A SCHOOLBOY dropout who has become an international plant expert now has a new role on national television.

Nick Macer, from Stroud, has been named a new presenter for the BBC Two programme Gardeners’ World.

Nick, who founded Pan-global Plants based in Frampton-on-Severn in 1997, has travelled the world to find collections of plants for his unique nursery and become an expert in his field.

“I’m hoping that I can bring something more interesting and exciting to the programme,” said Mr Nick, a former pupil at Archway School, Stroud.

“I think that’s partly why they chose me to take the programme in a slightly different direction.”

He started presenting for the programme on Friday, September 2.

Describing himself as a ‘rebellious youth’, Nick left school after failing his exams before discovering the world of horticulture at the age of 21.

He took a three-year course at Merrist Wood College in Surrey to learn about the world of plants, before taking six-month placements at Westonbirt Arboretum and the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire.

He rented land at Painswick Rococo Garden, before setting up Pan-global Plants where some of the rarest plants in the UK are grown.

The nursery supplies major gardens across the UK and Europe, including the RHS, National Trust and Buckingham Palace.

Nick adds hundreds of new varieties to his collection every year, travelling across the world to find new plants.

He has visited nearly 30 different countries, including Chile, Vietnam, Mexico, India and China.