Blooming good!

Mar 24 2008 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

GREEN-FINGERED staff at a garden centre have won a top award for the fourth time in five years.

Armitage’s Pennine Garden Centre at Shelley gained the Garden Centre of Excellence accolade after beating 145 other contenders in the annual awards run by the Garden Centres Association.

The company’s other centre – at Birchencliffe – was highly commended for the second year running.

The awards are for association members who achieve excellence in customer service, the quality of their plants and the standard of advice offered.

A stringent annual ‘audit’ involves garden centres across the UK being inspected unannounced. They are measured against criteria including the range of products and services, signs, facilities for the disabled, visual merchandising, staff and safety.

William Armitage, the family firm’s marketing director, said: “It’s great to be continually recognised as one of the country’s leading garden centres. It’s a real testament to the hard work of our dedicated staff.

“We are committed to making sure we offer our customers the best local service and garden expertise possible.”

Gillie Westwood, the association’s chief executive, said: “Armitage’s Pennine Garden Centre has again shown that it deserves praise for its very high standards.

“This year we were particularly impressed by its staff’s customer service abilities, the outdoor living areas and the general way in which it merchandises and displays its products.”

Armitage’s was founded in 1842 and is now run by the sixth generation of the family.

Its outlets at Shelley and Birchencliffe sell a range of products for the garden and home, as well as giftware, house plants, books and clothing.