Carlow County Council Honours Local Business Woman, Rachel Doyle

On Monday 14th September 2015, Rachel Doyle, Director of Arboretum Home and Gardens, was presented with a plaque by An Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Charlie Murphy and Members of Carlow County Council for her contribution to County Carlow and to mark her Presidency of the International Garden Centre Association 2013/2015.

Rachel Doyle award

Rachel, with her husband Frank and sons Fergal and Barry own the Arboretum Garden Centre in Leighlinbridge, Ireland’s first five-star garden centre, winner of the Retail Excellence Ireland National Store of the Year 2014 and now a major employer in the county. Building on the success of the centre, they recently acquired the National Garden Exhibition Centre, Kilquadein Co. Wicklow to open a second outlet, now known as Arboretum Kilquade.

Rachel grew her business in the late 1970s, newly-married and recently graduated as a horticulturalist, she started selling plants from the garage on the side of her house. She attributes Arboretum’s continued success and expansion to the emphasis that she puts on customer service, staff training and employing people who love horticulture.

The gardening industry in Ireland encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including garden centres, landscape contractors and nursery growers, employing an estimated 11,000 people, both full-time and part-time.

Rachel was elected President of the International Garden Centre Association (IGCA) in October, 2013 for a two year term. The IGCA is the International governing body for garden centres worldwide. Rachel is the first Irish president of the IGCA and the International face of the gardening industry, worth an estimated €516 million in Ireland annually. In addition to her IGCA presidency duties, Rachel successfully bid for Ireland to host the IGCA International Congress in 2014, bringing 240 people from all over the world to Ireland, which included a visit to County Carlow.

Rachel is deeply involved in numerous local community and business initiatives in County Carlow including; Tidy Towns with the Leighlinbridge Improvement Group, which is the current Best Kept Town in the Country and Board member of County Carlow Chamber where she served as President for a two year period, promoting our county as a place in which to invest and do business.

Rachel is on the Women in Business Retail Excellence Ireland Committee and speaks at many events throughout the country and in other countries, inspiring entrepreneurs.

The Arboretum Leighlinbridge and Arboretum Kilquade are open seven days a week including Bank Holidays. For information on opening hours and products available visit the Arboretum website: www.arboretum.ie