Chris Francis to leave Hillier Garden Centres and Nurseries

Hillier Garden Centres' Retail & Wholesale Director, Chris Francis, will be stepping down from his role in the summer of 2025. Chris plans to focus on spending more time with family, pursuing travel ambitions, and of course more time in his own garden, alongside any other business opportunities that may arise.

Chris joined Hillier in March 2014 as Garden Centre Director and, shortly after, took on the additional role of Wholesale Nursery Director. Over the course of a decade, he played a pivotal role in transforming the business, building a skilled senior team, and driving the expansion of the garden centres from 12 to 22 locations. Notably, he also spearheaded the launch of an online shop in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, Hillier experienced remarkable growth in both sales and profit.

George Hillier, Chairman of Hillier Nurseries, said, “Chris’ passion for the industry, business acumen, and team leadership have had a significant and lasting impact on our business over the past decade. He has helped embed the Hillier brand in our communities and ensured Hillier stays true to its roots, continuing to provide high-quality plants and gardening products, while maintaining the excellent customer service that reflects our family values. We will all miss him very much and wish him all the very best.”

Chris Francis shared, "It has been an immense privilege to work for such a renowned and respected horticultural business, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have spent the last decade of my career alongside such a talented and dedicated team. The work we’ve done together, especially on exciting new garden centre launches, garden shows and how we came together to get through the pandemic, has been extremely rewarding. I will certainly miss many things at Hillier and will always have a passion for this industry!"

Chris has dedicated over 30 years to the horticulture industry, with experience at companies such as The Garden Centre Group and Wyevale as well as Hillier. Prior to his career in horticulture, he spent many successful years in the retail sector with John Lewis, where he honed his skills in retail management.

Hillier is now looking for a Retail Director to build on its successful foundations and to continue its trajectory of growth and development, while also innovating for the future.

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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.