A GARDEN centre has come up smelling like roses after being named the best in the UK.

The Old Railway Line Garden Centre was awarded the ‘Garden Centre of the Year 2021’ accolade at the national Garden Centre Association (GCA) Awards on February 15.

The family-run business, located in Three Cocks, near Hay-on-Wye on the Herefordshire border, has won the title of ‘Best Garden Centre’ in the Wales and West region nine years running, while this is the second time it has achieved top spot in the UK, having been named the best in Britain in 2018.

“We are thrilled to have been awarded Garden Centre of the Year 2021 at the Garden Centre Association National Awards. We're absolutely over the moon,” said the centre in a post on its busy Facebook page last month.

The Old Railway Line are clearly reaping what they sow in south Powys, having also been awarded first place for 'Best Customer Service in the UK' and second place for both '2021 Christmas' and 'Best Garden Products Retailer'.

“We couldn't have achieved this without our amazing team and the support from our loyal customers,” they added in the post.

“A big thank you to you all for your continued support during a tough couple of years. What a way to kick off the year.”

The family-run garden centre was established in 1990 by owners Mark and Christina Cleary. Mark said of the award: “We are thrilled to have been awarded Best Garden Centre in the UK for 2021.

“Up against garden centres across the country, we were happy to have made it to the top 10. Then to be crowned top spot is a real honour.

“The team have been amazing through all of the challenges we’ve faced over the past couple of years. Their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed and it’s incredible to be recognised for this.

“We strive to deliver the very best shopping experience for our customers. The biggest reward for us is seeing them enjoying their time here at our centre. We couldn’t achieve this without the loyalty from our customers who have supported us over these testing times.

“I’m extremely proud of the team’s achievements at this years’ GCA national awards and I’m looking forward to seeing how we grow from here.”

The centre provides customers with a wide range of plants, indoor and outdoor living goods, gardening equipment, pet care products, giftware and furniture.

They also have a 150-seater restaurant open seven days a week, the Railway Restaurant, which offers stunning views of the Radnorshire Hills and serves a variety of main meals, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, homemade cakes and desserts.

The GCA represents over 200 garden centres nationwide. Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

The awards 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.

For more information about the centre, visit their website at https://www.oldrailwaylinegc.co.uk/ or the Old Railway Line Garden Centre Facebook page.