Director Profile: Nick Hutchinson

By Gabrielle Stannus
 

Nick Hutchinson’s work has taken him all over the globe, working with smaller growers and big businesses across all parts of the greenlife supply chain to move cut flowers, plants and horticultural and nursery supplies. This experience will stand him in good stead as he navigates his newest role as a Director of Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA).

Nick has been working in horticulture since 1989, when he and his father ran Oakwood Flower Wholesalers in England. Nick and his father started out buying flowers from a local wholesaler, before importing flowers from the Channel Islands and then Kenya.

Nick then moved to Winchester Growers, supplying over one hundred million stems of daffodils annually to supermarkets.

“I went from dealing with owner-operators running news agencies, grocery stores and florists, to dealing with large companies with multi-million dollars behind them and hardened negotiators,” says Nick of this move.

Nick worked next with the Dutch Flower Group in Holland, one of the biggest flower companies in the world, before moving to the Butters Group, selling plants and added value items to supermarkets.

IN 2010, Nick came to Australia to work with the Cedar Hill Group, exporting native foliage and flowers. Heading up its Asia market, Nick helped Cedar Hill Group to form a joint company with a Shanghai-based business to establish a stronger presence within China.

“One of the things that dealing with the Chinese teach you is that you have to think about business in different ways,” says Nick, “For example, when you go to meet somebody for the first time, you do not have business cards. A lot of wholesalers would hand you a cigarette from a red packet with gold writing as a way of greeting you.”

“There is definitely a level of tolerance, acceptability and flexibility that you have to demonstrate in China that you do not have to anywhere else in the world. So this experience taught me a lot,” Nick adds.

In 2017, Nick joined Fernland as its National Sales and Marketing Manager, selling horticultural and nursery supplies including turf care, landscape and revegetation, and home garden products. Fernland also have a construction division called EnviroTec that builds shade houses and greenhouses for growers.

“Our business has noticed the flow-on effect of a renewed interest in gardening,” says Nick, who was recently promoted to General Manager, “We have got a 4,000 square metre facility here in Yandina and are building another warehouse next door. We are expanding to better support this growing industry and aiming to make our unique products more accessible to more people.”.

“With COVID, there has been a huge interest in gardening from a lot more people,” Nick continues, “Growers are a lot busier than they have ever been. We are a lot busier than we have ever been.”

Nick would like the greenlife industry to continue to capitalise on this growth as a whole and says this is one of his key motivations for joining the GIA board.

“I want make sure that we keep hold of these customers and make sure they do not go back to something else,” Nick explains.

As a GIA Director, Nick is looking to build a stronger relationship with the state associations and to improve shipping times and costs for those businesses importing products into the country. He says that recent increases in the cost of and time to ship products into Australia are forcing businesses to think differently.

“Instead of taking three months, it can now take up to eight months to deliver a container to this country,” Nick explains, “So we as a business and an industry are having to think what our customer is going to want in eight months’ time.”

Nick’s business dealings with Syngenta, Bayer and ICL have also made him acutely aware of the potential fertiliser and chemical shortages likely to occur within the next year or so, and he is keen for the industry to act on this issue.

In addition to his business and industry involvement, Nick is a big believer in finding time away from work to relax. He is a huge sports fan, playing tennis several times a week at his local tennis club where he also volunteers on the committee. However, Nick’s biggest sporting love is soccer.

"I am a huge supporter of Portsmouth because that is my hometown in the UK,” Nick explains, "Probably the best day of my sporting life was when Portsmouth won the FA Cup at Wembley against Cardiff City in 2008. That was the first time they had played in the final since 1939. There were over 85,000 people in the stadium. I remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck with excitement.”

Living close to Noosa, Nick enjoys spending time at the beach with his wife, two children and their dog Paul Anka. Why is his dog called Paul Anka? Well, you will just have to ask Nick for yourself. Do not be shy as given his work experience, Nick is very approachable.

“I have an open mind and an understanding and an empathy towards smaller growers and the bigger businesses that exist,” says Nick.

This self-described horticultural all-rounder has visited all corners of the globe from Holland to Kenya to Ecuador seeking or selling cut flowers and plants.

“Everybody grows things differently. I am keen to share some of the information that these growers have shared with me to help the whole industry,” Nick concludes.