GCA relaunches Rising Star hospitality academy
The Garden Centre Association (GCA) has relaunched the hospitality section of its Rising Stars initiative, creating a dedicated academy for garden centre restaurant and café staff.
Sponsored by Westland Horticulture and coordinated by Kosko director Costas Constantinou, the programme aims to highlight and develop talented individuals while recognising the growing importance of hospitality within garden centres.
Peter Burks, Chief Executive of the GCA, said the bespoke training programme brings together market-leading companies with specialist training teams to support participants’ development and future careers. Sponsors include Brakes, Gratte Brothers and Beanworks.
He added that the existing Rising Stars programme has gone from strength to strength and provides major benefits to members wishing to invest in staff development and recognise employees who show commitment and ambition.
With hospitality now accounting for a significant proportion of garden centre staffing, the GCA felt it was the right time to relaunch a separate programme tailored specifically to hospitality roles and operational challenges.
The academy will run throughout 2026 and include visits and training days with leading suppliers and specialists, covering areas such as coffee roasting, foodservice innovation, kitchen equipment, EPOS systems, customer experience and profitable restaurant operation.
Sessions will take place at venues including Beanworks Coffee Roastery, Brakes Innovation & Market Insight, Rational UK, Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, Unox UK, Gratte Brothers and Pugh’s Garden Village.
Applications are now open to GCA member garden centres, with the closing date set for 28 February 2026. The GCA represents more than 200 garden centres nationwide and supports members through shared knowledge and its inspection programme.
For further information, please visit www.gca.org.uk.
A brief outline of the programme includes (where two dates are given this gives the opportunity to split the delegates as the venue cannot cope with large numbers):
- Beanworks Coffee Roastery – March 17 & 18
- Brakes Innovation & Market Insight – May 12 & 13
- Rational UK – June 3
- Corby & Fellas EPOS at Ruxley Manor – June 29
- Unox UK – July 15
- Gratte Brothers – August 12
- Insight6 Customer Experience – September 16