Squire's Garden Centres

Squire’s Receives Top Accolades in Regional Industry awards   In the Garden Centre Association Awards (GCA) announced recently, we received a total of 21 accolades across a range of categories in this year's South East and East area Regional Results. The industry leading awards run by the GCA acknowledge the efforts and high standards upheld by centres and are based on an intensive audit by an independent inspector. The awards include three categories, relevant to a centre’s size: Destination Garden Centre, Garden Centre and new to the awards this year, Local Garden Centre, for smaller locations. Squire’s received honours in the top awards, including: Ruxley Rose for Best Plant Area – Hersham, 1st place and Woking, 2nd place (Garden Centre category) Garden Centre of the Year – Hersham, 2nd place Local Garden Centre of the Year – Reigate, 3rd place The Dick Allen Award for Most Improved Centre – Hersham, 1st place (across all categories) Ian Boardman Award for Best Indoor Plants Retailer – o  Badshot Lea, receiving joint 1st place (Destination Garden Centre category) o  Hersham – joint 3rd place (Garden Centre category) o  Reigate - joint 3rd place (Local Garen Centre category) Food Hall/Farm Shop Award – 2nd place (Garden Centre category) Many of the leading garden centre’s throughout the country belong to the Garden Centre Association, with each member centre having to achieve a high level of good business practice before they can be accepted an Approved Member. Sarah Squire, our Chairman, comments: “I would like to congratulate all our colleagues throughout our centres for their continued hard work and dedication, putting our customers first in all they do. We are immensely proud of them and the standards they promote. These important industry awards, which ensure standards are kept at their highest, are an important way of recognising their commitment.” Phot below: from left: Peter Burks , GCA Chief Executive (far left), Alyson Hayward, GCA Inspector (second left) and James Evans, GCA South East Chairman (far right) with Squire’s team members.  

Squire’s Twickenham Marks 60 Years with Celebration Tea Party Our Garden Centre in Twickenham celebrated its 60 year milestone last week with a special Anniversary Tea Party for distinguished guests, customers and representatives of the centre’s Charity of the Year, Friends of Anstee Bridge, were also in attendance. Guests were treated to a special afternoon tea expertly prepared by the Squire’s Twickenham Café Bar team and hosted by Colin Squire OBE and his daughter, Sarah. Guests included Deputy Mayor of Richmond, Cllr Fiona Sacks, Munira Wilson MP, as well as representatives from the Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital, The Teddington Society and Friends of Anstee Bridge. The event also served to celebrate the relationship between the garden centre and the community it serves, with many regular and long-standing customers attending. During the afternoon, Sarah Squire spoke about the history of the company which was founded in the Borough in 1936 and also of the origins of the garden centre, which her father, Colin Squire, opened as the company’s very first garden centre in 1964. At the time garden centres were a novelty and it was one of only a handful of garden centres across the country. Now with 16 centres across Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, North and West London, Squire’s continues to be a family-owned business, proud to serve the local community. Katherine Greening, Head of Anstee Bridge, the centre’s chosen Charity of the Year, delivered a short speech about the charity’s work and their valued partnership with the Squire’s Twickenham team. Attendees enjoyed music from a talented local harpist, Rebeca Jones, and the charity raffle raised £300 for Friends of Anstee Bridge. Guests were also invited to write down memories of their visits to Squire’s Twickenham over the decades. These special cards will be placed on the centre’s ‘memory tree’, which will be one of the centre’s anniversary features during the year of celebrations. Over the coming months, visitors to the centre will also be invited to complete a card adding their recollections of the centre over the last 60 years. Sarah Squire, Chairman, comments: “I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to those who attended our anniversary event, which made it a wonderful afternoon for my father and I to celebrate this milestone. Loyal, local customers attended, many of whom have extremely fond memories of Squire’s at Twickenham over the decades. “With music, memories and wonderful food, the afternoon truly illustrated the role the centre has in the local community and just how much we value the special connection with our customers and the charity our team support.”

Squire’s Awards £5,500 to Community Gardening Projects We have awarded vouchers to nine local community gardening projects as part of our ‘Love Where you Live’ 2024 programme, supporting the work of projects within communities close to its centres. The programme, in a brand new format this year, seeks to assist community gardening projects that educate, grow produce, or provide health and wellbeing benefits through horticulture.  Over 80 applications were received within a 6-week period, highlighting the need for funds by local groups who are championing horticulture for the benefit of their local community. Awards will not only give valuable financial support but also practical advice from our horticulturalists to assist them in making a major step forward within the locality they serve. Nine groups have now been presented with their award, comprising Squire’s vouchers so they can choose plants, tools and other gardening supplies. Initial meetings have also taken place with local Squire’s team members who will support projects with their expert advice. As the spring gardening season gets underway, award winners will be making their proposed plans a reality, armed with additional funds and their teams of willing gardeners. Projects will culminate at the end of July, when award recipients will report back on their achievements. Love Where you Live Award Recipients: The Therapy Garden, Normandy – supported by Squire’s Badshot Lea Badshot Lea Community Garden – supported by Squire’s Badshot Lea Farncombe Community Garden – supported by Squire’s Milford Surrey Care Trust – supported by Squire’s Reigate The Peace Garden Volunteers, Pinner – supported by Squire’s Stanmore Teddington Library Community Garden – supported by Squire’s Twickenham Merrow Community Garden – supported by Squire’s West Horsley Horsell Residents’ Association – supported by Squire’s Woking Wokingham in Need (Wokingham Community Hospital) – supported by Squire’s Wokingham Read more https://bit.ly/49UvKh3 Photos of some of our winners - Farnbcombe community garden, The Therapy garden and Badshot Lea community garden. #community #gardeningproject #lovewhereyoulive

