detractors)

NPS score can range from -100—if all customers are Detractors—to 100—if all customers are Promoters.

So why do we care about this so much? According to npsbenchmarks.com, the key benefits of NPS are:

· NPS scores can be used as a predictor of future customer actions

· Higher response rate due to the simplicity of the survey

· Ease of use – NPS practitioners can conduct the survey via various channels – phone, SMS, or Web.

· Quick follow-up – NPS practitioners can quickly share the customer feedback with frontline employees or managers, who can follow up with detractors and address their concerns. LEGO®, for example, address low NPS feedback in as little as 24 minutes.

At Planteria Group, our current NPS Score is 65 and we are proud to be in the top percentage of companies with strong customer loyalty. (Update: as of September 2017 our latest NPS score was an impressive 91).

For comparison, below is a snapshot of NPS scores from other companies you may be familiar with. Planteria Group rank exceptionally well by comparison. (Below data correct at time of publishing.)nps benchmarksAnd for comparison by industry, it’s nice to see that we are well above the various averages shown below:nps benchmarks(Above data correct at time of publishing July 2017)

Although our NPS scores are incredibly valuable, perhaps the most valuable aspect of the NPS surveys is the written feedback we receive from our clients. It’s hugely beneficial and rewarding to see the positive feedback and if ever there is a problem or a comment that strikes us as needing attention we can quickly respond.

Planteria Group are committed to excellence. Anything less is not an option. We believe a job is only worth doing if it’s done properly. We employ rigorous training and procedures to ensure everyone at Planteria is an expert in their field. This culture of excellence ensures our clients are consistently satisfied.

In addition to our commitment to excellence, we are also relentless to improve. We love to challenge the status quo and constantly push the boundaries of industry standards. We explore and innovate to discover new concepts, and diligently fight the resistance to change. This forward-looking, enthusiastic approach keeps us ahead of the game.

Image credits: all visual charts shown come from npsbenchmarks.com


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Planteria’s Superhero

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We have a fantastic team of technicians at Planteria, who deliver and maintain plants and flowers for our clients. But there is a special role that one man has… Tom Evans our ‘superhero’ dons his cape whenever there is a cry for help.

Tom has his own regular clients, who he visits for routine maintenance of their plants and flowers but, should there ever be an issue requiring a non-routine solution, it’s Tom who is sent to save the day!

Thankfully, Tom only needs to be a part-time superhero, but there are occasions when a plant fails, or an installation needs rescuing. We talked to Tom to find out more about his role and how fulfilling it is helping us to keep our clients happy.

 

Q: Tell us a little about yourself?

A: I have now been with Planteria for over 10 years. It’s been a rewarding experience from day one. The old greenhouses at Chigwell were great for me (having been brought up in a flower shop as a child) but the new greenhouses at Henham are truly fantastic.

 

Q: As a fully trained and experienced florist and plant technician you’re capable of dealing with anything the job throws at you, what do you enjoy about the role?

A: Working with nature every day for me is fulfilling and I do enjoy solving problems for our clients. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the client, understand their issues and put things right. As the trouble-shooter I get to meet so many more customers than I did before I took on the role. I like to resolve issues fast.

 

Q: You travel around London all the time, do you have any memorable moments?

A: I certainly see some interesting people driving around London every day. The most memorable were David Cameron jogging one morning in Mayfair, and being introduced to Yoko Ono (of The Beatles fame) at the Jet Centre as she was about to fly out of London.

 

Q: With customer service a key focus for Planteria, we aim to provide solutions to all queries as soon as practically possible. How does this affect you, and your day?

A: It’s been interesting to see how technology has helped improve everything for me in this regard. Communication at Planteria through the use of smart phones and the Protean system has been a game changer, we can deal with issues quickly and make our clients happy.

 

Q: What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you in your role at Planteria?

A: Early one morning I was busy tending plants in an empty office room. Behind me I could hear an employee enter and strike up a conversation.

Client: Hi! How are you this morning?

Me: Great thanks. How was your weekend?

