East Yorkshire’s Coletta & Tyson Garden Centre has scooped a prestigious national industry award.
The Woodmansey-based centre was named the Best Pets and Aquatics Centre in the North at the annual Garden Centre Association (GCA) awards.
The accolade comes just a few months after Coletta & Tyson opened its 4Pets store in a bid to make the garden centre a destination for visitors of all ages.
Judges also gave recognition to Coletta & Tyson for its new-look website as well as presenting it with a tongue-in-cheek award for the ‘Best use of a Gorilla’ following the launch of a photography competition in which a giant Gorilla is the centre piece.
John Tyson, of Coletta & Tyson, said: “
We are absolutely delighted to have been named as the Best Pets and Aquatics Centre in the North. We have invested a lot of time and resources into making 4Pets a focal point for the garden centre and to be recognised in the GCA Awards is a fantastic achievement. This award is testament to the hard work and dedication of the whole team.”
“Since we opened 4Pets, we have been blown away with the level of interest – it is a real feather in the cap of the centre and one we believe will go from strength to strength. We are constantly looking at ways to improve all services across the centre and 4Pets is certainly one we will be continuing to develop.”
“It is also nice to be recognised for our efforts to engage with our visitors, of all ages. The giant gorilla grabs the attention of many of our visitors and we are always inundated with entries to the competition.”
4Pets offers everything customers need to feed, house and care for their pets and boasts a selection of small pets including rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, chinchillas, gerbils and hamsters.
Its live birds range is extensive and includes finches, lovebirds, ring necks, kakarkis, budgies and cockatiels. The department also features reptiles, aquatics and wildlife and birdcare.
The awards, which are designed to highlight excellence in the industry, are decided by the results of the annual inspections, which take place at all GCA garden centres.
Garden centres have no advance warning about when their inspection will take place and they do not have the option to turn away the inspector.
The GCA represents nearly 200 garden centres nationwide.
