The poor weather sees summer savings hitting the shops earlier than expected to clear stocks. Some are going as far as introducing unusual methods such as rainy- day discounts and buy- one-get-one-free offers to increase sales.

At London’s North One and West Six garden centres customers currently receive a 10 per cent discount on all purchases if it is raining. Creative director Paul Holt said:

“Let’s face it – the weather has been miserable and many of us have neglected our gardens. With more rain forecast for June, we want to give people an incentive to feel more positive and get out there.”

Peter Burks, the chairman of the Garden Centre Association, had been quoted saying:

“We had an executive meeting last week and most people said they were sitting on more stock than they wanted. Getting stock turning into cash was a concern. No one sounded horrendous – it was just a concern. It was stock across the board, but with furniture and barbecues people had more stock than they wanted because the season has not happened”

about the amplitude of summer stock left over in garden retailers across the country.