Client: I had a brilliant weekend thanks. We had a barbecue….blah blah

After a brief outline of their weekend and a few encouraging comments from me about the weather the conversation began making less and less sense. I turned around only to realise the client was on the phone to someone else! We were both in stitches after they hung up.


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Planteria Round Up 2016 With a Celebration of Success

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Thursday 22 December was set aside in the Planteria Group Calendar for the end of year, Whole Company Meeting, kicking off at 7:45 with a full English Breakfast. The Company have now grown so large that there isn’t a big enough meeting space within our offices to house us all, so the meeting was held off-site at the Hilton Hotel Stansted.

Our Chairman Phil Anderson opened the meeting, welcoming and thanking staff for a successful 2016. Department heads of; Sales, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Floristry and Installation then gave a round-up of achievements for the year and shared their own vision, strategic plans and goals for 2017.

Feedback from this section, during the coffee break, was enthusiastic. “It’s so interesting to hear what goes on in each department, we get so busy with our own work that we don’t have time to think about what other people are doing”

“It’s good to hear that the company is doing well and there has been so much growth in the past few years”.

After the coffee break, the Employee of The Quarter Award was presented by Phil Anderson. The worthy recipient of this Award was Marian Varvari. “Marian has an excellent work ethic, he just gets on with whatever is required of him. He is a great team member and frequently goes beyond his remit to make things work for both his colleagues and our clients.

An example – back in October, one Sunday, he could not complete his floristry round as most of the roads in his delivery area were closed, he was told they would reopen at 6pm. So, after starting at 7am at the nursery and completing 2 deliveries he went home and then went back again at 6pm and finished the round. He then did his Monday round as usual. He did not complain he just said that he did not want to let anyone down – this is true dedication”.

Long Service Awards were given to Karen Norman and Martin Collins for five years’ service.

In the final session of the day Matt Anderson, our Managing Director shook things up a bit and took the opportunity to make the most of having all our staff in one location. Matt screened a thought provoking video based on a factual customer service story. After the video, using a random numbering system, Matt put teams together of people who don’t usually work together. The groups discussed creative customer service ideas. The benefit of this was to get staff talking to one another and bonding over their work experiences and thought processes. A whole raft of ideas got generated, and the diverse mix of job roles in each group meant that the ideas generated were informed, relevant and workable. We look forward to seeing some of the ideas becoming a reality in the coming months.

The meeting was a great success and we’re now raring to go and looking forward to a flourishing 2017.


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Meet Phil, our Chairman and Founding Partner of Planteria Group

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Founding partner and Company Chairman, Phil Anderson started out in true entrepreneurial style as a sole trader in office plant maintenance. He later partnered with his brother, Brian, and grew the company to the market leader it is today, servicing around 900 sites across the UK. With a career spanning nearly 40 years Phil has undoubtedly learned a lot and seen quite a few changes. I caught up with Phil to ask him to share his experiences and advice.

 

Q. What was your inspiration to work with plants and flowers in the first place?

A. I had worked for a wholesale flower and plant nursery and had developed a love of flowers and plants so it seemed a natural progression.

 

Q. What has been the toughest part of growing your business and how did you overcome it?

A Starting out on my own, with no capital or income. I didn’t join my brother financially for a few years, so I didn’t milk his profits. It was a stressful time and I got shingles through the worry of it, but the sheer need to succeed drove me on.

 

Q. What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

A. Constantly look at your cash flow.

 

Q. If you could go back and give some advice to the 20 year old you, what would it be?

A. Don’t try to start something in half measures – give it your all.

 

Q. What has been the biggest contributor to the success of Planteria?

A. The next generation being given a free hand in the business.

 

Q. What has been the biggest change in the industry during the 39 years Planteria has been running?

A. Customers’ expectations are always increasing.

 

Q. What are the most exciting developments in corporate horticulture?

A. It has become the accepted ‘norm’ in office, you no longer have to sell the concept, you just have to understand your clients’ needs and show them why you are the best provider.

 

Q. What is the thing you are most proud of about your business?

A. Our level of service and our staff.

 

Q. When do you want to retire.

A. Never, completely!


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