Melanie Griffiths named Glee 2008 Buyer/Merchandiser of the year.
Ms Griffiths, senior buyer, indoor leisure and Christmas buyer across all seven Garden and Leisure Group centres is responsible for sourcing around 4,000 lines, including tree decorations, artificial trees, grotto toys and lighting.

She works closely with Val Kempster, who was previously Christmas buyer before taking up the role of manager of the Endsleigh store.

Ms Griffith's role in the company began as leisure manager at Melbicks, where she purchased the entire gift and Christmas range for the centre. The branch flourished under her guidance, and therefore it was a natural move for Ms Griffiths to go to Bristol to buy for all of the stores.

She believes that a key trait for a successful buyer is to have endless enthusiasm - keeping up to speed with trends and keeping an eye on a rapidly changing market.