Peter Hulatt at the Camden Garden Centre

DEVELOPING job-winning skills changes lives – and for the staff and trustees of Camden Garden Centre, they have seen such successes happen more than 300 times.

The charity, which manages the Barker Drive-based plant and garden store, marks its 40th birthday in June.

Manager Peter Hulatt can reflect on four decades of not only helping Camden’s gardeners create city oases, but the huge number of trainees who have grown their careers at the charity-run centre.

Mr Hulatt joined in 1993. He had previously worked for the National Coal Board in personnel and had a weekend garden centre job.

“Coming here was a great opportunity to combine my experience in recruitment and training, and managing a garden centre,” he said. “This job was the perfect fit.”

At any given time, the centre is staffed by anywhere from two to eight trainees. It makes Mr Hulatt’s role hugely enjoyable, he said.

“This is a special place. I’ve been involved in something that is important to me – helping people progress,” he added.

The centre opened in 1983 when a group of Camden Town-based businesses saw unemploy­ment rocketing under the Thatcher government. They were deeply concerned.

The original founders Gurmukh Singh, Elizabeth Millar and Jim Hodgson hit on setting up a not-for-profit partner­ship that offered fully paid, on-the-job training.

The group considered businesses including an office services company and a garage. But as all three were passionate gardeners, when the idea was floated, they were particularly enthusiastic.

Mr Hulatt added: “The garden centre industry was quite buoyant and new. They had a clear aim – to create a viable business that was profitable so it could take on trainees. It was a proper garden centre, providing plants and everything else a London garden needs.”

They made a decision early on that they would not seek grants or donations as a means to balance the books. Instead, they formed a charity and ran the business along the lines of a social enterprise, with all profits poured back in.

The original site was temporary, on land ear­marked for housing in Kentish Town. In 1992 they found a permanent home – a former concrete works and locomotive shed in Barker Drive, Elm Village, off St Pancras Way.

Trainees can stay for up to two years and can apply directly or be referred from agencies such as Camden Council.

“The training is about giving people the opportunity to experience a working environment,” said Mr Hulatt.

“It shows what working is all about. Things like realising you have to sort yourself out to get up at the right time, how you are going to get into work, what type of clothes to wear, working with others – and working on your own, realising how your work impacts on others. It is also understanding that sometimes work can be hard. It is not an easy ride.

“Most people take these things for granted, but for someone who has not been in work, it can be quite a challenge.”

The training is integral. “People may not have any horticultural experience, so we teach about plants and their care. But it is more than that – it’s about working in retail, about customer service,” he added.

Staff have paid-for driving lessons and can qualify to drive forklift trucks.

Numeracy and literacy skills are also nurtured. Many go on to work in horticulture – one former trainee has set up a garden centre. Skills are transferable and trainees have embarked on everything from an English A-level to plumbing and working in IT.

And all this is helped by the centre’s success.

“We have a very loyal group of customers who have consistently supported us,” Mr Hulatt said. “They do it because they know we are a charity – but also because, simply, we are a really good garden centre.”

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