英国 乡绅花园中心 Squire’s Garden Centres – 覆盖东南部的十七座花园中心

关于乡绅花园中心

乡绅花园中心（Squire’s Garden Centres）是英格兰东南部一家家族园艺企业，现在有十七座花园中心，分布在萨里、苏塞克斯、伯克郡以及伦敦北部和西部。公司自己的一句话定位是「服务本地社区的家族园艺生意」，卖优质植物和园艺用品，另有大批花园家具、室内植物和礼品，园艺员工常年驻店答植物方面的问题。

所有场子都有免费停车场和咖啡吧，提供早餐、饮品、小食、午餐和下午茶。四座场子还设了宠物与水生板块，分别在 Badshot Lea、Twickenham、Stanmore 和 Washington，West Horsley 只有水生区。线上商店按五到七英里半径做本地配送。

从景观业务到花园中心

创办人 David（D.J.）Squire 1905 年生，三十年代初在特威克纳姆一所警务孤儿院当总 groundsman，孤儿院关闭后他被裁，年纪轻轻拖家带口又找不到别的工作，正好赶上三十年代后期失业极高的那几年。他就从给街坊翻修小花园干起，这门手艺后来长成了一个园艺集团。他很快租下一处带温室的大苗圃，开始真正种苗卖苗。

儿子 Colin Squire 看出专门建造的花园中心有前途，1964 年在特威克纳姆开出英国最早一批专门建造的花园中心之一，这个场子到今天还在营业，公司也由此成为英国最早那批花园中心企业之一。公司先后由 Colin 领衔，如今是第四代——Colin 的女儿 Sarah Squire 任董事长，Colin 本人获 OBE 头衔任荣誉董事长，仍积极参与；再下一代 Felicia 和 Ben 也在公司里做事。

自己种苗

2022 年公司收下了位于霍舍姆的 Barnsfold Nurseries。这家苗圃本来就是公司多年的一年生花卉供货方，收进来之后，公司重新开始强调自己种的苗多——目前至少百分之八十五的植物在英国本土培育，自家苗圃也参与生产。公司还合并了汉普郡的 Liss Forest Nursery，两家苗圃合起来叫 Barnsfold Liss。

把种植收回自己手里这条路，是这家公司从景观工程起家之后又一次转向实体经营，也是它区别于纯零售花园中心的地方。

讲座与社区

乡绅花园中心跟学校和本地社区关系密切，最看重的一件事是把新一代人带进园艺。公司全年开workshops，按年龄和能力分级，从儿童园艺到大师课和讲座都有，菜单里单列「Children’s Gardening」和「Masterclasses & Talks」两栏。咖啡吧也另外供应低脂或无脂餐食，并尽量照顾各类过敏和饮食需求。

社区这块有几个固定动作。每个场子每年选一家本地慈善机构，通过 Charity of the Year 项目募捐；Love Where You Live 项目则资助场子附近做园艺推广的社区团体，2024 年给了九个团体共五千五百英镑，形式是园艺中心的代金券加园艺师的上门建议，拿到资助的有 Badshot Lea 社区花园、Farncombe 社区花园、Surrey Care Trust、Pinner 的和平花园志愿者、泰登顿图书馆社区花园等。食物银行那条线由 Food Halls 对接，本地食物银行定期从店里收集面包、蛋糕、果蔬和干货储藏类物资。公司还是多个地方 Britain in Bloom 项目的长期支持者。

奖项

这家公司在园艺中心行业的最佳实践和创新上一直走在前面，获奖记录也长。汉普顿宫花展上拿过三块奖牌：2015 年「Urban Oasis」展示花园镀银，2016 年「Squire’s 80 周年纪念花园」金奖兼人气奖，2017 年「The Urban Rain Garden」镀银兼人气奖。园艺中心协会的奖拿得最多，包括最佳植物区、最佳美食广场、最佳户外生活区、最佳餐厅、最佳顾客服务和创意创新奖，Hersham 场子还多次拿到南泰晤士和北泰晤士两个区域的年度花园中心总冠军，Shepperton 拿过全英格兰最佳花园中心。

英国园艺贸易新闻的 Greatest Awards 也拿过最佳集团圣诞团队、最佳前台团队、最佳厨师和最佳餐饮团队四项，都在 Badshot Lea 场子。

About Squire’s Garden Centres

Squire’s Garden Centres is a family-owned horticultural business in the South East of England, now running 17 garden centres across Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, and North and West London. It describes itself as serving the local community, and sells quality plants and garden products alongside garden furniture, houseplants and gifts, with qualified horticultural staff on hand for plant questions. Every centre has free parking and a Café Bar serving breakfast, drinks, snacks, lunch and afternoon tea, and customers can order online for delivery within a five to seven mile radius.

From Landscaping to Garden Centres

David (D.J.) Squire, born in 1905, was made redundant as head groundsman at a police orphanage in Twickenham when it closed. With a young family to support and no work to be found in the high unemployment of the mid-1930s, he started maintaining and planting small gardens for neighbours. He soon took a lease on a larger nursery with greenhouses attached and began growing and selling plants in earnest.

His son Colin Squire saw the potential in purpose-built sites and opened one of the UK’s earliest garden centres at Twickenham in 1964 — still trading today — making Squire’s one of the first garden centre businesses in the country. The firm has stayed in the family throughout: first under Colin Squire OBE, now in its fourth generation with his daughter Sarah Squire as Chairman, Colin as Chairman Emeritus, and his grandchildren Felicia and Ben also involved.

Growing Their Own

In 2022 the company bought Barnsfold Nurseries at Horsham, a long-standing supplier of bedding plants to the business, marking a return to offering more home-grown stock. At least 85 per cent of the plants sold are now grown in the UK, including at the group’s own nurseries. The Barnsfold site was later merged with a Hampshire nursery to form Barnsfold Liss, giving the group production bases in both Sussex and Hampshire.

Workshops and Community Work

Close ties with schools and local communities run through the business, with a particular focus on bringing a new generation into gardening. A year-round programme of workshops is offered for all ages and abilities, from children’s gardening through to masterclasses and talks. The Café Bars carry low-fat and fat-free options and aim to accommodate allergies and dietary preferences.

Community work runs on fixed lines. Each centre picks a local charity each year for its Charity of the Year programme, and the Love Where You Live scheme funds community growing projects near the centres — nine groups shared £5,500 in vouchers and practical advice in 2024, among them the Badshot Lea and Farncombe community gardens, Surrey Care Trust and the Peace Garden Volunteers in Pinner. Food Halls work with local food banks that regularly collect bread, cakes, fruit and vegetables from the centres, and the company is a long-standing supporter of several local Britain in Bloom initiatives.

Awards

The group keeps a long awards record. At the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show it took silver gilt for the Urban Oasis show garden in 2015, gold and People’s Choice for the Squire’s 80th Anniversary Garden in 2016, and silver gilt and People’s Choice for The Urban Rain Garden in 2017. Garden Centre Association awards include best plant area, best food hall, best outdoor living, best restaurant, best customer service and an innovation award, with Hersham taking the South Thames and North Thames Garden Centre of the Year title more than once and Shepperton winning best garden centre in England. Garden Trade News Greatest Awards include group Christmas team, front of house team, chef and catering team, all at Badshot Lea.

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