Hal Cruttenden to compere our conference dinner

Radio and TV comedian, writer and actor Hal Cruttenden will be compering our awards dinner at our conference next month (January 26, 2016).

The talented entertainer will host our annual event on Tuesday, January 26 at The Grand Hotel in Brighton.

Hal is one of the top comedians working in the UK today, as well as being a highly accomplished writer and actor.

During the last year he’s made his second appearance on ‘The Royal Variety Performance’, hosted ‘Live at the Apollo’ and was the guest comic in the final of ‘The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice’.

‘He’s also appeared on ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Have I Got News For You’, ‘Sunday Night at the Palladium’, ‘Mock The Week’, ‘Pointless Celebrities’, ‘Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled’ and wrote and performed in his own Radio 4 sitcom called ‘Hal’.

The talented comedian has been nominated for the prestigious Perrier and The Chortle Awards and his recent tour – Tough Luvvie – saw him perform 170 dates.

Having originally trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, his acting career has included roles on TV including ‘Shackleton’, ‘Eastenders’, ‘Out of the Blue’, ‘Touching Evil’ and ‘Bramwell’.

He has also been in the movies ‘The Madness of King George’ and ‘Mrs Dalloway’. In the theatre he has appeared in ‘Making News at the Edinburgh Festival’ and ‘Orwell A Celebration’ at Trafalgar Studios London and the Edinburgh Festival.

We’re really looking forward to Hal’s appearance and it’s not too late to book if you are hoping to attend, please visit the members’ section of our website via www.gca.org.uk to book your place.

With a super venue, a great line-up of speakers and plenty of opportunities to catch up with old friends from the industry, this year’s conference is set to be a fantastic occasion, especially as its our golden jubilee in 2016.

To book, please visit the members’ section of our website via www.gca.org.uk. Sponsorship slots have filled up well too but there are still one or two left so if companies are interested in this, please give us a call on 0118 930 8918.

Our annual conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016. More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the event.

Garden centres sparkle with Christmas displays

We’ve revealed the regional winners of our annual Christmas display competition this week (November 23, 2015).

Fifteen garden centres have been named as having the best overall Christmas displays in their individual regions.

Iain Wylie, our GCA Chief Executive, says: “I am delighted to announce the area winners of our Christmas competition. The centres are now being judged to determine the national winners. Congratulations to all the winners so far and thank you to our band of judges who volunteered to visit them. I’d like to wish all the area winners good luck in the next round!”

The two overall national winners will be announced later this month and presented with their awards at our annual conference in January.

The results are as follows for the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) and Garden Centre (GC) categories: Barton Grange (DGC) in Lancashire and Burleydam Garden Centre (GC) in Cheshire came top in the North West. Squires Badshot Lea (DGC) in Surrey and Millbrook - Gravesend (GC) in Kent were the winners in the South Thames region. 

Also going through in the North West region is Bents (DGC) in Cheshire and from South Thames, Castle Gardens (GC) in Dorset. They both go through to the national finals as they were last year’s overall winners, giving an additional finalist from their respective areas.

Meanwhile in the Wales and West area, Whitehall Garden Centre (DGC) at Lacock in Wiltshire and Brimsmore Gardens (GC) in Somerset are in pole position with Van Hage Great Amwell (DGC) in Hertfordshire and Frosts – Brampton in Cambridgeshire coming out top in the North Thames region.

In the North East, Langlands Shiptonthorpe (DGC) in Yorkshire and Langlands (GC) Leeds, West Yorkshire came first and in the Midlands the winners were St Peters (DGC) and Pennells – Lincoln (GC), Lincolnshire.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the overall winner was Glendoick Garden Centre (GC) in Perth.

The national judging begins now (November 23, 2015) and, this year, Andy Campbell will be visiting all the centres over a two week period. Good luck to everyone in the national competition. There has been some excellent feedback about the wonderful Christmas displays across the country from the area judges so it’s going to be an interesting competition this year.

We will be announcing the overall, national winners later this month and they will then receive their prizes at our annual conference, which takes place at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016.

Retail guru from Germany to inspire our members

A retail expert will be flying in from Germany to speak at our annual conference in January and he says the future for garden centres is bright.

The General Secretary of both the DIY-Retail Association (EDRA) and the Global Home Improvement Network (GHIN), John Herbert will be at our golden jubilee event from January 24 until 27, 2016.

John explained: “I will be presenting on topics based on my lifetime experience in retailing and my presentation to delegates will be entitled: ‘The huge difference – dedicated employees’.

“I will go through why some retailers are successful and others are not. How inspirational leadership can make the difference and where the family-owned business has a huge advantage over other retail conglomerates.

“I speak from personal experience having enjoyed managing a family business, Knauber, which was voted one of the best stores in the world by a USA leading trade magazine and then having worked in the world’s fourth largest retailer, Home Depot EXPO Design Centre, as President, West Coast USA.”

John will also give an insight into the future of retailing based on his knowledge of the sector during the past 11 years. 

   

“I’ve been visiting retailers all over the world for more than a decade, on average 35 times a year, and moderating annually a global congress with 750 delegates from more than 50 countries.  

“I will touch on how the Internet will continue to effect shopping habits and what the stores of the future look like…and it’s not all for the best. But in my opinion there are huge advantages for garden centres going forward”

Our annual conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton from January 24 until 27, 2016. More than 300 delegates are expected to attend the event.

Iain Wylie, our Chief Executive, said: “We’re really looking forward to hearing what John has to say. He has a wealth of knowledge having started his retail career as a trainee in retailing in York, shortly before his 15th birthday, almost 60 years ago.

“He joined the Army in 1962 and in 1965 joined NAAFI Germany as a trainee store manager, leaving as District Manager in 1975. During this time, John was awarded the Queen’s Commission. John joined German Hypermarkets and in 1977 was appointed Director of Sainsburys/BHS first SavaCentre Hypermarket in Washington, which at the time was on the first of its kind in the UK.”

In 1983, he joined Knauber as CEO a small retail German company. In 2000, John was appointed Divisional President of the Home Depot EXPO for the West Coast USA.

By 2002 he was the Managing Director of the BHB, the German DIY Retail Association, and just two years later he took over the recently formed European DIY Retail Association EDRA, which became an independent Association in 2009.

He later founded the Global Home improvement Network, which became an independent association in 2015.   

Iain added: “Today, John is the General Secretary of both the EDRA and GHIN with 127 of the largest home improvement retail companies from around the world as members operating in 99 countries with over 22,000 stores and members sales in excess of $250 billion.”

To book a place at the conference and hear John speak on January 25, 2016, please visit the members’ area on our website www.gca.org.uk or please call us on 0118 930 8918.

Alternatively, log on to our www.facebook.com/GardenCentreAssociation or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.