Alan Sargent | Over 50 years of experience in an ever-changing industry

In this week’s episode Paula is talking to a legend of the industry, founder of the APL and most recently the creator of The Landscape Library, Alan Sargent. Today they are talking about all things landscaping, changes in the industry and what to expect in the future.Alan has been working in the industry for over 52 years, since 1968, and finished his last construction job in February 2020. Alan has seen many great changes in the industry through the years, but most notably is equipment. Materials are also much lighter and user friendly - basically everything has changed from doors to equipment and machinery, everything has become revolutionised.In 1978 Alan joined the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI). However, Alan found them too commercial so he resigned from BALI and founded the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) for domestic businesses.Alan founded the APL in 1995. Firstly, Alan held a public meeting in Birmingham where 40 companies signed up. The APL has since grown and grown to being one of the biggest landscaping associations in the world.In 2016, Alan founded the Professional Garden Consultants Association. Alan felt like there was a need and there were plenty of people who wanted to come off the tools, so it gave them a voice to work and still be in the industry. Alan launched The Landscape Library on January 1st 2020 and he already has 250 subscribers, with all the colleges signed up, to view the resources and practical help which you can’t get anywhere else.Finally, Paula asks Alan how he sees the future of the industry. Alan mentions this year has done good things to the industry, with enquires much higher as people are looking to redo their gardens or driveways with all this time at home. Alan predicts that this will keep on going for a while, and a lot of businesses will be successful out of Covid.How key is it to have a good designer?Alan is 100% behind designers as people are realising they must have a design and planning permission. Designers need to put their business head on as then there should be no question on whether the customer doesn’t choose to see the design. Alan is currently doing Zoom classes on the first day of every month looking at specific topics for garden designers. The December topic was on the roles and responsibility of garden designers. If you are interested in these please get in touch with Phil from The APL.KEY TAKEAWAYS:- Join in on the Zoom meetings, email [email protected] Check out the APL & Landscape LibraryThe Landscape Library - https://www.landscapelibrary.co.uk/APL - https://www.landscaper.org.uk/Professional Garden Consultancy Association -https://www.pgca.org.uk/