National Garden Centre Association praises Monkton Elm Garden and Pet Centre for their Website.

STAFF at Monkton Elm Garden and Pet Centre in Somerset are celebrating this week (Monday, September 15) after recently being praised recently in a 2008 national standards audit of the country’s garden centres.

The family-run business in Taunton has been given an Award of Merit from the Garden Centre Association (GCA) for the calibre of its employees, who the judges rated as having a ‘very positive’ approach when it came to customer care.

Norma Moore, General Manager at the independent, family-run garden centre, explained: “We’re delighted with this award and the positive comments the GCA made about the experience they received when they visited us. The GCA has also given us an Award of Merit for our children’s play area and our website.

“The judges said the safety of the play area was excellent and the cleanliness and hygiene was outstanding. Our customer website received a score of 72 out of a possible 80 points because they said it is easy to use, we offer a speedy response on queries and they felt it presented a good positive image of the garden centre and our knowledgeable team on site.”

The GCA represents more than 200 garden centres in the UK. It believes in sharing information and experiences at all levels, from senior management to the shop floor, and strives to achieve excellence in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

Norma added: “Every garden centre who is a GCA member is subjected to this comprehensive annual inspection by independent consultants to satisfy to the GCA that they are maintaining and improving their customer service standards.”