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Johnsons Nurseries Supplies Plants For Rockliffe‘s Multimillion-Pound Transformation



One of the UK’s largest plant nurseries, Johnsons Nurseries Ltd, has continued its long-standing relationship with the five-star luxury resort, Rockliffe, supplying more than 17,000 plants and trees for its newly landscaped grounds as part of its multimillion-pound transformation.


Set within 375 acres of historic parkland near Darlington, Rockliffe has undergone an extensive transformation, including the restoration of its Grade II-listed Old Hall, enhanced accommodation, new dining experiences, and the creation of a standalone restaurant pavilion named Atlas.


The ambitious project has seen the resort's gardens and outdoor spaces transformed to complement the renovated and new buildings, creating an attractive and welcoming environment for guests.


The landscape and planting scheme was designed by Colour Landscape Architects, while Johnsons Nurseries supplied an extensive selection of shrubs, trees, instant hedging, ornamental grasses, flowering perennials and topiary, creating year-round interest throughout the newly landscaped grounds.


Among the varieties supplied were mature Scots pines, multi-stem Amelanchier lamarckii and Magnolia trees, alongside instant Carpinus betulus hedging and ornamental Taxus baccata topiary. The planting scheme also features an extensive mix of flowering perennials and ornamental grasses, including Anemone 'Honorine Jobert', Geranium 'Rozanne', Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', Calamagrostis and Deschampsia, providing seasonal colour, texture and movement throughout the gardens.


The landscaping was carried out in-house by Rockliffe’s Estates team, led by Head of Engineering & Estates Phil Mennell.


Despite one of the hottest and driest summers, the team worked tirelessly to establish thousands of plants and trees, extensive hedging and new lawn areas, overcoming challenging conditions and tight deadlines to complete the grounds ahead of the resort's reopening.


Group Managing Director at Johnsons Nurseries, Graham Richardson, said:

"We're incredibly proud to have supplied the plants for Rockliffe’s newly transformed gardens as part of this prestigious development."

"From the restoration of the historic walled garden to this latest transformation, it's rewarding to see how the grounds have evolved. The finished gardens look fantastic, and we're delighted to have played a part in creating outdoor spaces that guests can enjoy for years to come."


Phil Mennell, Head of Engineering & Estates at Rockliffe, added:

"This has been one of the most ambitious landscaping projects we've undertaken at Rockliffe, and I'm incredibly proud of what our Estates team has achieved. Working closely with Johnsons Nurseries has been invaluable, ensuring we had the quality and variety of plants needed to bring the designs to life."

"It's been fantastic to see the gardens transform, and I'm looking forward to watching them establish and mature for our guests to enjoy for many years to come."


Emma Fletcher, Director at Colour Landscape Architects, said:

 “Johnsons have been a great support on the delivery of the new gardens at Rockliffe, assisting us on species choices and availability from early design stages and providing flexibility in deliveries to align with the challenging project programme."

"We are delighted that the completed gardens have been so well received, and a large part of that is the impact that the planting beds and stock have had.”


The completed gardens complement the resort's historic parkland setting, enhancing the guest experience and marking another chapter in Johnsons' long-standing relationship with Rockliffe, which reopened at the beginning of September.


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May 27, 2025
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Leading British spring manufacturer Spinks launched four ground-breaking innovations at the Interzum show this month, with three of the products being recognised in this year’s prestigious Interzum Awards – including the highly sought after Best of the Best Award.


Spinks’ latest microcoil and pocket spring technologies showcase its next-generation approach to comfort innovation. The newly-launched Microlution microcoil took home the ‘Best of the Best’ accolade – the highest recognition available at the show – while new spring innovations Quadrolution and Micro Copper were each awarded ‘High Product Quality’.


Micro Trio, a fourth new product, was also unveiled at the international industry show in Cologne, having missed the award entry deadline. Like all Spinks’ innovative technologies, these new spring systems have been designed and created in-house at the company's Yorkshire facility to be recyclable without the use of glue.


Award-winning Spinks innovations launched at Interzum 2025:


• Microlution – the next generation of microcoil technology featuring Spinks’ innovative two-stage approach – two springs working together to provide initial comfort with secondary support in a single layer. The level of luxurious comfort and long-term support this patent-pending technology provides has never before been possible within a microcoil layer.


• Quadrolution – an evolution of Spinks’ innovative glueless QuadCore spring technology, this recyclable system has infinite customisation opportunities, allowing Response Coils to be positioned between each group of QuadCore springs to create a secondary support system that then allows for zoning, phased zoning, or a firm edge. Made with just two raw materials, this patented design offers revolutionary recyclable core technology to the bedding industry.


• Micro Copper – the world’s first microcoil to feature copper-infused nonwoven fabric, resulting in a product with antimicrobial and anti-fungal benefits. The technology utilises the hydrophilic nonwoven currently used within medical applications, while the fine-wire microcoils can be positioned close to the mattress or seating application surface, making it extremely useful where hygiene is paramount – such as transportation seating.


• Micro Trio – a microcoil like no other, with three active coils formed from a single piece of wire to provide unrivalled comfort for mattresses and bedding. The revolutionary patented coil system seamlessly transitions from pressure-relieving comfort to adapt to personalised support for every body type.


Darren Marcangelo, Chief Commercial Officer at Spinks, said:

“This year’s Interzum has been hugely exciting for us. To launch four new technologies that set new standards for comfort and performance is a great milestone and to see three of them recognised with one of the most prestigious awards for our industry – including our first ever ‘Best of the Best’ award – has been a real honour for the team. We're confident we could have won a fourth too if Micro Trio was launched in time."

“These innovations reflect growing demand from bedding and seating manufacturers for highly customisable solutions and versatile designs."

  

“We’re the pioneers of microcoil technology, and we challenged ourselves to deliver even more comfort and support into our range of coils."


“Copper is also a key trend in bedding at present, mainly in the US, but European and Asian manufacturers are starting to adopt it too. Customers want innovative products and want to be able to differentiate – so we’re responding to that with new innovations that offer high levels of customisation, with each developed to give our clients a real competitive advantage.”


The award-winning Micro Copper and Micro Trio is set to be commercially available this year, with Microlution and Quadrolution available from early 2026.



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