The Garden Industry Manufacturer's Association (GIMA) has announced that Dobbies Garden Centres ceo John Cleland and Decco's ceo designate Charlie Lacey will be speaking at the next GIMA day conference.

The event is being held on Thursday, March 23 at Horticulture House, Oxfordshire.

Following the sale of Dobbies to Midlothian Capital and Hattington Partners, Mr Cleland was appointed chief executive officer in July 2016. Having now been in the role for eight months, Mr Cleland will set out his vision for Dobbies, one of the UK’s largest chains of garden centres in the UK.

Charlie Lacey will be taking over the reigns at Decco when John Findlay retires at the end of March. Mr Lacey will be providing delegates with an overview of the business and the value they can add for GIMA members as a line of supply to the retail sector.

Joining the line up of speakers is Trevor Pfeifer who will be sharing some award winning garden centre retailing trends from a year of GTN's Greatest Awards visits, plus Matthew Mein from Glee, who will be updating delegates about the show and the recently announced Glee Spring Fair concession.

GIMA Director Vicky Nuttall said, “I’m delighted with the line up of speakers and we hope to announce more very soon. We’ll also be providing delegates with an update on some of the exciting things we’ve got planned for GIMA and its membership.”

The day conference is open to anyone who wishes to attend, with GIMA members benefiting from subsidised rates. The GIMA AGM will precede the day conference and is open to fully paid up GIMA members only.