Longacres

How ethical is Longacres?

Longacres is a garden centre chain which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table. Longacres’ below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings for environmental reporting, peat free status, and packaging.

What does Longacres do?

Longacres was founded in 1979 by Peter and Mary Long as a plant nursery in Bagshot, Surrey, and is now a second-generation family business run by their three children. The company operates six garden centres across Surrey and neighbouring counties, with its Bagshot flagship described as the largest independent garden centre in the south of England. Longacres supplies plants, seeds, garden furniture, outdoor living products, cut flowers, and seasonal products across its sites and online, and employs over 800 staff. The company also operates a landscape design and build arm.

Why does Longacres fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Longacres’ below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings across three environmental criteria, with no acceptable ratings across any criterion assessed. The poor rating for environmental report is the most significant. For a family-run business operating six garden centres across three counties and employing over 800 people, the absence of a published environmental report means that Longacres’ sustainability commitments and practices are not transparently disclosed. Publishing an environmental report would address this gap and provide accountability commensurate with the company’s scale and community presence.

Longacres also receives a poor rating for peat free status. As a large-format physical garden centre selling compost and growing media directly to consumers, Longacres is well placed to transition to peat-free alternatives. The UK government has committed to phasing out peat compost sales to amateur gardeners, and stocking and promoting peat-free growing media across its garden centre sites would align Longacres with this direction.

The poor rating for packaging is a further area requiring improvement. Strengthening packaging standards across its product range would bring this rating in line with the stronger performance demonstrated across other criteria.

Longacres does perform well across several criteria, achieving good ratings for fossil fuels, animal welfare, armaments, irresponsible marketing, and political donations, with no documented public record criticisms. These reflect solid ethical conduct across governance criteria. However, the poor ratings for environmental reporting, peat free status, and packaging mean that Longacres falls below the benchmark required by The GOOD Shopping Guide.

Consumers seeking garden suppliers that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table and our guide to ethical garden suppliers, and seek out brands that hold The GOOD Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.