GCA Wales & West winners receive awards

The Old Railway Line Garden Centre scooped the most awards during the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) Wales & West regional awards evening yesterday (Thursday, July 13, 2017) at Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre in Somerset.

The Welsh garden centre took home seven awards including Garden Centre of the Year in the Garden Centre (GC) category while Bernaville Nurseries in Devon won the same accolade in the Destination Garden Centre (DGC) category.

Iain Wylie, Chief Executive of the GCA, said: "The first of our regional awards meetings was a great success and we'd like to say a huge 'congratulations' to all of the very deserving winners as well as a massive 'thank you' to Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre for being the perfect hosts for the evening.

"Other awards on the night included the Dick Allen Award for Most Improved centre, which was won by Plymouth Garden Centre, and the ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant, which saw Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre take the crown in the DGC category and The Old Railway Line Garden Centre in the GC category.

"We're now very much looking forward to the next meeting for the North West/North East region, which takes place at Klondyke - Wilmslow Garden Centre on Wednesday, July 19."

The full results for the Wales & West region GCA area awards are as follows for the GC and DGC categories:

Garden Centre of the Year: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC) and Bernaville Nurseries (DGC)

Best Customer Service: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

Environment and Community Award for Best Environmental Practice: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

The Barton Grange Trophy for Innovation and Creativity: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre: Plymouth Garden Centre

The ifse Award for Catering Excellence for Best Garden Centre Restaurant: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC) and Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre (DGC)

The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC) and Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre (DGC)

Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC) and Cadbury Garden Centre (DGC)

Best Outdoor Living Retailer: The Old Railway Line Garden Centre (GC) and Cadbury Garden Centre (DGC) joint winner with Trelawney Garden Centre (DGC).

The GCA represents nearly 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.

For further information, please call 01244 952170. Alternatively, please visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociation or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.