Hillier announces new Senior Production Manager

Hillier Nurseries is pleased to announce the appointment of Karolina Forgacz as Senior Production Manager, succeeding Charles Carr.

Karolina joins Hillier at a pivotal time for the business, with the nursery undertaking its largest investment programme in a generation. The multi-million-pound programme includes significant investment in production infrastructure, automation, growing systems and nursery facilities, ensuring Hillier remains at the forefront of UK horticulture as it builds on its recent success winning the coveted International Grower of the Year 2026 accolade.

As customer demand evolves, Hillier continues to develop a broader and more diverse range of plants suited to modern gardens. Karolina will lead a review of the production programme and work closely with young plant suppliers to help shape and evolve the future plant range.

With more than 20 years of experience across commercial soft fruit and horticultural production, Karolina brings expertise in production planning, plant health, operational management and team development. Having started a career in the soft fruit sector, Karolina has successfully led large-scale production operations and managed workforces of up to 1,000 people during peak periods.

Karolina said: "Hillier is one of the most respected names in horticulture and I'm delighted to be joining the team at such an exciting time. I'm looking forward to working with colleagues and suppliers to develop an even stronger plant programme that meets the changing needs of our customers."

Karolina's experience in LEAN manufacturing will play an important role as Hillier continues to modernise production systems, delivering greater efficiency, productivity and continuous improvement across the nursery.

Adam Dunnett, Production & Amenity Director of Hillier Nurseries, said: "Karolina brings a wealth of production and leadership experience from across the horticulture sector. Expertise in operational excellence, plant health and people development will be invaluable as we continue investing in the future of the nursery and evolving our plant offering for customers."

Karolina joins Hillier from Greenwood Group, a Plant Healthy accredited nursery, complementing the company’s ongoing commitment to industry-leading biosecurity standards. Hillier also remains fully committed to 100% peat-free growing and is proud to be a partner of the RHS Transition to Peat-Free Fellowship.

Developing skills within the production team, alongside attracting new talent through the apprenticeship programme, will remain a cornerstone of the nursery's long-term strategy.

Karolina's appointment marks another important step in the continued investment in people, production capability and future growth at Hillier Nurseries.

For more information, 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.