Garden Centre Manager – Flagship Store
From horticruitment
Garden Centre Manager – Flagship Store. Our client is an independent, design-led urban garden centre group based in South London, who has built a strong reputation for blending horticultural expertise with contemporary lifestyle retail. With multiple boutique locations across the city, they cater to everyone from novice plant-keepers to seasoned gardeners.
Offering a curated selection of indoor and outdoor plants, seasonal flowers, gardening tools, pots, and sustainable home goods. It also provides floristry services, personalised plant design and installation for homes and commercial spaces, and a growing online retail operation with next-day delivery options across London.
Known for their community-driven ethos, the company places a strong emphasis on customer education, offering in-store advice, blog content, and loyalty initiatives. The team is passionate, knowledgeable, and engaged in promoting greener, more beautiful urban living. This is an ideal working environment for those who love plants, creativity, and connecting with people in a dynamic, design-conscious setting.
They are now seeking an experienced and passionate Garden Centre Manager to lead operations at its flagship store.
About the Role:
As Garden Centre Manager at the flagship store, you’ll be the driving force behind a vibrant, high-performing retail environment. You’ll lead from the front—setting standards, supporting your team, and ensuring our customers receive the warm, knowledgeable service we’re known for. You’ll bring together strong commercial instincts, hands-on grit, and a real passion for plants.
This is a physical, people-facing, decision-making role where no two days are the same!
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and manage the day-to-day operations of the store (indoor and outdoor departments).
- Deliver consistently high store standards and an engaging, on-brand customer experience.
- Motivate and manage the full store team, including sales advisors, merchandisers, and plant care/delivery team.
- Handle recruitment, training, scheduling, and regular performance reviews.
- Oversee stock control: accurate delivery processing, stocktakes, wastage minimisation, and identifying slow movers.
- Ensure plant stock is in top condition through regular maintenance routines.
- Uphold all aspects of the brand: customer service, team presentation, visual merchandising, ambience, product range, and in-store messaging.
- Resolve customer issues with professionalism and care.
- Execute seasonal planning and store refreshes in advance of each new season.
- Coordinate accurate admin and reporting processes, including team timesheets, checklists, leave, and internal communications.
- Implement new initiatives from the Directors with efficiency and clarity.
- Maintain health & safety standards in all areas.
What We’re Looking For
- A confident, charismatic leader with a track record in retail or garden centre management.
- A real team player—willing to get stuck in with deliveries when needed.
- Strong understanding (or deep enthusiasm!) for outdoor plants and gardening.
- Clear communicator with great organisational and time-management skills.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to meet targets and drive sales.
- A calm, customer-focused approach, even in busy moments.
- Proficient with basic admin, scheduling tools, and stock systems.
- Physically fit and comfortable with lifting/moving heavy goods regularly.
Bonus Points For
- Knowledge of garden design principles or interest in developing this.
- Familiarity with common plant pests and diseases and how to treat them.
- Previous experience in a multi-category retail environment (e.g., lifestyle/home/garden).
Why Join?
Our client is a fast-growing and highly unique family-run group of garden shops. They are independently owned, and pride themselves on their team of knowledgeable horticulturalists who are always on hand to offer friendly, expert advice regarding all indoor and outdoor gardening matters. They always place ourselves at the heart of the communities in which we open their stores. Punching well above their weight in terms of the service they provide, the experience they offer customers, the unique product range they carry and their legendary product displays. They’re extremely passionate about their people, and with ambitious future plans, it’s an exciting time to join!Â
If you have a passion for making a difference, strong leadership skills, and a proactive mindset, we’d love to hear from you!
SALARY:    £38,000 DOE
LOCATION:Â Â London
JOB No:Â Â Â Â Â N015
If this Garden Centre Manager – Flagship Store vacancy is of interest, please ‘Apply’ or contact Sophie Sharpe on 01233 732767 or email sophie@horticruitment.com
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Thank you for your interest in this Garden Centre Manager – Flagship Store role. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications that we receive, it is not possible to respond to every one. Therefore, unless you hear from us within the next 14 days, your application for this Sales and Nursery Assistant vacancy has been unsuccessful.
To view more Landscape jobs, click Landscape. To view more Gardening jobs. click Gardening.
To view more Retail jobs, click Garden Centre OR Nursery.
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