As I write this, I am still recovering from the euphoria of attending our recent Garden Centre Association (GCA) annual conference, held this year at the DeVere Hotel, Wokefield Park near Reading. Will Blake, our Chairman from St Peters Garden Centre, did a wonderful job in organising a fast paced, informative and, of course, thought
Peter Burks February Column Read More »
Another year draws to a close and as usual there have been both highs and lows to celebrate and endure. The recent budget being a significant low for small and medium-sized businesses across all sectors of industry. The good news is that the end of the year is always very busy with the Christmas season
GCA Column by Peter Burks Read More »
As we head into the ‘Golden Quarter’ for giftware retailers, a tag that I had never heard until recently, although everyone in the industry knows this to be true, it’s good to see the category performing well in our Garden Centre Association Barometer of Trade. While for the year to date the category is only
GCA Column by Peter Burks Read More »
GCA CEO, Peter Burks, writes: The early summer sees the end of the annual inspection window for our member garden centres. Every Garden Centre Association member garden centre gets an unannounced visit from one of our team of four expert inspectors during the three-month period from mid-March to mid-June. There are 218 individual factors that
GCA July Column with Peter Burks Read More »
This year’s spring season has not been kind to our industry with very little in the way of favourable weather to get our gardening punters going. In fact, in all my years in the trade, I cannot remember a year that our friend and foe, the weather, has given us so little help. While the
GCA Column by Peter Burks Read More »
GCA Chief Executive, Peter Burks writes: Our Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures for March were our most recently released and it was very heartening to see them showing a very healthy +9% compared to the same month last year. While we must be mindful that March last year was not a particularly good sales month,
GCA Column: Peter Burks Read More »
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