The UK’s leading independent garden centre co-operative becomes Choice Garden Centre Group as it celebrates its silver anniversary with 8 new centres, a combined turnover of £260m and a new talent programme with Westland.

Choice has unveiled a new name, Choice Garden Centre Group, on the back of a record year in which rebate income topped £3.1m. The announcement came at the group’s AGM on Monday 19 October, at the start of its conference and trade show.

Founded in 2002, Choice has grown to 65 garden centres, owned by 44 shareholders. 6 new members have joined in the past year: Steam & Moorland, Poplar Tree, ACW & Woodbank, Morris’ of Usk and The Plant Place, while Caulders has added 2 more centres bringing the total to 8 new centres.

The conference and trade show

This year’s conference and trade show, held earlier this week, saw more than 400 delegates attend and sold out weeks in advance.

Members were enthusiastic. Overall, they described it as “the best conference to date” and “better than ever”, praising a trade show that was “excellent, really well organised” with “great deals”, presentations they found “inspirational”, and the chance to catch up with “members new and old”. Many remarked on how “welcoming and supportive” the group is, and several marvelled at what such a small team achieves.

Supplier of the Year Awards

The awards were presented at the conference dinner on Tuesday 20 October. Westland won the Sundry Major Associate Supplier award and received the Peter Wilson Cup, presented in memory of the late Peter Wilson of Mackenzie & Cruickshank, a long-standing and much-loved member of the group. The other winners were:

Plants: Allensmore.

Furniture & Outdoor Living: Leisuregrow. Special commendation: Bramblecrest.

Non Retail Services: Corby & Fellas. Special commendation: The Full Range.

Gift & Home: Woodmansterne. Special commendation: Kaemingk and Candlelight (joint).

Sundry Associate Supplier: Altico. Special commendation: Deco-Pak.

Partnership & Support Award: Woodlodge.

Record orders and generous giving

Choice members placed several hundred thousand pounds worth of orders at its trade show, including over £100k with Rocketgro alone. Commenting on this, Andy Abraham of Rocketgro said: “It was an incredible event, well supported and with members who were really enthused. We are absolutely delighted with the orders placed”.

Hannah Shoesmith of Apac, one of this year’s new suppliers, said: “It was an amazing show and a fantastic event overall. We had opened 13 new accounts by the afternoon, which was just incredible.”

Thanks to the generosity of Choice’s members and suppliers, the charity raffle and auction raised an incredible £6,800 for Garden House Hospice Care and Farleigh Hospice, topped up to £11,000 by further generous donations from Vanstone Park Garden Centre, Woodlodge and Corby & Fellas.

A name that fits

Choice began life as a buying and marketing group. Today it is so much more: collective buying power, long-standing supplier partnerships and member-led product forums, with members sharing knowledge and friendships every day. Choice Marketing Limited remains the registered company name, trading as Choice Garden Centre Group.

Michelle de Lavis-Trafford, CEO of Choice and one of the founding team, said: “25 years is a fantastic milestone and there was no better time to make our name match who we really are today. Most of the trade has simply called us ‘Choice’ for years, and very little of what we do now is marketing in the old sense. We are a group of independent garden centres working together, and working closely with our suppliers. Same Choice, same values, just a name that properly fits.”

More than a buying group

Ask members what makes Choice special and the answer is rarely just about terms. It is the regular contact, the help and support on almost anything and always having someone on hand, right down to the daily WhatsApp notifications. Members also value the relationships Choice has built with its suppliers over many years, which bring them preferential terms, strong support and the opportunity, as an independent, to be treated as a multiple retailer. Choice provides the support of a head office that a single centre would find hard to achieve alone, working in partnership with each member. The group also continues to invest in its bespoke member portal, built by Corby & Fellas, with a weekly Top 100 Best Sellers report and a members’ app on the way.

Valued by suppliers

Supplier partnerships are at the heart of Choice’s success.

Sarah Martin of Westland said: “Westland has worked with Choice since the very beginning, and we have a hugely successful partnership. Through proven sales growth, our strong brands and innovation have gained the members’ support, and as a result both our businesses have been able to work closely together to achieve ever-higher and stretching goals.”

Alan McCammon, Managing Director of Corby & Fellas, said: “Working with Choice is a real partnership. We have built the member portal alongside the team and members, and it keeps evolving, getting better all the time. Being part of the Choice family is something we value hugely, and we look forward to the next 25 years together, and to growing our EPOS across the group. A good majority of the membership now use the Corby & Fellas system, which will soon give everyone shared sales data to work from.”

Other suppliers, including Keter, Woodmansterne and Jess & Lou, praised the energy of the event, the way it was run and the chance to speak directly to so many members.