Hillier partners with The Chatty Café Scheme to encourage social connection in garden centres

Hillier Nurseries and Garden Centres is delighted to announce a new partnership with The Chatty Café Scheme, launching in four selected Hillier Garden Centres – Botley, Syon Park, Eastbourne and Newbury. 

The Chatty Café Scheme encourages connection through friendly conversation. Participating centres will host “Chatter & Natter” tables where customers are welcome to sit if they’re open to chatting with offers – offering a simple, meaningful way for people to meet new faces and combat loneliness. The scheme already operates across hundreds of venues nationwide including cafes, pubs, libraries and hospitals. 

Alex Hoskyn, Founder of The Chatty Café Scheme, commented: “I started to think about the positive impact we could have had on each other if we had sat together. I know from experience that when you are feeling lonely, a short conversation with another human can really brighten your day and I realised that you can be out of the house all day yet have no interaction with another person.” 

Rob Bayley, Garden Centre Manager at Hillier Garden Centre Botley, commented: “It’s great to have a group like The Chatty Café Scheme host these sessions at our restaurant. Seeing how supportive and encouraging the scheme has been for our customers has been a real treat!” 

Beginning on 10th December, The Chatty Café Scheme sessions will be held in the garden centre restaurants at Botley, Syon Park, Eastbourne and Newbury. Sessions will run every Wednesday from 1:30pm to 3:00pm. 

If you are interested in joining The Chatty Café Scheme as a volunteer, please click here. 

For more information about Hillier, visit www.hillier.co.uk. 

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Editors notes

“To inspire the creation of green living spaces for now and the future” Hillier is one of the leading names in the horticultural industry, with 160 years of growing and retail experience.

Founded in 1864 by Edwin Hillier, the company remains a family-run nursery with the fifth generation now actively involved in the family business as it continues to grow.

Not only is Hillier the largest producer of semi-mature trees in Europe and grower of over one million plants at its Hampshire nursery, but it also employs over 750 staff across its nursery, amenity trees and 22 garden centre divisions and is a flourishing multi-million pound company. It proudly holds the world record for the most consecutive gold medals awards at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with 74 wins.

As one of the leading growers in the UK, Hillier is involved in many peat-free initiatives, including the RHS Peat-Free Fellowship, the largest peat-free collaborative research project globally. The company was amongst the first nurseries to become 100% peat-free across both its production nursery and retail garden centres, and all Hillier plants are grown in peat-free compost.

Recent successes for the company include the launch of its online shop, the substantial redevelopment of Hillier Garden Centre Newbury and the acquisition of the Rosebourne Garden Centre Group in November 2022, as well as sponsorship of BBC Gardeners’ World Live and BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, and the incredibly popular free ‘Hillier Gardening Club’ loyalty program which now has over half a million members.

Renowned for being a leading breeder of plants in the UK at its 100% peat-free nursery in Hampshire, each year Hillier introduces amazing new varieties. Many of these have become essentials in British gardens and the company continues with the tradition of innovation and the introduction of new garden plants in the present day.