Members are welcome to join one or both tours, and bring as many team members as they wish — just RSVP by 26th October to laura@gca.org.uk to confirm your places. Tickets will be between £10 & £20 per person depending on numbers. A coach will be arranged for the day for transport between sites. For…
New GROW food safety course released We’ve launched a new Food Safety Level 3 course on our award-winning e-learning platform today (October 6, 2025). It’s the 98th course to be added to our Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) and it’s available to both our members and those of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA). Legal requirement…
‘National treasure’ at our 2026 Conference We’re delighted to reveal that writer, broadcaster, former MP and Government Whip Gyles Brandreth will be a keynote speaker at our Annual Conference at Carden Park Chester next year (January 25-28, 2026). Gyles, who is now a Chancellor of the University of Chester, is well-known for sporting jolly jumpers,…
First headline sponsor for 2026 conference We’ve secured Evergreen Garden Care as our first headline sponsor for our 60th anniversary year annual conference taking place in January (January 25-28, 2026). Evergreen Garden Care has also pledged to sponsor one of the main keynote speakers for the event – retail guru, businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist…
Our August BoT figures are out! August’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) is out today (September 22, 2025) and it reveals nearly all our categories performed well – with bulb sales getting off to a strong start as we head towards the autumn season. Gifts leading the way Eleven of the 13 categories recorded by our…
Dan Lawton joins our Executive Committee as Area Co-Chair for the North Dan Lawton from Moss & Moor has joined our Executive Committee as Area Co-Chair for the North, which includes Scotland and Northern Ireland. Dan, General Manager at Moss & Moor, Ilkley is joining our Chair of North, Justin Williams, Managing Director at Fron…
Our 60th anniversary plans & special logo We will be celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2026 and have a special commemorative logo for members to use from now onwards (September 2025). We will mark our birthday at our annual conference in January 2026. Our Chief Executive, Peter says: “We’re launching a special 2026 60th anniversary…
Retail guru Mary Portas to speak at our 2026 GCA Conference Businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist Mary Portas OBE will be speaking about retail at our annual conference at Carden Park Chester on Monday, January 26. Mary made her name creating change and in 2024 she was awarded an OBE for her services to business,…
Please register for our next GCA webinar hosted by Peter Burks ‘Making more from what you already have’, which will provide 5 key takeaways that all businesses could use immediately. There will be a presentation by Andrew Burton from Pleydell Smithyman. We will also hear from Corby and Fellas, who will give insights into…
BoT reveals sales in July ‘bounced back’ after June’s hot weather Our July 2025 Barometer of Trade (BoT) is out today (August 20) and it shows ‘a good mid-summer performance’. Member garden centres reported that eight of the 13 categories recorded did well, when compared to 2024, with furniture and BBQs, up at +16.72%, crowned…