Yorkshire – where heroes grow on trees! Find out what makes Yorkshire Garden Centres different

Everyone loves a potter round a quality garden centre – but did you know they are a fertile ground for growing a powerful community that makes a real difference?

Whether they are advising a customer on pruning a plum tree, helping a local good cause grow its funds or ensuring every member of its 550-strong workforce has a voice and makes a positive difference at work, the team at YGC give it their all.

“They're so energetic in everything that they do, that it's a contagious culture at YGC,” says head of people Steph Harrison.

To deliver the payroll, rota, holiday and communication side of running a large business that’s spread over seven sites, the firm uses global employment platform, Employment Hero.

“We use all of their tools to ensure that our great team service is delivered and our team can focus on the great work they do. Employment Hero provides all their payroll, rotas, holidays and team communication tools all in the right places, when they need them. This allows our team to focus where it matters most – supporting our customers.”

And with seven garden centres across the region, including flagship branch Tong, then Tingley, Otley, Bingley, Deans, Scarborough and Pennine, they know how much being part of a local community matters. Owned by Mark Farnsworth and Tom Megginson, their partnership with Employment Hero has helped the firm grow each year.

Against that backdrop of business success, Steph said that her staff were heroes every single day: “The team always do their very best for every single one of our visitors and customers, and they uphold themselves to the highest standard. They are a huge part of what makes YGC so special – providing that great family experience every day. Our team are the real heroes.”

As centres have joined the family, they help each other thrive and they help communities thrive – one way that makes them heroes is the way that they support their local communities.

She says; “It’s about giving. We’ve listened to our team a lot over the years, on how best we can give back to communities.”

By creating The Kindness Pot, a fund to help local communities, YGC gives every staff member the chance to nominate a good cause close to their heart. So far it has shared £12,500, giving resources like seeds and bulbs, manpower for jobs needing done locally and education in local schools and nurseries.

Steph added: “We wanted to have a way of helping our communities in a way that was sustainable and gave back in the right ways.

“We acted with purpose, meaning and intention and listened to our teams and they said how about we do it with our hearts, and where we know it can make an impact, because they know their local communities best.”

But perhaps the biggest difference the YGC heroes have made is to Martin House Children’s Hospice, which helps families across Yorkshire at their most scary times. The company chose the hospice as their main charity partner for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

So far they have raised £100,000, making a remarkable difference.

Some of that has been through the staff’s own efforts, like doing the Three Peaks Challenge, taking part in dragon boat races or bake sales, and some has come from donating produce for the hospice shop to sell.

They also allow Martin House to use each YGC facility in a way that matters to them. That might be hosting an indoor and outdoor soft play session at their Grasshopper facility on three of the garden centre sites, or giving them exclusive early access to the light shows held each Christmas.

The YGC ethos

Steph Harrison: “I think for us as a business, we centre what we do around creating great places for our customers and our teams. And what makes YGC so special is that businesses change and businesses evolve, but employee voice and direction is hugely important to us in informing this direction.

And that's who we are – passionate about ensuring we give opportunities to our teams. We help them grow. This is our community too, where you can grow and bring your whole self to work. And we do all that because we know our teams give that back in abundance to our customers. So, when you walk through the door at YGC, you're going to have a great time because the team won't let you not!

Maisie Goss, VP Marketing UK, Employment Hero said: “Yorkshire has a proud tradition of businesses that are deeply rooted in their communities and Yorkshire Garden Centre is a brilliant example of that. What the team there has built, from the expertise on the ground to the genuine care they put into every customer experience, is something you don't see every day. There's a real warmth to how they operate and a commitment to doing things properly that we have enormous respect for. We’re very proud to support a business like this and we're excited to grow alongside them as they continue to do what they do best."

This interview is part of a content series called Yorkshire Runs on Heroes, supporting Employment Hero's campaign All Heroes, aren’t we?, which aims to celebrate the everyday heroes and businesses throughout the county making a huge difference to the region.