The Greatest Christmas Awards were announced at a special party night in Harrogate on Sunday. All the winners received their accolades during the event organised by Garden Trade News and Garden Radio at the Majestic Hotel in the town.

In this special edition of GTN Xtra we're publishing all the winners and finalists, plus the first pictures from an event that's been dubbed 'The Greatest Christmas Party Ever'.

"Our Greatest Awards are all about celebrating excellence in garden centre teamwork," said Trevor Pfeiffer, managing director of The Garden Communications and Media Company, publishers of Garden Trade News.

"The Greatest Christmas Awards prove once again that garden centre employees truly do work together to get the best results for their garden centre – they are thinking of Christmas 24/7.

"They’re planning for Christmas – including the events, displays, grottos and food happens all year round, across all departments.

"At Christmas, garden centres make their Christmas retailing wishes come true and from what we’ve seen are the envy of all high street operators. This event applauds that vision, dedication and of course, teamwork."

It was a multi award winning night for Brookside (above) and also for Wyevale Garden Centres (below).

Brookside struck gold in The Greatest Garden Centre Team at Christmas category, as voted for purely by garden centre customers.

The Greatest Garden Centre Team 2014

All Finalists:

• Birkacre
• Blackbrooks
• Brookside
• Dunbar
• Eastfield
• Fair Gardens Plant Centre
• Jacksons Boutique Nurseries & Garden Centre
• Langlands Shiptonthorpe
• Merryhatton Garden Centre
• Perrywood Nurseries

Bronze: Jacksons Boutique Nurseries & Garden Centre

Silver: Birkacre Garden Centre

Gold: Brookside Garden Centre



Silver went to Birkacre.



Jacksons won bronze.

Perrywood clinched gold in the Mid-sized garden centre category.



Le Fiquet won group gold for Blue Diamond.



Large centre gold went to Barton Grange.

The Greatest Christmas Display award was strongly contested again this year with four garden centres picking up main awards – Silverbirch (small garden centre), Perrywood (mid-sized), Barton Grange (large) and Le Friquet Plant Centre (group).

The Greatest Christmas Display Team 2014 – Small and Mid Sized Garden Centres

Small Centre Finalists:

• Castle Gardens
• Codsall & Wergs
• Cooks Garden Centre
• Earlswood - Guernsey
• Four Seasons
• Jacksons Nurseries & Garden Centre
• Meadowcroft Garden Centre
• Silverbirch Garden Centre
• Sunshine Garden Centre
• Thetford Garden Centre

Mid-sized Centre Finalists:

• Bradley Fold Garden Centre
• Burleydam
• Cherry Hill Garden & Landscape Centre
• Coletta & Tyson
• Eastfield
• Fair Gardens Plant Centre
• Fairways
• Gordale
• Langlands Shiptonthorpe
• Newbridge Nurseries
• Perrywood Nurseries
• St. Peters Garden Centre
• Summerseat Garden Centre

Bronze Small Centre: Sunshine Garden Centre

Bronze Mid-sized Centre: Gordale

Bronze Mid-sized Centre: St. Peters Garden Centre

Silver Small Centre: Castle Gardens

Silver Mid-sized Centre: Cherry Hill Garden & Landscape Centre

Gold Small Centre: Silverbirch Garden Centre

Gold Mid-sized Centre: Perrywood Nurseries



Castle Gardens won silver in the small garden category.

The Greatest Christmas Display Team 2014 – Large and Group Garden Centres

Large Garden Centre Finalists:

• Barton Grange
• Bents
• Chessington
• Haskins West End
• Hayes Garden World - Ambleside
• Newbank Bury
• Raemoir
• Ruxley Manor
• Scotsdales
• StewartsGardenlands
• Van Hage Great Amwell
• Whitehall Lacock

Group Garden Centre Finalists:

• Brigg
• Grosvenor Garden Centre
• Irton Garden Centre
• Le Friquet Plant Centre
• Notcutts Norwich
• Notcutts Wheatcroft
• Sanders Wyevale
• Squires – Shepperton

Bronze Large Centre: Newbank Bury

Bronze Large Centre: Whitehall Lacock

Bronze Group Garden Centre:  Brigg

Silver Large Centre:  Bents

Silver Group Garden Centre: Irton Garden Centre

Gold Large Centre: Barton Grange

Gold Group Garden Centre: Le Friquet Plant Centre



Brigg took bronze.