UK Food Hall Of The Year! Our Food Hall at Squire's Frensham, has won a prestigious industry award this week at the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) annual conference, receiving the award for the ‘Garden Centre UK Food Hall/Farm Shop of the Year’ 2023. A new category in this year’s awards, it has been introduced to recognise the importance of offering an alternative to supermarkets as well as promoting locally produced items across a wide product range, supporting sustainability and reducing food miles too. Squire’s Frensham celebrated its fifth anniversary under our ownership in 2023 and in this time the Food Hall has received a complete refurbishment and gone from strength to strength. The Food Hall proudly includes a range of locally produced and artisan food and drink products, an extensive cheese counter and expert butchers. Re-opening shortly before lockdown, it was visited by the then HRH The Countess of Wessex GCVO (Duchess of Edinburgh) in September 2020, when restrictions eased. The Countess paid the Frensham Food Hall a visit as part of a tour of Surrey Hills producers and retailers to experience first-hand their ‘field to fork’ collaborations as well as highlighting the importance of local food production. Sarah Squire, our Chairman: “We are absolutely delighted our Frensham Food Hall has been recognised by our industry inspectors at the GCA as the ‘Best Food Hall’ in the Garden Centre category and against nationwide competition too. We are proud of the role our Food Hall plays in the local community we serve. Supporting the community and amazing local produce is really important to us and we are honoured to have been recognised for this.” Read more bit.ly/3HIrd5B Photo: Sarah Squire presenting the award to the Food Hall team at Squire's Frensham.

UK Plant Retailer of the Year! Squire’s Hersham has been presented with the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) prestigious ‘UK Plant Retailer of the Year’ Award (in the Garden Centre Category). The award recognises excellence in standards in garden centres across GCA members in the UK. The highly respected award was presented for Squire’s Hersham’s consistently high standards, inspirational displays and quality plants and comes ahead of the centre celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The award is made following in-depth assessment by GCA Inspectors visiting centres nationwide. The centre’s Plant Area was inspected in the spring and again in the autumn. Sarah Squire, our Chairman, comments: “My father and I are absolutely thrilled to receive this award on behalf of our wonderful team at Squire’s Hersham. It is particularly special as we prepare to celebrate the centre’s 40th anniversary.   “We are foremost a plant business and to be recognised with this particular award among our peers nationwide, is a real honour. This award acknowledges the skill, talent and dedication of our colleagues and we are very proud of them indeed!” In addition, Squire’s Woking was presented with third place and Squire’s Wokingham recognised in the top ten line-up of garden centres in the ‘UK Best Plant Retailer of the Year’ category. Read More https://bit.ly/4bkfM1s

Once again, we celebrated the achievements of our amazing colleagues for their outstanding contributions to centres and their local communities with a special awards lunch hosted by Colin Squire, Chairman Emeritus and his daughter Sarah Squire, Chairman, of our family-owned business. Each year Squire’s recognises the stand-out achievements and contributions of colleagues though our ‘Make a Difference’ (M.A.D.) scheme. Awards can be presented to individuals or groups of colleagues and winners are selected by a panel who recognise those who have really excelled and ‘made a difference’ to colleagues and customers and demonstrated the values of Squire’s. This year the contribution of ours colleagues from seven centres – including Chertsey, Hersham, Long Ditton, Milford, Shepperton, West Horsley, and Wokingham – was recognised, as well as colleagues from Squire’s Group Office at Badshot Lea. Examples of colleagues going the extra mile with their outstanding gestures include: A member of the Squire’s Hersham team for providing “wonderful assistance” when a customer passed out in the Café Bar and was hospitalised. The customer’s family commenting that the Squire’s colleague had excelled “working spectacularly” and that they were “so grateful”. (Mark Higgs, Good-in Assistant, Squire’s Hersham) Team members from Squire’s Shepperton pulled out the stops one evening after the garden centre had closed to locate and collect a very young visitor’s important medical kit, containing his insulin, and needed for supper time. The medical bag had been left in error at the centre. The customer commented: “Just after 8pm a couple of your centre managers had contacted me and one headed down to the shop to open up and rescue the bag from the seesaw. I was thrilled, and very relieved…. without the proactivity and help from your team, I would have been in a real situation.”  (Amy Penfold, Charlie Watts & Debra Findley – Squire’s Shepperton) Read more https://lnkd.in/eQJag4VJ