GCA reveals 2025 South East region summer award winners

Garden centre teams from across the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) South East region are celebrating today after scooping awards during a presentation evening yesterday at Coolings Nurseries in Kent (Tuesday, July 8, 2025).

Garden Centre of the Year in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category was Ruxley Manor, the Garden Centre (GC) category award went to Coolings Nurseries and Local Garden Centre (LGC) to Millbrook Garden Company, Staplehurst.

GCA CEO, Peter Burks said: “We had a very jolly evening at our first summer awards session of the year. I’d like to thank everyone who came along. It was brilliant to welcome around 110 attendees to the event and to see them making lots of notes to share with their colleagues.

“I’d like to congratulate all our very fantastic winners and say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone at Coolings Nurseries for being such accommodating hosts and to our Inspector Alyson Haywood for being part of the team who visited the centres and for presenting their inspection findings in such an illuminating way.”

Alyson was one of the team of inspectors who made unannounced visits to member garden centres in the South East area across a 12-week period through spring and early summer.

She said: “It was a pleasure once again to judge the South East region as part of the GCA inspections. We’ve had some great weather for the season and the sun shone while I travelled around the South East, which was an extra bonus after the exceptionally wet weather during the same period last year when I was judging.

“This time, all the centres were looking good in the glorious sunshine. I also saw some great examples of ingenuity and originality and some lovely plant ranges too.”

The main winners for the South East region GCA area awards are as follows for the DGC, GC and LGC categories: