Clothing and houseplants were best sellers at garden centres across the country according to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) report for November (2019). Compared to the same month in 2018, sales in clothing were up 15.92% followed closely by houseplants at 15.38% up. It’s interesting to see non-traditional and traditional categories such as clothing and…
Barton Grange Garden Centre and Whitehall Garden Centre – Whitchurch have 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, 2020. Each year our member’s Christmas displays get…
The UK’s current love for indoor plants shows no sign of diminishing as new research claims most flatsharers own at least one houseplant each. In our Barometer of Trade for October (2019) houseplants were recorded among the bestsellers by member garden centres for the third consecutive month, with sales up 13.47% on last year. The…
Emma Lamb and Sam Clark who were sponsored by the GCA Trust to attend the International Garden Centre Association (IGCA) Congress have reported back about their experiences (October 2019). Barton Grange Garden Centre’s Emma and Sam, who works for Cowell’s Garden Centre, were picked for the Trust’s Dick Allen Scholarship Award Scheme and joined more…
We are expanding our team of inspectors after seeing a record number of new members join us this year. The new inspector will visit member garden centres in one or two of the area groups around the country. We have seen a record-breaking 13 new members join us this year and we are processing further…
Houseplants were the best sellers for a second month in a row (September, 2019) at garden centres across the country according to our Barometer of Trade report. Sales were up 12.34% compared to the same month last year (2018). The trend for houseplants doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon, and after a…
The August Bank Holiday Weekend helped lift sales at garden centres across the country at the end of the month according to our Barometer of Trade report. Houseplant sales were up 20.69% compared to the same month last year (2018) and outdoor plant sales were up 6.09%. After experiencing soaring temperatures in July, we were…
Hot weather in July (2019) sent traditional garden centre category sales soaring according to our Barometer of Trade report for the month. Seed and bulb sales were up 50.94%, outdoor plant sales were up 24.02% and sales in houseplants were up 19.7%. It is fantastic to see such a huge rise in sales in traditional…
Our members in Scotland and Northern Ireland are celebrating after picking up awards during a presentation evening recently (Thursday, August 29) at Klondyke Mortonhall Garden Centre. In Scotland, Simpsons Garden Centre was awarded Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category and Mains of Drum Garden Centre in the Garden Centre…
We are encouraging our members to do what they can to help reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill (August, 2019). Two of our member centres recently worked with Herefordshire and Worcestershire authorities to get non-black PP plastic pots and trays accepted in household and kerbside recycling bins. Will Blake, Director at St Peter’s…