The Garden Cente Association (GCA) is expanding its team of inspectors after seeing a record number of new members join this year.

The GCA's Ian Wylie (pictured), explains:

"The new inspector will visit member garden centres in one or two of the area groups around the country.

"We have seen a record-breaking 13 new members join us this year and we are processing further applications at the moment, which means we are expanding our team of inspectors in order to ensure we have the coverage required to help our members maintain their excellent standards and continue to benefit so much from our inspection process.

"We would love to speak to people from all areas of the industry with insight into the garden centre market or with wider retailing experience, who feel they can help improve our member garden centres through our inspection and feedback process. We are looking for an individual who can bring passion and enthusiasm to the role and who can inspire the teams at the centres they visit.

"They would need to visit member centres during the spring inspection window and be able to give objective and honest feedback on what they find.

"They will also need to produce reports and provide ideas for improving standards. Our inspectors make presentations at our annual conference and regional meetings, helping to reach a wider audience within the membership. It is a very interesting role and a unique opportunity for anyone in the industry.

"The chosen individual will join our current team of inspectors and help to ensure consistency and raise standards throughout its membership.

"Each of our inspectors are integral in helping us to ensure consistency and raising standards through our membership. They will visit approximately 40 of our members’ centres each spring (March – June).

"As part of the visit, as well as scoring the centres to given criteria, using our detailed inspection form, they must be able to give objective and honest feedback on what they’ve seen. Inspectors also present at an area meeting and our annual conference."

Anyone interested in taking on the role of GCA Inspector, should get in touch with Iain Wylie via iain@gca.org.uk.