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WIRRAL ' S FAVOURITE GARDEN CENTRE WINS NATIONAL AWARD IN ITS 75 TH YEAR !
Gordale Garden Centre in Burton has long been a ‘ go to ’ destination for the people of Wirral , Chester and North Wales looking for inspiration for their gardens , homes and Christmas celebrations . Now in it ’ s 75th year , the family run business is once again making headlines for its award-winning retail & leisure destination .
Founded in 1948 by Albert Whittaker , his daughter Joyce and her husband Harold Nicholson , Gordale started life as a five acre smallholding with a prominent roadside café on the increasingly busy Chester to Hoylake road . With the country still in post-war rationing , their homemade Chicken Salad was a popular house speciality and surplus goods were reared or grown and sold through the local markets of the time .
Fast forward seventy-five years along a varied and interesting journey and Gordale is now a large destination garden centre that sits on 15 acres of land and boasts over 5,000m 2 of covered retail space , a 4-acre gardeners ’ paradise plant area , coffee shop , two children ’ s play areas , landscaped grounds and even its own reasonably priced Petrol Station !
At the helm since 1977 is the third generation of the Whittaker- Nicholson family : Harold & Joyce ’ s son Peter , who together with his wife Jill , and their 85 strong ‘ Gordale family ’ continue to serve their loyal customers - many of whom are also the third generation of customers to the business .
Peter , tell us about your recent accolade and what this means to you ? Well , I ’ m delighted to say that we have recently been placed 5th in the “ Top 100 ” of Garden Centres across the whole of the UK . This means we are one of only 10 “ Garden Centres of Excellence ” that represent the very best of garden centres . This is a fantastic achievement and an incredible testament to the hard work which our team puts into running the business , and I am extremely proud to be recognised in this way . Of course , I know how fantastic Gordale is but it is always nice to have that self-belief confirmed by others !
Jill and I spend a lot of time visiting other retail businesses , and obviously we go to lots of garden centres so we know the high standards that are out there and it is a privilege to be amongst businesses of that calibre .
But that ’ s not the only award you ’ ve won is it ? No ! Gordale is very fortunate and has a great history of winning awards and over the years we have won many awards including Garden Centre of the Year , Britain ’ s Best Garden Retailer and Independent Retail Outlet of the Year . But most recently , as well as our prestigious
5th place “ Excellence ” award , our outdoor plant area was placed in the top 10 in the whole of the UK , and our community fundraising initiatives and houseplant departments have also won awards at a recent industry awards ceremony . And of course , I can ’ t forget our 2019 Wirral Life Award !!
Tell us a bit about how Gordale has grown over the years : It has changed a lot since the early days when mum , dad and grandad started out . The transition from growing and selling food produce to the modern retail store was a relatively slow one at first and wasn ’ t easy for them . In fact , after only a year trying to make Gordale a success they were so disheartened they nearly gave up and moved to Canada ! Fortunately that didn ’ t pan out and they had no choice but to try and make a go of it . The sixties was when the business really started to change and we swapped piggeries and chicken coops for greenhouses and nursery fields . Gardening was becoming more and more popular and how people gardened started to change and it was up to us to keep ahead of the curve . Dad had a keen eye for land and was quick to buy neighbouring plots as they came available so the original five acres soon became the fifteen or so we have today . The first of our modern retail buildings came in 1990 and we have continued to develop ever since .
We are extremely fortunate that we have a fantastic team of people , and lots of them have been with us along this journey for many years – we have over 700 years of combined Gordale experience within our ranks and a couple of the team , David & Claire have been with us for more than 40 years each !
Wow , that ’ s a lot of staff experience ! So , what ’ s next for Gordale ? Well the nature of retail continues to change and we have to be responsive to the way people want to shop , and of course what it is they want to shop for . Our team take a lot of time and care to hand pick the products we sell to ensure that our customers get to see the very best of what ’ s available .
As for the site itself , we ’ ve always got something in the pipeline , but then with such a big site , there ’ s always something to do !
Gardening is a green business but we are always looking to improve our environmental credentials – both in how we function and what we sell and this continues to be an important aspect of our business . The whole team is always working to reduce waste , re-use / re-cycle where we can , as well as making sustainable choices where possible . Our number one priority has always been to look after our customers the best we can and no matter what comes next or what we sell , that will never change .
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