Our team of judges are prepping their sleighs ready to start the judging process for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2025. The last date for judging visit nominations is today, 2nd November.
If you think your Christmas teams are the best in the business, now’s the time to get them nominated for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2025.
There are categories to recognise display teams, Christmas Trees sales teams, Marketing teams, Grotto teams, Wild Bird Care and Pet teams plus a new award for The Greatest Christmas Food & Drink Pop-Up of 2025.
It's simple to take part, all you have to do is nominate your teams for the award categories below in an e-mail to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk including a few words about why our team of judges should come and meet your team and a photo or two that we can include in our GTN Xtra Christmas photo galleries. The closing date for nominations to guarantee a visit from our judges is Sunday 2nd November 2025.
Here are the categories for GTN’s Greatest Christmas Awards 2025
- The Greatest Winter & Christmas Houseplant Team
- The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team
- The Greatest Gardening as a Christmas Gift Sales Team
- The Greatest Christmas Gifts Team
- The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas Promotion
- The Greatest Christmas BBQ & Outdoor Leisure Team – The SOLEX Sizzle
- The Greatest Christmas Food & Drink Pop up
- The Greatest Festive RetailFood Team
- The Greatest Christmas Wild Bird Care & Pet Team
- The Greatest Garden Centre Grotto Team
- The Greatest Group Small Garden Centre Christmas Team*
- The Greatest Group Large Garden Centre Christmas Team*
- The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Giant Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Christmas Garden Centre Team – Overall and regional winners - as voted for by customers
*The Group Garden Centre awards are for centres that are part of groups with 5 or more centres
Judging visits will take place during November and early December with the winners being announced at Spring Fair on Monday 2nd February 2026.
As well as the kudos and fame from winning one of GTN's Greatest Christmas awards, our Gold winners in each category will win prizes including stock, services or hotel accommodation from our sponsors, which at time of going to press include:
- Garden Radio
- Glee 2026
- Museums & Galleries
- Smart Garden Products – Three Kings
- Solex 2026
- Woodmansterne
Watch out for details of the prizes on offer in future issues of GTN Xtra: www.gardentradenews.co.uk and in GTN magazine.
Further sponsorship opportunities that give unrivalled media coverage via the pages of GTN Xtra and GTN magazine during November, December, January and February are available, please contact Alan Burdon: alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk or call 07939 048899
So, what are you waiting for, get snapping and send an e-mail with your nominations today to trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk to get your entry registered.
What the judges will be looking for:
As GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards firstly recognise the amazing teamwork involved in garden centre Christmas retailing excellence we asked our judges what specific things they will be looking for in each Christmas Awards category this year:
- The Greatest Winter & Christmas Houseplant Team
- Christmas theming of the displays, link sales and plants as ideal Christmas decorations and presents.
- The Greatest Outdoor Plant and Christmas Tree Team
- Extending the Christmas season out into the Planteria, driving the sales of plants for winter colour, sales of plants as gifts and when the time is right unique ideas that increase the sales of cut Christmas trees.
- The Greatest Gardening as a Christmas Gift Sales Team
- This award is all about making the most of core gardening products as Christmas Gifts.
- The Greatest Christmas Gifts Team
- From the buyers, through visual merchandising and the customer advisors, which garden centres are pushing the boundaries when it comes to Christmas Gift sales.
- The Greatest Christmas Promotion
- On and off-centre Christmas marketing activity: advertising, p.o.s. video, social media, influencer promotions. We are looking for originality, execution and success.
- The Greatest Christmas BBQ and Outdoor Leisure Team – The Solex Sizzle
- Inspiring sales ideas for BBQ’s, firepits, furniture, arbours and leisure items normally associated with summer rather than Christmas.
- The Greatest Christmas Food & Drink Pop-Up
- With garden centre catering operating at capacity for most of the Christmas period, who has added The Greatest Food & Drink Pop-up this season?
- The Greatest Festive Retail Food Hall Team
- Who is making the most of Festive Food retailing? What is special to your Garden Centre offer over other food retailers?
- The Greatest Christmas Wild Bird Care & Pet Team
- From a gondola end of Christmas pet treats to a whole department dedicated to wild bird care or pets of all shapes and sizes. The festive feeling generated by the team, from their attitude for sales to their inspirational displays. Who has been bold enough to include a pet or wild bird care display in the main Christmas area?
- The Greatest Garden Centre Grotto Team
- What have the team done this season to create a really magical, enjoyable and memorable Santa experience.
- The Greatest Group Small Garden Centre Christmas Team*
- The Greatest Group Large Garden Centre Christmas Team*
- The Greatest Small Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Mid-Sized Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Large Garden Centre Christmas Team
- The Greatest Giant Garden Centre Christmas Team
- For all the overall team awards the judges are looking for happy, festive garden centre teams who create customer satisfaction through their Christmas displays and theming. And can keep their Christmas retailing standards at their best throughout the Christmas sales period.
*The Group Garden Centre awards are for centres that are part of groups with 5 or more centres
Once again, we will be letting your customers have the final say on just who are The Greatest Garden Centre Christmas teams. Voting can be done on-line and in-store between now and the 22nd December. See the details here
