In This Issue
GTN's Trevor Pfeiffer reviews 2020 with Peter Seabrook
Who will be the winners in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards? There's still time to enter before the New Years Eve closing date
Christmas decorations made from natural materials
Record entries to popular Illumination Street contest
Decision to close Scottish garden centres ‘disappointing’
Two charities benefit from Zest's 2020 fundraising
Over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards
Get set for Garden Re-Leaf Day 2021!
The New Environmentalist - Nature will become ‘second nature’ to future generations
Local community saves Thetford Garden Centre from flooding
The Top 100 Most Read Stories of 2020
Garden Centres close their doors "We want to be part of stopping the spread of Coronavirus"
Trading update from this weekend - UPDATED
Garden centres in England and Scotland can stay open - now is the time to review Covid-19 safety
Exeter garden centre stays open but cannot sell plants - Cherry Lane close all centres
Dobbies remain open and social media gets heated
Most Read Stories in 2020 – 6-10
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
GCA GROW prepared garden centres for re-opening after lockdown
Landmann Ltd bought by DS Group 
The best of last week's
Kent garden centre closes early for Christmas to keep staff safe
Back to the future...
Centre faced with ‘crazy’ order to close mini golf course
Heaven Sends to launch New Christmas 2021 Preview from Jan 4th
Tim Jeffries to leave Mr Fothergills
Biggest garden centre in Denmark almost completed
Whistler Grills looks to recruit Retail Sales Manager
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Barton Grange Christmas 2020 - Exclusive GTN Xtra Photo Tour
Squires Badshot Lea - Christmas 2020
Perrywood at Christmas 2020 - with correct photo gallery now...
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news.

Email trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 07973 504214

 

Sponsored by:


Over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won in GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards

They’re back, all be it in a virtual form.  GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards are back for 2020 to celebrate all that’s great about garden centres at Christmas through the pages of GTN and the GTN Xtra e-mail newsletter and now we can announce there's over £7,000 worth of prizes to be won:

  • The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team – Sponsored by Woodlodge - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team – Sponsored by GTN Bestsellers -subscriptions worth £580 for the winner
  • The Greatest Festive Food Hall Team – Sponsored by Garden Radio – 1 years’ service with bespoke messages, worth over £500 for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – Sponsored by SOLEX - 2 x Hotel Rooms at SOLEX 2021 for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Pets Team – Sponsored by Smart Garden Products, Zöon -£500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Christmas Community/Charity Initiative – Sponsored by Kaemingk – A display from their UK showroom for the winner
  • The Greatest Social Media Christmas Marketing Idea – Sponsored by Glee – 2 x Hotel Rooms at Glee 2021 for the winner
  • The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Video – Sponsored by Premier Decorations - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Winter Garden Care Sales Team – Sponsored by Elho - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Covid Safe Christmas Display Team – Sponsored by Global Journey - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Group Garden Centre Christmas Team – Sponsored by DCUK - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team - Sponsored by Ascalon - £500 stock for the winner
  • The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team – Sponsored by Kaemingk- A display from their UK showroom for the winner
  • The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team Sponsored by Festive - £500 stock for the winner

It's simple to take part, all you have to do is start taking photos of your displays and ideas now, remember to include a photo of the team, send an e-mail to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk, and we'll get back to you with more details.  We're also raising money for Greenfingers Charity to help create more gardens at Children's Hospices during 2021.

 

Here's more detail about the categories for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2020

  • Very important – As GTN’s Greatest Awards are all about the great teams of people working in garden centres we do need a photo of the team involved in every entry!

    The Greatest Christmas Houseplant Team – Who has been “The Greatest” at maximising houseplant sales in the run up to Christmas 2020? What new houseplant merchandising ideas have you implemented this year?

    The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team – Which Outdoor Plant Sales team has been The Greatest at making the most of plant sales this Autumn and Winter?  Who has been the most creative in making real Christmas Tree purchases a great event despite the social distancing?

    The Greatest Festive Food Hall Team – As festive food sales in garden centres continue to grow, which garden centre team has been The Greatest at creating sumptuous Festive Food displays and maximising sales?

    The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team – Who has made the most of the great opportunity to sell BBQ’s, firepits, canopies, outside heaters and garden furniture during this pandemic Christmas season?

    The Greatest Christmas Pets Team – We all love to spoil our pets at Christmas, so which garden centre Pets team have been The Greatest at merchandising pet products and services for Christmas 2020?

    The Greatest Christmas Community or Charity Initiative – Christmas is a time for giving, so this Award is for the garden centre team who have executed The Greatest Christy fundraising activity or local initiative that gives back to the community.

    The Greatest Social Media Christmas Marketing Idea – This year more than ever, Social Media has played such an important part in every garden centres marketing activity.  But who has created and executed The Greatest Christmas Social Media campaign?

    The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Video – The Christmas Video headlines may go to John Lewis but which garden centre has been super great in creating their very own Christmas video as part of their marketing activity?

    The Greatest Winter Garden Care Sales Team – With an estimated 3 million new gardeners this year there has never been a better time to merchandise gardening products as Christmas gifts.  Which garden centre Garden Care team has put their ‘Christmas jumpers’ on and really sold gardening to customers through the festive period?

    The Greatest Covid Safe Christmas Team – Being able to trade through Lockdown 2 meant every garden centre had to be at the top of its game for creating and maintaining a Covid safe retailing environment.  This special award will go to the team that went that extra mile to make customers and staff feel really safe.

    The Greatest Group Garden Centre Christmas Team – Who are The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Team overall from a garden centre that is part of a group of 10 or more centres?  The judges will be looking at your photo tour or video to see how you’ve made the most of Christmas as part of your garden centre group.

    The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team – In many ways small garden centres can have the real creative edge at Christmas so this award is for the team who made Christmas extra special for their customers in a small garden centre.  Send your photo tour now, plus a photo of the team of course!

    The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team – Probably the most competitive category in The Greatest Christmas Awards, which mid-sized garden centre team has made the most of Christmas and maximised sales despite all the social distancing requirements?

    The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team – Which of the large garden centres teams are The Greatest at Christmas in 2020.  Send us your photo tour and make sure you include all your Christmas areas and the teams as the judges will be looking at overall Christmas merchandising, not just your Christmas displays.

    The Greatest Christmas Supplier – This is an award that every garden centre who makes an entry in one of the categories above will have a chance to vote for.  It’s simply for the Christmas supplier they feel has been The Greatest for their business in this unique year.

We all love to see other centres displays and ideas, especially at Christmas, and as Lockdown 2 and now Tier 4 travel restrictions make that difficult what better way to provide a solution for everyone than inviting garden centres to submit their own photos and videos as part of GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards.

 

The closing date for entries is Thursday December 31st, after which our panel of esteemed Greatest Christmas Awards judges, including Santa himself, Roger Crooks, along with his Christmas Elves: Steve Myatt, Andy Campbell, Trevor Pfeiffer, et al will sift through all of the entries and make further enquiries as necessary before the results are announced in GTN Xtra 24th January 2021 and as part of GTN’s January issue which includes our first ever Christmas Products Directory.

 

STOP PRESS:  The winners of GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards 2021 will now be announced live during Glee's Festive Focus Day on Thursday 21st January.  See gleebirmingam.com for more details

 

So, what are you waiting for, get snapping, remember to take a photo of the team, and send an e-mail today to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk to get your entry registered.

 

See a sneak preview of some early entries in GTN's December issue, out this week, and on-line here:

 

 

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg | Comment (0)
Comment
Name:*

Email Address:*

Comment:*


Related Articles