Forest Garden, the UK’s largest manufacturer and distributor of garden timber products, has expanded its offering to customers by opening what is thought to be the largest indoor product display in the UK garden and landscape sector, at its Worcestershire head office site.
The new, 5,000 sq ft showroom, built especially to display Forest’s product ranges to invited trade customers, features more than 50 garden timber products, including the latest in timber fencing, sheds, summerhouses, greenhouses, arbours, decking, grow-your-own accessories, planters and furniture.
Forest’s investment in the ground-breaking new showroom follows an exciting period of expansion for the company. After purchasing M&M Timber in late 2013, in 2014 Forest announced investments in additional sawmill capacity, expanded timber treatment facilities, and additional manufacturing resources at its Worcestershire sites. In December Forest then opened a new, 19,500 sq ft group head office close to its other Hartlebury locations. The company also recently launched a new suite of informative videos for gardeners offering guidance on their garden timber projects; entitled ‘Forest Shows You How’.
Group Chief Executive of Forest Garden, Guy Grainger, confirmed the inspiration behind the new showroom: “The size and variety of our comprehensive garden timber range means the products can be difficult to demonstrate effectively to trade buyers. A stunning, centrally located product display and exhibition area has therefore long been something we wanted to set up, to inspire garden centre, DIY and builders merchant customers. This new showroom now offers customers the chance to see our ranges side by side, as well as previewing some of our prototype ideas – with the chance to comment on them before launch!”
The new showroom also offers another advantage for Forest’s trade customers, as Guy explains: “Since opening our new, centrally located head office we have offered Forest customers and supply partners the opportunity to book our rooms for their own meeting and presentation purposes. Now they can also use our showroom to give their trading teams ‘real life’ product, merchandising and technical training, which they in turn can share with their own customers.”
Forest Garden Ltd is the UK’s largest manufacturer and distributor of garden timber products, employing over 500 people and delivering to over 3,000 UK garden centres, builders’ merchants and DIY stores each week in peak season. In addition it operates an industry-leading home delivery service which delivers an impressive 180,000 orders per annum to homes around the UK, on behalf of its customers. Forest Garden’s sister division, Forest Sawmills, operates from two sites, including the UK’s largest, specialist fencing sawmill, in Lockerbie, Scotland.
