Garden centre wins tourism award

A WARRINGTON garden centre has been awarded the title of Cheshire’s best tourism retail business at the Visit Chester and Cheshire Awards.
Bents Garden and Home, at Glazebury beat off strong competition from other retail businesses throughout the area, including Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet.
It is only the second year that Bents have entered the tourism awards and they are delighted with their accolade.
The awards are now in their fourth year and are firmly established as a benchmark for excellence throughout the county.
Bents were shortlisted for both tourism retail business and Taste of Cheshire titles and were visited by teams of judges for extensive assessments.
The judges commented that Bents “was consistently excellent in all areas especially the new Open Skies glasshouse and the excellent staff development and training scheme.”
Managing director Matthew Bent said: “To be finalists in two awards is a fantastic achievement and we are still celebrating our success. It is a genuine recognition of all the hard work and commitment that everyone at the centre has put in.”
This award is the latest in a string of accolades won by the centre. It currently holds the titles of Britain’s Best Garden Retailer, Warrington’s Business of the Year and Visitor’s Choice and Best Retailer of Gifts.
Mr Bent said: “Awards are a fantastic way to recognise hard work and achievement, but they mustn’t mark the end. They almost provide a benchmark from where we must continue to improve and innovate. It is hard work, but as a team we love to take on challenges and seek out new and better ways of doing things – hopefully this time next year we will have added even more strings to our bow and will be making more exciting announcements.”