The winners of our most prestigious awards including our Garden Centres of Excellence were announced at our annual conference (Tuesday, January 24, 2023). The awards ceremony took place at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa in Blackburn, Lancashire. What a fantastic night we had celebrating our ‘Garden Centres of Excellence’ winners. All of them…
Garden centre staff across the country are celebrating after receiving awards at our annual conference in Blackburn yesterday (Monday, January 23, 2023). The awards were presented to the member garden centres during a ceremony at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa in Blackburn, Lancashire. The hard work and dedication of our member garden centres…
We’re reminding our members to book their places at our first face-to-face conference since 2020, which takes place at the end of this month. The event, which will include talks, industry updates and opportunities to network, takes place at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa in Lancashire from January 22 until 25, 2023. Visit…
Seven individuals from our member garden centres have reached the finals of the Rising Stars programme sponsored by Westland Horticulture (January 2023). The staff were put forward by their garden centres and took part in a series of workshops. Gordon Emslie, who mentored the workshops, said: “I’d like to say a huge ‘congratulations’ to Matt Carr and…
The only woman in the world to have skied across Antarctica alone will be talking about personal resilience and leadership in uncertainty at our annual conference this month. Felicity Aston MBE, who is a climate scientist, polar explorer, expedition leader and record-breaker will be our headline speaker on Tuesday, January 24. A truly inspirational woman…
Guy Singh-Watson will share his expertise on organic farming and ethical business at our annual conference in Blackburn in January (January 22 until 25, 2023). Founder and creator of Riverford The founder and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company, will discuss topics covering business, entrepreneurship and sustainability on…
Catering was the bestselling department at garden centres across the country for the second month in a row during November (2022) according to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) report. Sales were up 14.74% compared to the same month last year (2021). Another good performing category was food sales via food hall and farm shops, which…
Bee Ecologist and founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/ Dave Goulson will share his expertise on sustainability at our annual conference in Blackburn in January (January 22 until 25, 2023). The Professor of Biology at University of Sussex will speak about the importance of ecology and the impact insects and bees have on the environment…
We’re inviting our members to put their marketing campaigns to the test as part of our annual Worrall Cup competition. We’ll be awarding a cup to the garden centre with the best marketing initiative during our annual conference at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel in Lancashire (January 22 until 25, 2023). A creative bunch Our…
Brimsmore Gardens (GC) and Garsons Garden Centre Esher (DGC) have recently (December 2022) been announced as the national winners of our annual Christmas competition. 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 2023. Incredible standard Phil McCann, who…