You are not alone.
Coronavirus? What do I do? What can I do? Can’t see the wood for the trees? Don’t know what piece of advice applies to you? Who do I turn to for the right information for me and my business?
With so much conflicting advice and information coming from all angles about Coronavirus/Covid-19, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees and to make the correct decision for your business no matter what size your business is.
Now may be the perfect time to become a member of a trade body. If you have thought about joining before but never quite seen the benefits, now is the time to turn to them for advice become a member and be kept up to date with information that is relevant to YOUR business. There is a trade body out there for you gathering all the information together so you don’t have to. Information is posted on a regular basis keeping you up to date with the latest changes.
Help is out there and covers areas that may not have even been thought about pre-Corona days. Forms can be downloaded relating to ‘Travel to Work’, advice for safety on construction sites and advice about working from home.
Listed below are some of the relevant trade bodies that we have turned to recently and continue to do so for guidance for our company. We realise that horticulture covers a wide range of business models and scenarios from solo working to site work, maintenance to planting, designing to landscape construction and growers to nurseries such as ourselves. One size does not fit all. We sincerely hope that you can find a size that fits you:
- BALI British Association of Landscape Industries.
- HTA Horticultural Trades Association
- APL Association of Professional Landscapers
- SGD Society of Garden Designers
- AA The Arboricultural Association
- LI The Landscape Institute
- CIOH Chartered Institute of Horticulture
- NFU National Farmers Union
- Perennial The Charity for Helping People in Horticulture
Always refer to the Government website for more information for employers, employees and businesses.
We may have missed some trade bodies so please feel to inform us of any that you feel may be of use to a part of horticulture that has not been covered in the above. Please email to Liz Hughes on liz.hughes@provendernurseries.co.uk
Many of these trade bodies are organising online meetings at the moment and over the next few weeks. These may prove a valuable resource and are ideal for talking to similar companies and just plain talking about how Coronavirus has affected your business. Some are also offering courses that can be taken at home offering an opportunity to take up some training that could help expand your business in the future.
Keep an eye on their social media pages and news. Better still, if you can, join up. It has never been more important. You are not alone.
