Garden centres from across the country scooped awards at the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) 51^st annual conference yesterday.

The awards were presented to the member garden centres during a ceremony at St Andrews in Scotland on Monday, January 23. GCA chief executive Iain Wylie said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our winners on their successes. It is clear that they have worked extremely hard during the past year to reach and maintain the very highest of standards in garden centre retail excellence. Our inspectors were extremely impressed with their achievements.”

The full list of winners announced on Monday, January 23 were:                                         

• Christmas Competition (Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Castle Gardens

• Christmas Competition (Destination Garden Centre category) sponsored by Gisela Graham – Barton Grange Garden Centre

• Environment and Community Award – Garden Wise, Dumfries

• Ruxley Rose (Garden Centre category) – Cowell’s Garden Centre

• Ruxley Rose (Destination Garden Centre category) – Squires Garden Centre, Twickenham

• Barton Grange Trophy for Commercial Creativity and Innovation – Haskins Garden Centre, Southampton

• Customer Service Award – Best Customer Service – The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Squires Garden Centre, Shepperton

• The Indoor Lifestyle Award – Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – Barton Grange Garden Centre

• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Garden Centre category) – Cowell’s Garden Centre

• The GIMA Award for Best Garden Products Retailer (Destination Garden Centre category) – Barton Grange Garden Centre

• Dick Allen Award (Most Improved Garden Centre) – Langlands Garden Centre, Loxley

• The ifse Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Garden Centre Category) – Squires Garden Centre, Shepperton

• The ifse Award for Catering Excellence – Best Garden Centre Restaurant (Destination Garden Centre Category) – Bents Garden and Home

• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Garden Centre Category) – Fairways Garden Centre, Ashbourne

• Weber Outdoor Living Award – Best Outdoor Living Retailer (Destination Garden Centre Category) Bents Garden and Home.