Garden centres had sparkling results with Christmas sales

Christmas shoppers headed to our member garden centres rather than the high street for their festive decorations and gifts during November and December (2013) with sales in both categories up on the same months last year.

Our Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures revealed Christmas sales were up by 12.57% in November and 5.95% in December compared to the previous year.

Our Chairman, Peter Burks, explained: “Sales of gifts during November were up 8.14% compared to the previous year and December gift sales were up 5.58% on 2012.

“It’s encouraging to see more people preparing for Christmas by visiting garden centres in their areas instead of high streets to pick up essentials.”

Expanded Rising Star programme to launch at GCA conference

Our innovative Rising Stars programme sponsored by Westland Horticulture will be expanded further this year (2014) due to its successes in 2013.

We will unveil our plans for the coming year at our annual conference, which takes place from January 26 until 29 in Blackpool.

Iain Wylie, our Chief Executive, said: “Our innovative Rising Stars programme has had a tremendously successful year and looks set to be bigger and better in 2014.

“From discussions with Westland, we are aiming to involve a larger group to participate in the workshops throughout 2014. Our two 2013 winners will also do presentations at the event to provide an insight into all they have learnt, the benefits of entering for themselves personally and also for the garden centres where they work.”

It’s not too late to book a place for our conference

Gentle reminder – it’s not too late to book for our annual conference later this month (January 26 – 29, 2014).

Our conference, which will include talks, industry updates and opportunities to socialise, takes place from January 26 until 29, 2014 at the Hilton Blackpool Hotel.

Iain Wylie, our Chief Executive, said: “We wanted to let people know it’s not too late to book for our conference, so if you are hoping to attend, please visit the members’ section of our website via www.gca.org.uk to book your place.

Garden centres invited to compete for Worrall Cup

We’re inviting our members to put their marketing campaigns to the test and compete for a chance to win the Worrall Cup.

We’re looking for the garden centre that has come up with the best, most inspiring marketing campaign or initiative. We want our members to show flair and creativity and most importantly inspire others to follow suit.

People can request a form via info@gca.org.uk or download one from www.gca.org.uk.

Entries can be submitted via post to Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, at Horticulture House, 19 High Street, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 5AH or via email at info@gca.org.uk. The deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday, January 17.

Christmas display competition winners announced

Bents and Castle Gardens have recently been announced as the winners of our prestigious annual Christmas display competition.

The garden centres were judged to have the best Christmas displays in the UK by our Chairman Peter Burks and will be presented with their awards at our annual conference (January 26 until 29, 2014).

Our e-learning GROWs with festive modules

We have recently released two festive modules as part of our e-learning initiative Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW).

The latest modules for the scheme, which helps member garden centres keep their customer service at the highest standards, include real Christmas and artificial Christmas trees.

Our Chief Executive, Iain Wylie said: “Christmas is one of the busiest times at our member garden centres. With Christmas trees being one of the main selling points it is important staff are able to competently help customers and answer any questions they may have, which is why we released these two modules ahead of this important selling period.

Hurry...to get your conference place!

IF YOU are wishing to attend our annual conference in January (2014) sign up soon to secure your place.

The conference, which takes place from January 26 until 29, 2014 at the Hilton Blackpool Hotel will include talks from top speakers, latest news from the industry and networking opportunities.

Our Chief Executive, Iain Wylie, said: “We have had a great run on bookings and numbers so far and expect this year’s conference to be one of our biggest and best yet. Places are filling up fast so if you want to secure a place we suggest getting in touch soon to avoid disappointment.