Flower Show Forum initiative scoops The Gardens Group a national marketing award

(L to R) Mike Burks, managing director of The Gardens Group, Louise Burks, director of The Gardens Group, Julian Winfield, GCA Chairman, and Fred MacAulay, comedian and awards dinner compere, at the GCA Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony at The Fairmont in St Andrews.

The Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Worrall Cup trophy for Best Marketing Campaign or Initiative has been awarded to The Gardens Group, for its Flower Show Forum, an initiative launched in 2016 with the aim of helping the traditional flower show to survive and thrive.

This prestigious accolade, which rewards the flair and commercial success of a marketing campaign or initiative, was awarded to Mike Burks, managing director of The Gardens Group and founder of the Flower Show Forum, and Louise Burks, director of The Gardens Group, at the GCA Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony, held at The Fairmont in St Andrews on Tuesday 24 January.

Mike explains;

“This is such a wonderful achievement, not only for our garden centres and the team involved in getting it off the ground, which included the Royal Horticultural Society’s Affiliated Societies and many gardening clubs, but for the Flower Show Forum as an initiative in its own right. Gardening clubs and horticultural societies all over the UK are facing very similar challenges and the Flower Show Forum has given them a platform to voice their concerns, receive advice from experts including professional organisations, garden centre staff, flower show judges and organisers from around the UK, and share ideas for innovation and ways to attract the next generation. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in bringing their knowledge, expertise and ideas to the floor. This is still only the beginning for the Flower Show Forum, so this award will help us to raise further awareness of the cause. We look forward to building upon this success, as we continue to identify ways to inspire more people to take an interest in gardening and keep the traditional flower show alive for generations to come.”

The next Flower Show Forum is due to take place at Castle Gardens in March 2017.

For more information about The Gardens Group visit www.thegardeneronline.co.uk.