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…
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…
We’ve had several new members join us in 2023 – with nine garden centres and 22 associates signing up and approved so far this year. These garden centres include Hillmount Garden Centre, Belfast, The Hertfordshire Garden Centre, Yarnton Home & Garden, Oxfordshire, Rutland Nursery and five Hilliers – Newbury, Three-Legged Cross, Weyhill, Aldermaston and Lechlade. Peter Burks,…
CASTLE Gardens (Garden Centre category) in Dorset and Garsons Garden Centre Esher (Destination Garden Centre) are the national winners of our Gisela Graham-sponsored annual Christmas competition 2023. The garden centres were judged to have the best festive displays in the country and will receive their awards at our annual conference in January 2024. Congratulations Our…
Members are being asked to vote for their Associate Member of the Year for 2023 – with the winner to be announced at our annual conference in the Cotswolds this January (January 28 until 31, 2024). The award recognises companies or individuals that have contributed to the success of the sector and is highly regarded…
We’re inviting members to put their marketing and community campaigns forward for our annual Worrall Cup competition (December 2023). We’ll be awarding a cup to the garden centre with the best marketing and community initiative during our 2024 annual conference in the Cotswolds next month (January 28 until 31, 2024). Flair & creativity Our CEO,…
Bestselling author and BBC radio and TV neuroscience presenter, Dr Hannah Critchlow will be speaking about wellbeing at our annual conference on the Tuesday, January 30 (January 28 until 31, 2024). Named by the journal Nature in 2019 as one of the ‘Rising Stars in Life Sciences’, Hannah is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist and Fellow…
Our Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures for October reveal a ‘strong food theme’ at our member garden centres (2023). Eight of our 13 categories saw an uplift during the month as recorded by member centres, and the figures also revealed a positive year-to-date variance of +2.27%. Strongest performing Peter Burks, our Chief Executive, explains: “Catering…
GCA HR Webinar Thursday 7th December 9.30am. We will be holding the above Webinar, chaired by Tammy Woodhouse, and aimed at HR departments and retail departmental managers, but all are welcome and it is completely free of charge. The main focus will be two hotly debated topics in recent times; Recruitment and Retention. We have…
Our members will hear from Human Resources (HR) professionals as well as peers on the topic of recruitment and retention during a free webinar next month (December 2023). We’re hosting the event, chaired by our Chairman Tammy Woodhouse, on Thursday, December 7 from 9.30am and it’s aimed at members’ HR departments and retail departmental managers.…