Meet the Team | Twenty Pence Garden Centre

Meet the Team

A Garden Centre has been on this site since 1989 when John Seppings opened a farm shop to help sell apples, plums and plants that the family grew on land around the village. Within 2 years the family were granted permission for a change of use to a Garden Centre and the Twenty Pence Garden Centre was born.

John’s son Richard and his wife ran the garden centre until 1998 when his brother Clive and sister Pandora (the current owners) took over the running of the garden centre. Their father, John Seppings, decided to bring things up to date and a new garden centre was built in various phases over the years and constantly increasing the size of the shop and adding extra facilities.

Twenty Pence believes its employees are its greatest asset and would like you to ‘Meet the Management Team'.

Gavin – Director Gavin joined us in 2001 to open our new venture Applejacks restaurant before becoming the General Manager of the Centre. He worked closely with the family to help grow the business and to ensure their values and visions are still part of the business today which is to offer a family friendly shopping experience to all, stocking high quality, plants and always ensuring the customer leaves with all the gardening knowledge and advice needed to create their perfect garden. When not at work he likes trying out new local cuisine and spending time with family and friends so you will often find him in one of our restaurants!	Jim – Store Manager Started back in 2002 as a Weekend Catering Assistant and after 2 years moved onto the Garden Centre Sales Assistant Team with an interest in Garden Design and Landscaping at heart. In 2005 Jim took a full time position and swiftly moved on to Supervisory Tasks. Within a few years Jim progressed to join the management team and ultimately became the Store Manager. Still a keen Horticulturalist and Garden Designer, Jim most enjoys being outdoors and in his spare time, loves a bit of DIY!
Amanda – Food Hall Manager Joined Twenty Pence as Assistant Restaurant Manager in Oct 2019 and has since been promoted to Food Hall Manager in 2023. Coming from a similar background, Amanda was previously the Manager of a Farm Shop. She loves working at Twenty Pence because of the variety of her job where no two days are the same and enjoys meeting all our great customers. In her spare time she enjoys gardening and spending time with her family -mostly visiting gardens and walking all their dogs!	Paul – Plant Manager Paul grew up on a private estate, where his father was Head Gardener. Through this he was lucky to meet some great gardeners including the great, grey plant grower Mrs Desmond Underwood. His first garden job was as gardener at Farm Hall, Godmanchester and then he studied for 3 years at Cambridge College of Horticulture, self-funded. During this time he ran his own gardening business and wrote a weekly gardening column for a local paper. In 2013 Paul joined the team at Twenty Pence. Starting as Plant Area Team Leader and moving up to Plant Area Manager, Paul most enjoys sourcing unusual plants for the store and loves passing on his plant knowledge to the rest of the team.
Rebecca - Restaurant Manager Applejacks When she was only 18 years old, she started her career in hospitality and over the years, worked her way up to Restaurant Manager, holding various positions in pubs and restaurants along the way. Joining the team at Twenty Pence in 2021 as Assistant Manager of Applejacks Restaurant and within two months was promoted to Restaurant Manager. In her spare time loves going for long dog walks and spending time with her family and friends.	John - Front of House Assistant Manager at Applejacks John joined in July 2024. He is passionate about providing excellent customer service and a first class experience within Applejacks everytime. John loves eating out and long walks with his Springador.
Peter – Senior Supervisor From a well-established catering background, Peter joined the team in 2018 as a Sales Assistant. He worked his way up to Senior Supervisor, gaining his forklift licence on the way, preparing the perfect pizza in the Orchard Pizzeria and is one of our designated First Aiders. In his spare time he enjoys socialising and hosting big BBQs for his friends and family.	Jon– Supervisor Jon joined the team back in 2018 as a young college student looking for a part-time job. He thoroughly enjoyed working as part of a great team in his local area. He began to develop, taking many roles in the business from Sales Assistant to Team Leader to his current position. Outside of Twenty Pence, he runs and plays in his own 6 a side football team. His other passions include golf and fishing.
	Annabelle - Team Leader Annabelle joined the team in January 2023 as a Part Time Sales Assistant. She has worked her way up the career ladder to a Team Leader. In her spare time she's a bit of a daredevil and loves to skydive.