From garden care to customer care: how Hozelock reimagined CX with Zendesk AI

Cultivating customer care with the precision of a gardener

Just outside Birmingham, not far from where it all began in 1959, Hozelock is still doing what it does best—helping people care for their outdoor spaces. Its award-winning hose reels, sprayers, and garden tools have earned the trust of generations, blending British engineering with an intuitive feel for what gardeners really need.

Today, Hozelock is more than a household name in the UK. As part of Excel Industries—a third-generation, family-owned group—the company serves gardening enthusiasts across Europe, with products sold through major retailers like B&Q, Amazon, and Carrefour. From vineyards in France to back gardens in the UK, its garden care solutions are built for simplicity, sustainability, and satisfaction.

While its business model is B2B, Hozelock’s loyalty is to the end user. Every product question, spare part request, or guarantee claim is an opportunity to turn a challenge into a moment of brand trust. “Our job is to convert disappointment into advocacy,” says Strategy & Growth Officer and Deputy CEO Simon Davies.

To make that promise real, Hozelock supports thousands of consumers each year through email and live chat—assisted by automation and AI-driven flows. Zendesk has been at the core of its support strategy since 2020—powering a shift toward faster, smarter, messaging-first service. Known for their hands-on approach and appetite for innovation, the team isn’t standing still. As Customer Service Manager Ross Cumberlidge puts it, “We are totally enabled by technology—and we’re advocates for it.”

Planting the seeds of change

Before adopting Zendesk, Hozelock’s customer support relied almost entirely on email. It worked—but as seasonal volumes grew and customer expectations shifted, the limitations became clear. Without live chat or messaging, agents had few ways to engage in real time, and even simple queries often led to lengthy email threads.

The team recognised it was time for change. Internally, there was a growing appetite to explore new channels, improve resolution times, and create a more agile, connected experience. “A lot of businesses would’ve waited,” said Cumberlidge. “But the appetite was there—and we wanted to see the art of the possible.”

Whatever came next had to reflect Hozelock’s values: high-quality service, a personal touch, and full ownership of the customer experience. The goal wasn’t just to modernise—it was to do it their own way.

From garden hoses to smarter conversations with AI Agents

With Zendesk in place, Hozelock quickly moved beyond traditional email to redesign how customers engage with the brand. The team embraced Zendesk Messaging to deliver live, conversational support—creating a unified, flexible experience tailored to modern needs. Zendesk’s adaptability gave them the freedom to move fast, without sacrificing control.

A key breakthrough came with Zendesk AI Agents. Cumberlidge, together with the Customer Services Team Leader Chloe Bushell, designed and developed ten AI Agents entirely in-house—mapping decision trees, scripting flows, and pressure-testing every interaction. “Because we understood our customers, we didn’t need to go anywhere else to build them,” explains Cumberlidge. “We had the knowledge within.”

Hozelock’s AI Agents were designed to address a wide range of common support needs—like product queries, spare part requests, and guarantee claims—and were carefully rolled out with business input and live feedback.

The result is a dynamic, continually evolving automation strategy. The team’s expertise has since also supported the launch of localised AI Agents in France—and next, they’re planning to deepen automation across channels by integrating AI more closely with backend systems to handle even more complex queries. “What we’ve done so far is just the beginning,” says Cumberlidge. “What comes next is even more exciting.”

The Hozelock and Zendesk effect in full bloom

The impact of Hozelock’s automation strategy was immediate—and measurable. Within weeks of launching Zendesk AI Agents, 65% of customer conversations were being resolved without the need for a human agent. They not only reduced pressure on the team, but also improved speed, consistency, and satisfaction across every interaction.

While email still plays a role, Zendesk Messaging is now the beating heart of Hozelock’s support operation. The team averages around 100 email enquiries per day, but the majority of traffic flows through live chat, where customers receive a response in under 60 seconds. For more complex requests, a friendly holding message keeps the experience smooth and responsive.

Behind the scenes, performance is reviewed daily. The team tracks AI Agent resolution rates, monitors emerging intents, and updates flows in real time to reflect seasonal shifts or spikes in certain query types. When spare part questions surged on a Monday, they adapted an AI Agent overnight—adding a new decision branch the very next day. It’s a continuous loop of improvement, powered by data and close proximity to customer needs.

Customer satisfaction has followed suit. Hozelock’s live chat CSAT is trending consistently above 92%, while its Trustpilot score sits at a market-leading 4.6—with a goal of reaching 4.7. “That’s in excess of all our competitors,” says Cumberlidge. “And we’re only just getting started.”

The next season where innovation takes root

Hozelock’s journey with Zendesk is far from finished. With strong foundations in place, the team is already preparing for its next leap: expanding the use of AI to bring greater automation into email workflows. By combining macros with intelligent decision trees, they’re aiming to resolve high-volume queries without needing to involve a human agent.

“We’re not just delivering for customer service anymore—we’re thinking about how AI supports the entire consumer experience.”Ross Cumberlidge, Customer Service Manager at HozelockThat’s only the start. AI Agent-specific satisfaction tracking is next, along with a more personalised tone of voice across channels. Inspired by early success, Hozelock is exploring how AI can support customers not just reactively, but proactively—whether it’s in-store guidance via QR codes or multilingual assistance that helps gardeners across Europe, any time of day.

For Davies, the vision is global. He imagines a world where a customer in Poland can access the same helpful, human-feeling support as one in Birmingham—on a Sunday night, in their own language, without needing to wait. “I don’t want a bot that just points me in the right direction—I want one that actually solves my problem, like a real customer service agent would,” Davies shares.

At Hozelock, innovation isn’t outsourced—it’s embedded. “We’re not just delivering for customer service anymore—we’re thinking about how AI supports the entire consumer experience,” says Cumberlidge. “The product is exceptional, but the partnership we’ve developed with Zendesk is just as important.” With a foundation of automation, insight, and trust, Hozelock is growing more than simply customer satisfaction—they’re building the future of service with Zendesk.