Allotments business is booming

A humble allotment shop in the Black Country is aiming to give the big garden centres a run for their money by pricing them out of the market.

For just £2 annual fee, members of the public can buy all their gardening gear – from bulbs and weedkillers to spades and wheelbarrows – all with a 25 per cent discount.

The Sandy Lane Allotments and Gardeners' Association, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, is aiming to keep going for at least another half-century with the help of profits from its garden store in Bushbury.

Membership of the scheme in Wolverhampton is open to the whole community, with pensioners able to join for half-price fee at £1.

There are 100 plot-holders at the site but more than 800 members. Yet 20 years ago that figure stood at more than 2,000, forcing the committee to close membership. Now they have reached out to a younger generation to keep the much loved garden store going.

The shop has an official name, Allseasons, with snazzy new signs to encourage people to visit and there is a buzz about the place again.

President Len Turner, aged 79, said: "I was worried about falling membership but now there are younger people joining us and I'm confident about the future.

"Sandy Lane has always been a trading site but when I joined 45 years ago, there was just a little hut here, now it's grown into a mini garden centre," added Mr Turner.

Shop manager Linda Stubbs, who has served behind the counter for 17 years, said they buy in bulk and pass the savings on to their members. The biggest saving is on fertiliser, with a 7lb bag of Allseasons costing £1.20 compared to about £3.50 for the same product at a garden centre.

Linda says: "But it's not just about saving money, there are always people in the shop to give advice on gardening problems."

Among the new blood on the allotment is Linda's son Adrian, a 30-year-old graphic designer for Wolverhampton Council, who is responsible for all the new signs and has helped them with grant applications. And Chris Nickholds, of Purcell Road, Bushbury, is another mere nipper at 24 years old. He started renting an allotment two years ago and now works at the shop. He said: "It keeps me fit and it's very social."