The Garden Industry Manufacturers Association (GIMA) named the 2011 GIMA Award winners at a black-tie dinner at Manchester's Midland hotel last week.


The big winner on the night was Fiskars, taking home five awards, including best tool or implement, best consumer marketing and the coveted GIMA Sword of Excellence for its Weed Puller, which the judges described, paraphrasing another supplier, as "doing what it says on the tin".

Solus Garden & Leisure took home the GCA supplier of the year, an award sponsored by the Garden Centre Association (GCA) and voted for by its retail members. Judges cited Solus' "Good range and margin from products with modern packaging," the fact the company was "always there to support us with regular visits and reliable deliveries," and its "excellent all-round customer service," as reasons for the win.

Solus also took home the awards for equipment and sundries and for outdoor leisure for its Botanico pop-up greenhouse/crop cage and the Camelot regency round gazebo respectively.

Presiding over the awards part of the evening was comedian Fred MacAuley, who mixed entertainment and his duties as a compere seamlessly, keeping the pace, energy and laughs going across the 18 different awards.

A full list of winners is below and make sure you read the July 29 issue of DIY Week for more on the GIMA awards including photos from the night itself.

Garden care winner
Westland Horticulture - Westland Once

Equipment and sundries winner
Solus Garden and Leisure - Botanico pop-up greenhouse/crop cage

Tools and implements winner:
Fiskars UK - Fiskars Weed Puller

Outdoor leisure winner
Solus Garden and Leisure - Camelot regency round gazebo

Garden machinery winners
Bosch - AKE 30 LI battery-powered chainsaw
EP Barrus - Wolf Garten Blue Power electric lawnmower BP34E

Growing products winner
Suttons Seeds - 'For Your Space' seeds

Garden landscaping winner
Kelkay - Gardenstone Abbey Compass feature kit

Garden-related winner
Briers - Gruffalo children's clothing range

Pet, aquatic and wild birdcare winner
Gardman - Premium 'Flip Top' feeders

Best of British winner
Hozelock - Auto Reel range

Information website winner
Fiskars UK - www.sankeygrowyourown.co.uk

POS winner
Hozelock - Auto Reel in-store video and demo unit

Product packaging winner
STV - The Big Cheese mouse and rat killer pour packs

Consumer marketing winner
Fiskars UK - Weed Puller marketing campaign

Export achievement winner
Hozelock - Auto Reel in France, Spain, Belgium and Holland

GCA supplier of the year
Solus Garden & Leisure

Marketing excellence winner
Fiskars UK - Weed Puller marketing campaign
Highly commended
STV The Big Cheese mouse and rat killer pour packs

GIMA Sword of Excellence winner
Fiskars UK - Fiskars Weed Puller

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