The Garden Centre Association has unveiled a new cyber security course on its award‑winning Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) e‑learning platform.

This marks the 99th course to be added to GROW, which is accessible to both GCA members and those in the Horticultural Trades Association.

GROW’s Instructional Designer, Antony Snow explains: “According to the UK Government’s ‘Cyber Security Breaches’ report, 43% of UK businesses were the subject of a cyber attack in 2025. This includes several high-profile organisations, and unfortunately, some of our own members too.

“This demonstrates the fact that we are all vulnerable and highlights how important it is to safeguard our information.

“This course has been written to provide our members with an overview of cyber security and to make them aware of the methods cyber criminals may use to gain unauthorised access to their personal and an organisation’s data.

“It also covers the risks and threats that individuals and organisations may face, as well as practical tips and advice to help them to maintain and improve their online security.”

GROW, which currently has more than 12,000 GROW users nationwide, was originally devised during a strategy meeting of the GCA’s executive committee to bring education and training tailored to individuals employed in the garden centre industry.

It’s a self-funding and non-profit facility with any surpluses being reinvested into its ongoing development and improvement.

GCA Chief Executive, Peter Burks says: “We are very pleased to be launching this new course at a time when this is a very hot topic and is in the news every day. It highlights how every one of us is an important factor in keeping both our own data and that of our companies safe and secure. I am delighted that we are adding this topic into our catalogue.

“If you’d like to explore GROW, this course, or any of our 98 other courses that are available, please visit www.gca.org.uk/gca-grow-information or email Antony at grow@gca.org.uk.” 

GROW provides an extensive set of important courses on subject matter designed to help staff successfully assist customers and colleagues as needed.

These include a wide range of topics that cover horticulture, customer service, food safety, regulated sales and health and safety.

All the courses have been written by experts in their field and are designed to apply to a garden centre environment, with the content for the horticultural courses drawing on the vast experience of members within the GCA.