Garden tools and gifts manufacturer Burgon & Ball has been honoured in the first ever Garden Trade News Greatest Marketing Team Awards, part of the GTN's Greatest Awards 2016.

Presented at the HTA Marketing Forum, the new awards have been established to recognise excellence in garden industry marketing, and the winners have been voted for by garden centres, the ultimate judges in the sector.

Burgon & Ball managing director Heather Culpan said: “The fact that this award is judged by our customers makes it extra special to us. We work very hard to give garden centres the support they need to generate sales with our products, and this award demonstrates that our efforts are hitting the mark.”

The Sheffield-based manufacturer has been honoured in the Greatest Supplier Marketing Team category, which recognises excellent marketing support from garden centre suppliers. In today’s complex markets, with the challenge of price-driven online competition, marketing is of increasing importance for garden centres.

Heather Culpan continues: “We’re known in the industry for our substantial investment in new product development, and we strongly believe that innovation helps drive the market forward. But this award also looks at other aspects of our marketing support as well, and how we deal with our trade customers; customer service, delivery, POS, product range, packaging and pricing are all considered. It’s fantastic to know that these aspects of our business are hugely valued by our retail partners.

“We’d like to thank all at Garden Trade News for organising these tremendous new awards, and of course the many garden centres who voted for us. We are more determined than ever to give our retail partners the tools they need to deliver excellence to their gardening customers.”