THE GARDEN Centre Association (GCA) has recently (Wednesday, July 18) unveiled its winners for the North Thames region during a presentation at Aylett Nurseries in Hertfordshire.

Perrywood Garden Centre picked up the award for Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category while Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre (GC) category.

Mike Lind, GCA Chairman, said:

“We had another fantastic night of presentations during our second regional awards meeting of the month and once again the turn out was huge. It just goes to show how beneficial these meetings are for our member garden centres and how helpful they can be for their businesses. I’d like to thank the team at Aylett Nurseries for being the perfect hosts and our inspector Alyson Haywood for presenting her findings to everyone in attendance. Her feedback has given our member centres some real food for thought and we’re looking forward to the changes our members make because of it.”

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant went to Poplars Garden Centre (DGC) and Thetford Garden Centre (GC).

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre was awarded to Bosworth’s Garden Centre.

Mike added:

“The North East and North West regional awards meeting took place on Thursday, July 19 at Barton Grange Garden Centre and the Wales & West regional awards meeting will follow on Tuesday, July 24 at Whitehall Garden Centre – Whitchurch. The penultimate meeting will take place on Thursday, July 26 at Brookfields, Nottingham followed by the Scotland and Northern Ireland regional awards meeting on Wednesday, August 29 at Simpsons Garden Centre, Inverness.”

The full results for the North Thames region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories: 

Garden Centre of the Year: Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC) and Perrywood Garden Centre (DGC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Perrywood Garden Centre

Environment and Community Award: Burston Rose & Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: Poplars Garden Centre

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Bosworth’s Garden Centre

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: Thetford Garden Centre (GC) and Poplars Garden Centre (DGC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC) and Aylett Nurseries (DGC)

 Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton (GC) and Perrywood Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: Joint winners Squires Garden Centre – Shepperton and Thurrock Garden Centre (GC) and Poplars Garden Centre (DGC)

The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide. Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

For further information on the GCA, please call 01244 952170. Alternatively, please visit thier website, log on to their Facebook or follow the organisation on Twitter.