The Greatest Woodland Artificial Tree Display Team 2014 - The Lumberjack Award

Squires Badshot Lea picked up the Lumberjack Award for being judged the Greatest Woodland Artificial Tree Display Team, with Gordale receiving silver and Cowell's bronze.

All Finalists:

• Barton Grange
• Brigg
• Cowell's
• Earlswood - Guernsey
• Gordale
• Hayes Garden World - Ambleside
• Langlands Shiptonthorpe
• Perrywood Nurseries
• Ruxley Manor
• Squires - Badshot Lea

Bronze: Cowell's

Silver: Gordale

Gold: Squires - Badshot Lea



Gordale won the Silver award.

Burston Garden Centre picked up the gold award in The Greatest Festive Plants Team category for the second successive year.

The Greatest Festive Plants Team 2014

All Finalists:

• Aylett Nurseries
• Barton Grange
• Bents
• Bridgemere Wyevale
• Burston
• Cowell's
• Haskins Roundstone
• Haskins West End
• Meadowcroft Garden Centre
• Scotsdales
• Simpsons Garden Centre
• Squires - Hersham
• Swansea Wyevale
• Torwood Garden Centre

Bronze: Cowells

Silver: Aylett Nurseries

Gold: Burston Garden Centre

The Greatest Christmas Sizzle, awarded to acknowledge the efforts of garden centres selling barbecues to customers for cooking their Christmas turkey, was won by Blackbrooks Garden Centre.

The Greatest Christmas Sizzle Team 2014

All Finalists:

• Armitages Pennine
• Aylett Nurseries
• Blackbrooks Garden Centre
• Mere Park Garden Centre
• Perrywood Nurseries
• Ruxley Manor
• St. Peters Garden Centre
• Van Hage Peterborough

Bronze: Ruxley Manor

Silver: Mere Park Garden Centre

Gold: Blackbrooks Garden Centre

Swansea Wyevale were winners of The Greatest Dining With Santa Team with Swanland Nurseries picking up the silver award.

The Greatest Dining With Santa Team 2014

All Finalists:

• Armitages Pennine
• Barton Grange
• Garden Pride
• Meadowcroft Garden Centre
• Merryhatton Garden Centre
• Poplars Garden Centre
• Silica Lodge Garden Centre
• Swanland Nurseries
• Swansea Wyevale
• Torwood Garden Centre

Bronze: Merryhatton Garden Centre

Silver: Swanland Nurseries

Gold: Swansea Wyevale



Merryhatton took bronze.

There was strong competition in The Greatest Christmas Grotto Team category with three garden centres picking up gold awards – Chessington (large centre) and Brookside (small centre).

The Greatest Grotto Team 2014

Small Centre Finalists:

• Betty and Butch
• Brookside
• Chaplins Plymouth
• Gouldings
• Hetland Garden Centre
• Keelham Hall Farm Shop
• Pugh's Garden Centre
• Squires - Shepperton
• Tamar View Garden Centre
• Walkers Nurseries Ltd

Large Centre Finalists:

• Baytree
• Chessington
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Gloucester Wyevale
• Ruxley Manor
• Stockton Wyevale
• Whitehall Lacock
• Woodbank Nurseries
• Worlds End Wyevale

Special Grotto Award: Betty & Butch

Bronze Small Centre: Pugh's Garden Centre

Bronze Large Centre: Frosts Woburn Sands

Silver Small Centre: Gouldings

Silver Large Centre: Ruxley Manor

Gold Small Centre: Brookside

Gold Large Centre: Chessington



Pugh's Garden Centre won bronze.



Bronze also went to Frosts.

It was a hotly contested affair in The Greatest Christmas Supplier category - voted for by retailers – and the final outcome was very close but Premier Decorations just pipped Kaemingk to the gold award. 

The Greatest Christmas Supplier 2014

All Finalists (Top 10 voted for):

• Festive Productions
• Gisella Graham
• Kaemingk
• Konstsmide
• National Tree Company
• Needlefresh
• Noma
• Premier Decorations
• Snowtime
• Swift

Bronze: Festive Productions

Silver: Kaemingk

Gold: Premier Decorations



Last year's winners Kaemingk took silver this time.



Bronze went to Festive Productions.



The team from the National Tree Company.



SnowTime with their supplier certificate.

