In January Alicia Kearns, MP Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton, opened voting for her annual competition to find Rutland and Melton's favourite independent shop. This year's competition saw seven hundred nominations submitted across 15 categories, and over 19,000 residents voted.

Alicia, said: “We are so lucky to have an incredible number of independent shops across Rutland, Melton, the Vale and Harborough villages and this is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate these wonderful businesses and their contribution to our local economy. The competition seeks not just to celebrate, but to help raise the profile of our wonderful independent shops!"

It has been announced that Gates Garden Centre not only won Best Garden Centre in the awards, but also the overall winner and is now officially Rutland & Melton’s Favourite Independent Shop.

Jack Gates commented: “A big thank you to Alicia for organising the Favourite Independent Shop Awards and helping raise the profile of this sector. Of course, we’re incredibly proud to have been so successful and it’s a credit to our hard-working team here that we’ve provided a shopping experience and retail environment that our customers have enjoyed and recognised in the Awards.”

Alicia Kearns MP commented: “Huge congratulations to Gates Garden Centre who are the overall winner and winner of Best Garden Centre in Rutland and Melton’s Favourite Independent Shop Awards 2022-3!

With over 1,300 votes this award is so well deserved and the team have done the most amazing job to grow this garden centre into one of the largest in the country! I know that Gates is a firm favourite in households across Rutland, Melton, the Vale and Harborough villages.”

The awards were voted for by members of the public. Here are some of the comments made about Gates Garden Centre:

• “Friendly staff, great fresh produce, local produce, great service.” 
•  “It's our once a month day out for us. Great food, lots of gift ideas, plants, clothes & shoes, farm shop & now also has Lakeland.” 
• “Everything you need one place, amazing fresh produce in the farm shop, plenty of concessions from fashion, pets and toys, excellent Christmas and seasonal shopping, plenty of gift ideas and availability and great cafe and restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat or sit down meal.” 
• “Has a wide variety of beautiful gifts and plants, something for everyone.” 
• “The most healthy plants, a huge selection to choose from, wonderful home and giftware, the best Christmas department for miles, authentic local food and drink in the farm shop, great restaurant and most important the very best customer service I have ever experienced. We are so lucky to have this gem on our doorstop.” 
• “Great Christmas displays for the children! Good local produce and has everything to offer for the local community.” 
• “It's absolutely brilliant. So much to see, great value and nice staff.” 
• “Fantastic range of home and garden products and great customer service.” 
• “So much to offer in one space, we love to spend an afternoon there grabbing a coffee, mooching around- especially in the seasonal section which is always amazing especially at Xmas. Then we can pop into the farm shop to get a nice dinner and drinks to take home with us. We often travel an hour to get here because we love it so much.” 
• “Lovely Christmas display plenty to see. Great restaurant.” 

Gates Garden Centre, Farm Shop and Restaurant

Somerby Road

Cold Overton

Oakham

LE15 7QB

Tel: 01664 454309

Email: info@gatesgardencentre.co.uk

Web: www.gatesgardencentre.co.uk