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Friday, March 30, 2012

Cowells garden centre recognised as UK's best in national awards

Martin and Jane Cowell with parents Mavis and Alan Cowell.

The Cowell Family; father Alan, daughter Jane, mother Mavis


One of the last remaining independent garden centres in the North East has once again been named the UK’s best, after topping two categories in a national awards programme for the second-year running. 
Family-run Cowell’s Garden Centre in Woolsington has been named ‘Garden Centre of the Year 2012’ by industry body the Garden Centre Association (GCA), following a judge’s rigorous inspection visit. 
Martin Cowell of Cowell’s Garden Centre said: “We are delighted to have won such a prestigious award from our industry trade body that recognises Cowell’s Garden Centre as a continuing centre of excellence.  Our staff work hard to make the centre a place for amateur and professional gardeners to access the widest selections of plants and gardening products and we are proud to be flying the flag for the region as a North East Garden Centre with a leading national reputation.”
Cowell’s Garden Centre employs over 50 full and part time staff from its base in Woolsington Village, near Newcastle Airport.  Staff range from garden enthusiasts to trained horticulturalists and the GCA award recognises the significant involvement of the team in contributing to the success of the business.  The GCA singled out Cowell’s as a national leader thanks to its plant-oriented focus to meet the needs of its well- established and loyal customer base  
Originally opening its doors in 1978, Cowell’s is one of the few remaining independent garden centres in the region and prides itself on the breadth and variety of its plant selection, as well as giftware and garden furniture.   The extensive range of plants available led to a second recent award from the GCA, the ‘Ruxley Rose Plant Area 2012’ award in acknowledgement of the quality and choice of plants on offer.  
Jane Cowell continues: “The gardening sector is very buoyant at present, in part thanks to strong demand for grow-your-own fruit and vegetables, which is encouraging more amateur gardeners to create at-home vegetable patches or herb gardens.  In addition to our more everyday plants, we also source specialist stock internationally and have just renewed our partnership with a European-based nursery.  This exclusive partnership offers North East customers access to the type of niche plant collections which truly set us apart as a garden centre focussed on offering only the very best to the everyday horticulturalist.”
“Winning recognition from the GCA has been a great way to kick-off the spring gardening season and we look forward to welcoming customers to view our 2012 range in our award-winning centre.”