The Garden Centre Association has renewed calls for the Easter trading laws to be relaxed.

Under the 1994 Sunday Trading Act, retailers with 3,000 sq.ft. or more of sales space cannot open on Easter Sunday, one of the busiest gardening weekends of the year.

GCA Chairman Peter Burks said gardening was a family-friendly, relaxing pastime that brought people together, providing a respite from the stresses of modern life. “It can be good for both mental and physical health. Grandparents, parents and children all garden together and a visit to the garden centre is considered a leisure activity,” he said.

The public found it “upsetting, confusing and frustrating” when they could not visit their favourite local garden centre on Easter Sunday. “They get very angry and vent this on our members who they feel are closed by choice as they have no idea about the law.”

“As an industry we need to look at ways of helping explain to our customers why we have to be shut and that we are open as normal on the other three days. But we would also like to see garden centres exempt from the current law and would welcome discussions with the government on this going forward. A campaign for the relaxation of the laws is not out of the question.”

Easter Day closure is estimated to cost the garden industry at least £10 million – possibly 25 per cent of total Easter week sales. Some centres can open their restaurants but not the rest of the shop.

Peter added: “Our members want to be able to serve their customers. It is silly that a garden centre’s restaurant can be open on Easter Sunday but no other sales can be  made.”

 “It is an age old debate that the industry has been embroiled in every year since [the law was changed in] 1994,” Burks added. “Now I feel we need to move this along and to start at least helping our customers understand why we have to be closed and perhaps seeing if they can exert some pressure on the powers that be if they would like us to be open. We may even consider asking members to see if they can poll customers or start petitions.

 “The relaxation of the Sunday Trading Laws during the Olympics last year was an interesting development for the industry and we saw this as a glimmer of hope. In order to stimulate the economy, improved trading conditions are needed for businesses.”