The Greatest Miniature Christmas Display Team 2014

All Finalists:

• Barton Grange
• Bents
• Bridgemere Wyevale
• Castle Gardens
• Cherry Hill Garden & Landscape Centre
• Frosts Woburn Sands
• Silverbirch Garden Centre
• Squires - Badshot Lea
• Thetford Garden Centre
• Woodbank Nurseries

Bronze: Bents

Silver: Cherry Hill Garden & Landscape Centre

Gold: Squires - Badshot Lea



Silver went to Cherry Hill Garden Centre.

But there was one centre that went a step further and created a Frozen event that sold out twice nightly and entranced thousands of children.

Every Thursday the Birkacre team cleared an area of the centre and turned it into a theatre, then staged a really professional Frozen show.

After visiting 130 garden centres this Christmas season for The Greatest Christmas Awards, the judges have decided to do something different to help raise money for Make-A-Wish. Each of them offered a day’s consultancy to a garden centre or supplier in return for a sizeable donation to Make-A-Wish.

The consultancy days were offered in a Silent Auction at The Greatest Christmas Awards party at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, on Sunday evening.

The consultancy days:

Justin Avery: The Art of Christmas Marketing for Garden Centres. Having been Marketing Manager of The Greatest Awards multiple winning Endsleigh Garden Centre, Justin offers advice, ideas and action plans to make sure your Christmas marketing plans have the right objectives and maximise returns.

Ken Crafer: Magic Makers – Taking Christmas to the next level. This unique course from the Garden Centre Academy has been carefully designed to enable you and your Christmas Team to review your offer in 2014 and to consider practical and achievable ways to make 2015 more magical and profitable.

Roger Crookes: Roger now helps garden centre teams raise their retail standards as one of the GCA inspectors, and works with teams across all departments – he is particularly keen to help centres develop inspiring plant and bulb departments, Christmas departments, and Santa’s Grottos.

Steve Myatt: Business Development Mentor and Growth Coach. Steve covers analysis of the business, thoughts for further development and market opportunities, be it retail or supplier. 

Trevor Pfeiffer:  Publisher and GTN Bestsellers Analyst. Trevor offers teams an insight into the ideas that drive volume sales and ways to make the most of the Christmas peak.

Doug Stewart: Magic Makers – Taking Christmas to the next level. This unique course from the Garden Centre Academy has been carefully designed to enable you and your Christmas Team to review your offer in 2014 and to consider practical and achievable ways to make 2015 more magical and profitable.

Pictured: The Greatest Christmas Awards judges (from left to right): Neil Pope, Steve Myatt, Justin Avery, Ken Crafer, Doug Stewart, Roger Crookes, Carol Paris and Trevor Pfeiffer.

Inspired by the story of a young boy fighting leukaemia in the US, Make-A-Wish UK was formed to grant magical wishes to seriously-ill children in the UK. Buying raffle tickets tonight and taking part in the Silent Auction will be a great way of contributing further to the amazing work of Make-A-Wish.   For more information visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk. 

Finalists and invited guests gathered at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate for The Greatest Awards Party.

Music was provided by an Abba tribute band.

Here are some snapshots of the party goers taken during the big event.

Guests at The Greatest Christmas Awards party dug deep and raised a staggering £5,259.50 for the Make-A-Wish charity.

A raffle on the night generated £1,840.

The figure was boost by a Special Auction for Consultancy Days with The Greatest Christmas Awards judges (click here for details), raising £2,919.50.

And Chris Taylor (Kaemingk agent) donated £500 as the result of a wager with John Athwal from Premier Decorations on the result of The Greatest Christmas Supplier Award.

"A massive thank you to all party guests for beating the target set to allow our fundraising to pay for another magical wish to be fulfilled this year," said Trevor Pfeiffer.

The raffle prizes included:

• BBQ from Barbeskew
• Water feature donated by Kingfisher/Bonnington Plastics
• Hamper from Betty's Tea Shop, donated by Norfolk Leisure
• Wines from Kaemingk
• Vivid Arts Bambi
• Coffee machine and breadmaker from Garden Radio
• Year's subscription to GTN Bestsellers
• Magnum of champagne donated by Premier Decorations

Guests arriving at The Greatest Christmas Awards party received a warm reception in the form of an Apple Juice and Drambuie Hot Toddy, courtesy of Cawston Press.

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra printed newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2012 as well as 2013 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most upto date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

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