If you were unable to attend our annual conference this year, then some of our Inspectors have very kindly shared their presentations here, so you can catch up and still take some of their advice and insights to use in the everyday running of your garden centre.
Inspector Colin Farquhar talked to our attendees about best practice through the eyes of a customer.
His presentation included examples of our member garden centres that are doing things right.
Alyson Haywood spoke to attendees about houseplants and indoor and outdoor living; with some more examples from our member garden centres that she had spotted while out and about visiting them. These included centres promoting the importance of bees, the health benefits of plants and how indoor plants can be used.
She also talked about greener clothing and advised centres to tell their green story wherever possible.
Gaining customers loyalty and improving the environment were covered by Inspector Phil McCann. Gordon Emslie talked about support and the importance of promoting local businesses.
You can download Colin, Alyson, Phil and Gordon’s presentation here https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ejccs1lq5gh4fhrm9mgf1/GCA-2023-Conference-Inspectors-round-up-9.30-10.45-am-Mon.pptx?dl=0&rlkey=tfnltv79ucom0pespg2uvm6iu
Also, during the conference, our Inspectors presented their findings as part of our Christmas Competition.
Judging began on November 1 and finished on November 30, 2022 and highlights included The Old Railway Line Garden Centre’s own Christmas video, which racked up more than 120,000 views with no paid ads or sponsorship.
Another social media champion was Pugh’s Garden Village. They used social media to achieve their Christmas marketing success and won our Worrall Cup award.
The presentation also included our Inspectors key take-aways from the judging process and lots of examples of these, as well as member The Gardens Group’s Louise Burks’ presentation on moving Christmas into a more sustainable direction.
You can download the Christmas Competition presentation here https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/a4euzhuicy0pcoeoic53k/XMAS-20223-NATIONAL-CONFERENCE-PRESENTATION-FINAL-1.pptx?dl=0&rlkey=7x8t7j2vyphs6oslog8wn583n