Press Releases Archives - Page 2 of 3

Record Sales Day for Primrose.co.uk, UK’s Largest Online Garden Specialist

Last week, Primrose achieved their highest sales in one day – exceeding £250,000 for the first time.

Ian Charles, MD, said “It’s all about the sunshine – you never know when the first really big day of the season is going to hit until you look at the pre-weekend weather forecast. We work hard every year at gearing up for big days like this – most of our products are offered on a next-day basis, so it’s crucial we don’t let anyone down. My colleagues on the phones and in our warehouses worked tremendously hard and efficiently to get the job done on the day. We’ve also continued to invest in even larger ranges of unique products available for next day delivery.”

Established in 2003, Primrose is a family-run garden specialist which has been a key player in the gradual shift of the gardening sector online. “With over 100,000 product reviews and highly detailed product information, customers often have a much better understanding and confidence in the product than they have in store. They also have access to a vast range specialist products – they no longer need to have the same plants and decorative items that their neighbours have.”

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Callum is currently on his placement year here at Primrose with his parents being huge garden enthusiasts.
In the time he has free from his parents rambling on about the garden, he is being a typical university student experiencing life to the full and supporting his beloved Reading FC.

See all of Callum’s posts.

George, News, Press Releases

Primrose identified as one of the London Stock Exchange’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’

Primrose recognised in third edition of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report
Identifies fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in UK
Primrose.co.uk is one of the UK’s leading online garden retailers

Online gardening company Primrose has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. The report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses.

To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.

Established in 2003, Primrose.co.uk has grown to become a £40m business and the leading online retailer specialising in the gardening sector. Primrose has developed a rich range of its own garden products as well as offering a comprehensive choice from other brands.

Speaking about the announcement, Primrose MD Ian Charles said, ‘We are delighted to be included in LSE’s 1000 Inspirational Companies report for the second year running. In the hugely competitive online market, creating the most innovative Garden products while simultaneously ensuring the best value for our customers is critical to success – it’s great to be recognised for that.’

Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange Group said, ‘High growth SMEs are the driving force behind the UK economy, developing the skills, jobs and growth we need. But ambition alone is not enough; their success must be highlighted and their growth properly supported with appropriate finance.’

Writing in the publication, The Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP said, ‘UK high-growth businesses are leading the charge in rebuilding our economy. These companies are the backbone of the British economy. They create high-quality, well paid jobs, innovate and drive economic growth. This government fully understands the need to support ambitious entrepreneurs and ensure they can access the finance they need to grow.’

A full list of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com.

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George works in the Primrose marketing team. As a lover of all things filmic, he also gets involved with our TV ads and web videos.
George’s idea of the perfect time in the garden is a long afternoon sitting in the shade with a good book. A cool breeze, peace and quiet… But of course, he’s usually disturbed by his energetic wire fox terrier, Poppy!
He writes about his misadventures in repotting plants and new discoveries about cat repellers.

See all of George’s posts.

Cats, Geoff, How To, Insects, Mice & Rats, News, Pest Advice, Pest Control, Press Releases, Spiders

Pest Repellers – Are You Getting What You Pay For?

Electronic pest repellers are quickly becoming a must have in many households, keeping pests out at the flick of a switch. Here at Primrose we are always striving to innovate in our products, and we recently took a deeper look into some of our competitors to see what else was on offer across the pest control market. While hoping to find ways to improve our own designs, we discovered many retailers were offering products which didn’t perform as advertised. Here’s a little insight into some of our findings and a look at some products which you should be avoiding.

Product 1

The first product is a Solar Garden Ultra Sonic Pest Repeller, bought from eBay. As the product is advertised as a twin speaker product – clearly displaying two speakers on the front of the casing – you would expect it to utilise both of these, right? Wrong. When opened up you can clearly see it is not wired to the second speaker, which is just a fake covering and not a speaker at all. We believe this to be a way to cut costs during the manufacturing process but this is clear false advertising and the pest repeller would not perform how you would expect.

Product 2

Next we tested one of the most popular pest repellers on eBay, the Whole House Ultrasonic Plug In Pest Repeller. This is available through lots of resellers on eBay and is typically sold in multiple deals. The product suggests on the front of the casing that it uses electromagnetic technology to rid your home of pests. However, when you take a look at the inner workings, the product is completely void of an electromagnetic component altogether. This would render the product pretty useless over larger areas and definitely would limit its use within an entire household.

Product 3

Finally, we looked at another product which claimed to be an electromagnetic pest product, suitable for the whole house. This time we opted to compare it to a Primrose product, the Budget Rat and Mouse Repeller which is near identical. However upon further inspection the product also has false claims of electromagnetic technology. The pest repeller also just generally lacks many features of other whole house devices, such as amplification circuitry and power management circuits.

We were genuinely shocked at just how many products on the market are misleading consumers into buying products using deception and manufacturing shortcuts. Here at Primrose we don’t rely on false claims, and you can trust us if we say something is in a product, it’s in the product.

Geoff works within the Primrose marketing team, primarily on anything related to graphics and design.
He loves to keep up with the latest in music, film and technology whilst also creating his own original art and his ideal afternoon would be lounging in a sunny garden surrounded by good food, drink and company provided there is a football nearby.
While not an expert, his previous job involved landscaping so he’s got some limited experience when gardening.

See all of Geoff’s posts.

Animals, George, News, Press Releases, Surveys

The Strangest Things People Bury In Their Garden

Have you ever buried something in your back garden? Ever stashed away anything secret as a child, laid a loved one to rest, or wanted to cover up something best forgotten..? 51% of people have, according to a survey we conducted.

We’re a nation of animal lovers, so it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that out of everything that was buried something, 77% were pets:

26% cats
18% dogs
9% birds
8% rabbits
7% fish
5% guinea pigs
27% undisclosed
And even a deer that was found by the roadside.

Perhaps cats are easier to lay into the ground than dogs. Or most people take the traditional drainage route to dispose of deceased fish. Clearly, it seems an unusual decision to bury roadkill in the garden.

The next most popular items are time capsules, but only making up 4% of the total buried. Many people had made them for their grandchildren, or made them when they themselves were younger. But how many of us have ever excavated our buried memories?

It can be a fascinating insight into the minds of our neighbours to uncover what people have stowed away in their soil. Here are a few of the stranger things people admitted to burying:

A piano frame
A ‘husband’s dinner’
‘New potatoes in a sealed tin to dig up again for Christmas dinner’
A daughter’s letter to her older self
A copper coin ‘to make a plant turn blue’
A pig’s head
A mangle
A broken bath
An old hard drive
A miniature spitting image statue of Margaret Thatcher
A love letter
A banana to ward off verrucas
The diaries of someone’s mother who had died of dementia
And a wish (that apparently came true).

Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey, and we hope you find the results as fascinating as we do!

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George works in the Primrose marketing team. As a lover of all things filmic, he also gets involved with our TV ads and web videos.
George’s idea of the perfect time in the garden is a long afternoon sitting in the shade with a good book. A cool breeze, peace and quiet… But of course, he’s usually disturbed by his energetic wire fox terrier, Poppy!
He writes about his misadventures in repotting plants and new discoveries about cat repellers.

See all of George’s posts.