The gardening boom brought on by the pandemic, shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The attention lavished on gardens during COVID is something that gardeners aren’t prepared to curtail; they’ve been bitten by the gardening bug!

Greenman Garden Tools, a fourth-generation family run business, have seen significant growth over the last 2 years and when you look at how they support their trade customers, it’s of no surprise.

We had an opportunity to speak to Adam Greenman, tool specialist and current family owner for Greenman to discuss what has helped stand Greenman apart from the competition.

“There’s no magic bullet,” remarked Adam. “When my great grandfather set up the first incarnation of the company, it was all about quality and evolution. That meant hard work and crazy attention to detail. Fast forward a few decades, it’s still that same ethos that we use to drive us forward today.”

Greenman Garden Tools were bought by hardware giant Eliza Tinsley in 2019 and it was with this acquisition that saw Greenman start its meteoric rise towards becoming a national brand. With that level of backing, we were interested to see what had changed for Adam and Greenman Tools.

“It’s been a fantastic experience and one that has opened up so many opportunities that we didn’t have access to previously,” commented Adam. “We were a very localised business in the south of England, but as soon as we became part of the Eliza Tinsley family, we suddenly had access to a national sales team, a company structure with in-house marketing and design support and of course, stock levels we could only once have dreamed of. If I told you about the size of the warehouse we have in West Yorkshire, packed to the gills with all manner of tools, you probably wouldn’t believe me!”

We had an opportunity to speak to Sales Director for Eliza Tinsley, Kendal Ernest, to understand what attracted them to purchase Greenman.

“Very simply, Greenman was a perfect fit for us. Family values, long trading history and the best range of artisanal gardening tools, I’ve ever seen,” said Kendal. “When we all sat down together for the first time, it was obvious that we had an opportunity to grow a great brand and develop a new arm to the Eliza Tinsley portfolio.”

We’ve observed that Greenman Garden Tools is popping up across the country in many garden centres at a rapid rate and we obviously asked what was attracting trade customers to the brand.

Kendal replied “we have a unique approach when promoting Greenman, we don’t simply provide great tools, sit back and wait for re-orders. We have a sales team dotted across the entire country who are on hand to help our customers sell. We provide incredibly impactful display stands and stunning point of sale. Regardless if you are a major chain of garden centres or an independent, we have tailored solutions to help support our partners.”

“We’re also very much about catering for all levels of gardener,” continued Adam. “Our range of tools is quite diverse. From regular hand tools to our mid handled range, our stainless-steel collection to our lite range, half brite to carbon steel, there’s a product for everyone and that makes us a very attractive partner for the trade.”

The word “partner” kept cropping up in our chat so we delved a little deeper. Why do Greenman see their customers as partners?

“We’re a big company but with very simple morals and ethics,” said Kendal. “We want to help our customers grow, we want our customers to enjoy the journey and we want to get our customers as enthused about Greenman as we are.  You can’t achieve that if you’re not part of their machine. As mentioned, we provide the point-of-sale items, videos which we can brand for our customers, displays that really scream quality and our national sales team are always on hand to pop in and help set-up.”

Greenman will be taking its first bow at this year’s Glee event on stand C66, an experience they are looking forward to hugely.

“This will be our first trade show proper since the restrictions were lifted,” commented Kendal “and the chance to show what we have to offer to the masses is very exciting. We know we have an offering that is different, we know it works and we’re keen as mustard to bring more partners on the Greenman journey. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at Glee in June.”

It's exciting when something different comes onto the market and from our little chat, the passion that Adam has for his family brand is evident. By allying themselves with another family-owned business in Eliza Tinsley, the opportunities for Greenman Garden Tools are extraordinary.

We’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on Greenman over the coming months.