Staff from Garden Centre Association (GCA) member garden centres in the Midlands received awards during a presentation evening at East Bridgford Garden Centre last week (Thursday, July 18, 2019).

East Bridgford Garden Centre (above) was awarded Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (below) picked up the accolade in the Garden Centre (GC) category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: “We’d like to say a huge ‘congratulations’ to all of our winners, they all thoroughly deserve the recognition and are a testament to us.

“We’d also like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to our inspector, Michael Cole, for visiting each centre and providing extensive feedback on what he found. The feedback really is invaluable to our members and one of the main benefits of our membership.”

Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne also won the GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (GC), the Outdoor Living Award for Best Outdoor Living Retailer (GC) and the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (GC).

Steve Hodkinson, Garden Centre Manager at Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne, said: “It is truly an honour to receive this recognition. Our team always work tirelessly to not only achieve these awards, but to provide a memorable shopping experience for all our customers.”

William Blake, Director at St Peters Garden Centre was Area Chairman for the Midlands region and organised the meeting.

He said: “The Midlands area meeting was a fantastic success, hosted by Blue Diamond East Bridgford Garden Centre, which was great to see and was looking brilliant.

“We had a good turnout of more than 40 people from across the region and Michael Cole did an amazing job of keeping us entertained and showing us the highlights of the 2019 inspections. Thank you to all those who came along, and congratulations to all the winners.”

GCA Inspector Michael was responsible for inspecting member garden centres in the Midlands areas.

He said: “I am pleased to say that the inspection scores for the GCA Midlands this year have increased on last year, demonstrating that garden centres in the area continue to go from strength to strength.”

The next regional award meeting for Wales & West will take place on Tuesday, July 23 at Castle Gardens, Sherborne in Dorset.

The Scotland and Northern Ireland area awards meeting will follow on Thursday, August 29 at Klondyke, Mortonhall with inspector Jane Lawler.

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

Garden Centre of the Year: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Customer Service Award for Best Customer Service: Webbs of Wychbold

Environment and Community Award: Baytree Nurseries & Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: East Bridgford Garden Centre

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Notcutts Garden Centre, Wheatcroft

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: St Peters Garden Centre (DGC) and Stratford Garden Centre (GC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: Planters Garden Centre – Tamworth (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: East Bridgford Garden Centre (DGC) and Fairways Garden Centre – Ashbourne (GC)