THE GARDEN Centre Association (GCA) has revealed the dates for its summer regional award meetings when members find out who has come top in its 2025 annual inspections.
 
Members are encouraged to attend with their teams and this year those in the Midlands and West also have the chance to travel by coach and visit centres on route.
 
Peter Burks, CEO at the GCA, explains: “Another round of our annual inspections is ending and early feedback is already looking very positive. We’re now inviting our members to attend the regional meeting for their area, where they’ll be able to hear the feedback in full and where our inspectors will be highlighting best practice and new ideas, as well as announcing all the category winners.
 
“New this year is the chance for members from the Midlands and West to travel to their meeting via coach. This is the first region to try this out and if it works well, we will look at rolling it out across all areas in 2026.”
 
The South region will meet at Coolings in Kent on Tuesday, July 8 with inspector Alyson Haywood.
 
The North regional meeting will follow on Wednesday, July 16 at Moss & Moor in Yorkshire again with Alyson presenting her findings.
 
The East meeting will also take place on Thursday, July 17 with inspector Colin Farquahar at British Garden Centres, Northampton.
 
Members in Midlands, Wales & West will meet on Thursday, July 24 at Pughs Wenvoe, Wales with Peter Walker as the presiding inspector and the option of arriving by coach and touring other centres on the way.
 
A coach in the Midlands will pick at Planters Garden Centre, Tamworth at 8am, and then at St Peters Garden Centre, before travelling on to Old Railway Garden Centre and Pugh’s Radyr, arriving at Pugh’s Wenvoe at 3pm. During the trip, there will also be a chance to have a look around St Peters, Old Railway and Pugh’s Cardiff. After the award presentations end at 6.30pm, the coach will take attendees back to the centres where they got on.
 
The coach from the West will pick up at Monkton Elm Garden Centre in Taunton, Somerset at 9am and then Sanders Garden World before travelling on to Pugh’s Radyr and arriving at Pugh’s Wenvoe at 3pm. There will be a chance to look around each of the stop off and pick up centres on the way too. Again, after the award presentations end at 6.30pm, the coach will take attendees back to the centres where they were picked up.
 
Helen Lloyd, Director at Stratford Garden Centre, who is also GCA Co-Chair for the Midlands, Wales & West, along with Nicola Pugh from Pugh’s, says: “Our Area Meetings are a great chance for garden centres and their teams to hear and see examples of good retail practice from across the area.
 
“Given the distance from the Midlands and the West, we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to make a day of it and visit some great garden centres along the way. We have organised two coaches, one from the Midlands and one from the West, and have put together a full day’s itinerary so members and their teams can enjoy, learn and interact with other each. The cost of the coach is £22 per person, invoiced by the GCA.
 
“Please could you RSVP to me helen@stratfordgardencentre.co.uk confirming numbers attending, any special dietary requests and if you would like to join us for the day on the coach, including your pick up/drop off point, no later than June 30.”
 
The GCA represents more than 200 garden centres nationwide. Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.
 
Peter adds: “Many GCA members have said that the unique annual inspections and constructive feedback sessions are one of the biggest benefits of membership. It is a fantastic motivational and management tool and really keeps staff on their toes, making sure they are always doing their absolute best.
 
“Garden centres receive no advance warning about when their inspection will take place and they do not have the option to turn away the inspector. It is all about making sure they are offering a consistently excellent service and improving their customer service standards, which is what all GCA garden centres must do to remain members.
 
“The results of the inspections form the basis for many GCA awards, including Destination Garden Centre of the Year, Garden Centre of the Year, Area Winners, Highly Commended and Most Improved Garden Centre. The top 10 centres will receive a Garden Centre of Excellence Award and all centres scoring 75% or above receive the Highly Commended certificate.”
 
For further information, please visit www.gca.org.uk.