STAFF at Dunbar Garden Centre are celebrating after clinching a top national award.

The business, off the town’s Spott Road, won the Indoor Lifestyle Award for Best Indoor Lifestyle Retailer, presented by the Garden Centre Association.

The success follows on the heels of being awarded the Dick Allen Award – Most Improved Centre Award (Scotland) for 2021.

To meet the highest retail standards, the Garden Centre Association (GCA) carries out in-depth inspections of its members through an independent specialist consultant.

Only when a centre has passed this inspection will it become eligible to join and receive ‘GCA Approved’ status.

To ensure that the standards are maintained and to assist centres improving further, all members are then inspected annually.

The inspectors’ visits are unannounced to ensure they experience the same as a customer.

Andrew McDonald, garden centre manager, was delighted with the success and hoped to do even better next year.

He said: “We do not know when the inspectors are going to be here.

“Getting inspected on Easter week was a bit hectic but we were delighted with the comments that the inspector made and it is no surprise then that the lifestyle award was presented to us.

“The staff we have got have made a real concerted effort with the displays and the stock we carry.”

The inspections assess the quality of the garden centre’s infrastructure, the facilities offered, the range of products stocked with a particular emphasis on the range and quality of plants, and the levels of service and expertise.

In addition to winning the award, Dunbar Garden Centre, which employs between 50 and 60 members of staff, has also been graded as ‘Highly Commended’ for achieving one of the highest inspection marks in Scotland.