We’ve voted at our AGM today to add a third tier garden centre category for members and to reduce our regions to four (January 29, 2024). The vote took place at our annual conference in the Cotswolds this morning. Our CEO Peter Burks explains: “We have spent a lot of time responding to members comments…
We’ve secured a plethora of sponsors for our 55th annual conference taking place next week (January 28-31, 2024) including joint headline sponsorship from Evergreen Garden Care and Westland Horticulture. A further 21 companies have also sponsored awards, days, speakers and various other aspects of the event this year including Smart Garden Products as a secondary…
Our members have chosen to support three charities at our annual conference this year (2024). Delegates attending the event in the Cotswolds will be able to take part in a GCA Charity Day this Sunday (January 28) as well as participate in a fundraising raffle during the week. GCA Charity Day Our CEO Peter Burks…
Attendees at our conference in the Cotswolds next week will see two new awards added to the roster this year (2024). The Ian Boardman Indoor Plant Award and the Food Hall/Farm Shop Award will be presented to the best Destination Garden Centre (DGC) and Garden Centre (GC) in both categories. Greater recognition Our CEO Peter…
The UK’s specialist retailers are preparing to come together again this April as Farm Shop & Deli Show returns to the NEC as part of the 2024 UK Food & Drink Shows (29th April – 1st May). Farm Shop & Deli Show joins Food & Drink Expo, The Restaurant Show, National Convenience Show and The…
Catering once again dished up the best figures in our December 2023 Barometer of Trade (BoT) report with outdoor plants and houseplants also doing well (January 2024). Up 18.18%, it was the top performing category recorded by our member garden centres last month, excluding the miscellaneous section. It was closely followed by outdoor plants at…
Good news, it’s time to start getting excited about spuds! Instead of them being only for the allotmenteer or the gardener with the large veg patch, everyone can grow them these days, even if you only have a small urban balcony or patio, says our CEO and trained horticulturalist, Peter Burks. The waxy first earlies…
Orchids are very popular as Christmas and New Year gifts so if you received one and are now wondering how to care for it properly, then here are my top tips to help keep it looking good for longer, says our CEO and trained horticulturalist, Peter Burks. Orchids have a reputation for being difficult to…
Nothing beats eating the veggies you have grown yourself, says our CEO Peter Burks. Peter is a keen allotmenteer and trained horticulturalist, who has worked in directorial and senior management positions for garden centres nationwide for more than 40 years and has a degree in horticulture from the University of Bath. This is what he…
Garden centre members have revealed their trading results for November in the organisation’s latest Barometer of Trade (BoT) report – with catering in poll position (2023). The figures show a year-to-date variance of 2.38% and that 11 of the 13 categories, recorded by member garden centres, saw an uplift during the month. Very encouraging Our…