“Make plant health everyone’s responsibility.”
Martin Chaplin
Tell us a little about your business and what you do.
Hedges Direct has been a specialist hedging business for more than 20 years, operating a 17-acre nursery in Lancashire. We supply everyone from home gardeners buying a few plants for their garden through to landscapers, developers and large commercial projects.
We’re roughly a 50/50 split between retail and trade, with much of our business coming through our e-commerce website. Although we refer to the site as a nursery, we don’t actually grow there, we source and distribute plants, so having robust processes around sourcing, traceability and biosecurity is particularly important to us.
Hedging is our main focus, but we also supply trees and shrubs. Around a quarter of what we sell is British native species.
Why did you decide to become Plant Healthy certified?
Initially, there was a commercial reason. Some of our trade customers required Plant Healthy certification for us to be able to work with them or tender for certain contracts.
But once we started going through the certification process, we quickly saw benefits beyond that.
Our traceability was already strong because of the technology we use, but Plant Healthy gave us a framework that made us really look at our day-to-day policies, processes and disciplines. It highlighted areas where we could improve and helped us become more proactive.
None of those improvements required huge investment. Often, they were relatively simple changes that made our processes safer, smoother and more efficient.
There’s an element of short-term work involved in getting everything in place to become certified, but once you’ve done it, it becomes much easier to maintain.
What does Plant Healthy certification mean to your business?
Ultimately, it means confidence.
It gives our customers confidence that we have robust processes in place, and it gives us confidence that we’re doing things properly and managing plant health responsibly.
It also helps us to be more proactive rather than reactive. When you have the right processes in place, you’re much better prepared if an issue or challenge arises.
Another benefit that shouldn’t be underestimated is company culture. When everyone understands what you’re trying to achieve and why, it gives people a shared purpose. Plant health stops being one person’s responsibility and becomes part of the way the whole business works.
There’s commercial value in that too. Working smarter, reducing losses and improving efficiency all contribute to the bottom line, alongside giving us the recognition we need to tender for certain contracts.
What's one plant health tip or best practice you'd like to share with others?
Make it everyone’s responsibility.
Plant health shouldn’t sit with one person managing the certification. Everyone, from directors to colleagues working with the plants every day, should understand their role and feel confident taking action.
For us, that means if somebody spots something that doesn’t look right, they don’t simply think it’s somebody else’s problem. They know there’s a process to follow and they have the confidence to raise it or deal with it.
I’d also say: ask for help. One of the great things about horticulture is how willing people are to share their knowledge and experience. When we were going through the Plant Healthy process, I found other nurseries and businesses that had already been through it were more than happy to talk about what they had done and share what had worked for them.
There’s a great Plant Healthy community of people and businesses willing to help each other, too. Talk to other certified businesses, your customers and your suppliers, ask questions and share experiences. Ultimately, improving plant health and biosecurity benefits everybody.
What's a fun or interesting fact about you outside of work?
I’m very involved in my local village community. I’m part of our local Men’s Shed, where people get together to work on woodwork and other practical projects, and I’m also involved with our RHS In Bloom activities, helping to plant up and improve areas around the village.
We organise village festivals and Christmas events too, so quite a lot of my time outside work still seems to involve plants and community!
If you're interested in finding out more about Plant Healthy certification visit, Becoming Certified.
