Garden Centre team lift Greenfingers Challenge Cup

Some of our members are celebrating after being crowned the winners of a game of golf with a difference and helping raise £30,000 for Greenfingers (January, 2017).

The Greenfingers Challenge Cup, which was held at St Andrews in Scotland and marked the start of our annual conference, saw the garden centre team, the Pansies, take the crown.

This year’s Greenfingers Challenge Cup included the Pansies and the Cabbages going up against each other in a round of golf with a difference and what a fantastic event it was. It is great news that such a substantial amount was raised for such a worthwhile cause.

We’d like to congratulate the Pansies on their win and thank everyone who took part.

Guy Topping, Managing Director of Barton Grange Garden Centre lead the garden centre team and Ian Flounders from Woodlodge lead the supplier team.

Greenfingers was launched in November 1998 by a group of volunteers drawn from all sectors of the gardening industry.

It supports children who use hospices around the UK, along with their families, by creating outdoor spaces for them to enjoy with family, friends and siblings, whether through play and fun or therapeutic rest and relaxation. To date it has created 51 gardens and outdoor spaces in hospices around the country.

We reveal our ‘Garden Centres of Excellence’ winners

We have today (Tuesday, January 24, 2017) revealed the winners of our most prestigious awards at our 51^st annual conference including our 10 Garden Centres of Excellence.

The announcement of the top award winners at our dinner during our annual conference recognise the very best garden centres in the country. We would like to say a huge congratulations to all of the winners who have showed they are diligent, committed, enthusiastic and hardworking and are a credit to the horticultural industry.

The full list of winners announced on Tuesday, January 24 were:

Garden Centres of Excellence (top 10 in alphabetical order not order of inspection scores): 

1. Barton Grange Garden Centre 
2. Bents Garden and Home 
3. Burston Rose and Garden Centre 
4. Cowell’s Garden Centre 
5. Gordale Nurseries Ltd 
6. Haskins Garden Centre, Southampton 
7. Haskins Garden Centre, Roundstone 
8. Simpsons Garden Centre 
9. Squires Garden Centre, Milford 
10. Stewarts Garden Centre, Christchurch.

The Worrall Cup:

• The award for Best Marketing Campaign or Initiative was won by The Gardens Group.

Associate of the Year:

• Woodlodge

Garden Centre of the Year:

• Cowell’s Garden Centre

Destination Garden Centre of the Year:

• Barton Grange Garden Centre

Garden centres scoop top awards at our conference

Garden centres from across the country scooped awards at our annual conference today (January 23, 2017).

The awards were presented to the member garden centres during the ceremony at St Andrews in Scotland.

We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our winners on their successes. It is clear that they have worked extremely hard during the past year to reach and maintain the very highest of standards in garden centre retail excellence. Our inspectors were extremely impressed with the progress.

The full list of winners announced on Monday, January 23 were:                                                     

• Christmas Competition (Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Castle Gardens
• Christmas Competition (Destination Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Barton Grange Garden Centre 
• Environment and Community Award – Garden Wise, Dumfries 
• Ruxley Rose (Garden Centre category) – Cowell’s Garden Centre 
• Ruxley Rose (Destination Garden Centre category) – Squires Garden Centre, Twickenham 
• Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Creativity and Innovation – Haskins Garden Centre, Southampton 
• Customer Service Award – Best Customer Service – The Old Railway Line Garden Centre 
• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Squires Garden Centre, Shepperton 
• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – Barton Grange Garden Centre 
• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Cowell’s Garden Centre 
• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – Barton Grange Garden Centre 
• Dick Allen Award (Most Improved Garden Centre) – Langlands Garden Centre, Loxley 
• The IFSE Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Garden Centre Category) – Squires Garden Centre, Shepperton 
• The IFSE Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Destination Garden Centre Category) – Bents Garden and Home 
• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Garden Centre Category) – Fairways Garden Centre, Ashbourne 
• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Destination Garden Centre Category) Bents Garden and Home.

We welcome our new inspectors

We have today (Monday, January 23, 2017) announced our three new inspectors who will begin visiting member garden centres this spring.

Michael Cole, Gordon Emslie and Hedley Triggs will join current inspector, Roger Crookes, to complete the team for 2017.

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Michael, Gordon and Hedley, who will be joining remaining inspector, Roger Crookes. The three new members will go through a thorough induction process before the inspection window opens to ensure the consistency of marking that we all expect continues.

We would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Alyson Haywood, Andy Campbell and Ian Boardman for their hard work as inspectors for the GCA. Andy and Ian had been visiting member garden centres for many years while Alyson was a relative newcomer, however they all leave with our thanks and best wishes for the future.

Michael joined Notcutts Garden Centre in St Albans in January 1978 as a General Assistant, working in the planteria. He went on to become Centre Manager six years later.

He was appointed as a Regional Manager in 1987 and oversaw the running of five Notcutts eastern region garden centre. In 2009 he became Business Development and Retail Property Director, overseeing the development of Notcutts’ award winning garden centre at Pembury, Tunbridge Wells and establishment of a new look Notcutts at Wheatcroft, Woodford Park, Norwich and Staines garden centres.

Gordon’s early career experience was in multiple retailing. Prior to setting up a consultancy business in 2006 he was a Store Manager, responsible for a team of 650 and sales of £100M per annum, and business coach within Sainsbury’s.

As a consultant, Gordon has worked with a number of retail clients, including garden centres, focusing on the retail journey and customer service as well as development of the teams who deliver this.

Most recently Hedley has been the manager at the Blue Diamond Trelawney Garden Centre and prior to this can boast 25 years’ experience at management level within garden centres and for growers or plant suppliers. Prior to Trelawney, Hedley was a manager for Wyevale.

He also ran centres such as Sanders Garden World, Bridgemere Garden Centre and Jacks Patch Garden Centre. He was a member of the project management team for the group’s redevelopment of their Percy Thrower’s centre in Shropshire. He started his garden centre career working for Klondyke/Strikes where he held centre manager and buying roles.

The 2017 inspections for member garden centres will commence on Monday, March 20 and centres will be visited until Friday, June 16. The inspection visits are unannounced which enables the inspectors to gain a true picture of the centre they are visiting and then give valuable feedback.

Michael, Gordon and Hedley, along with Roger, will visit member centres and give objective and honest feedback on what they find. They will produce detailed reports and provide ideas for improving standards. They will also make presentations at our annual conference in 2018 and regional meetings. It is a huge benefit to GCA members.