Notcutts improves sales and operating margin
Notcutts increased sales by 1.9% last year despite significant disruption caused by its £9.2m garden centre redevelopment and improvement programme. Read more - members only
Notcutts improves sales and operating margin
Notcutts increased sales by 1.9% last year despite significant disruption caused by its £9.2m garden centre redevelopment and improvement programme. Read more - members only
Scotts completes purchase of AeroGrow
Scotts Miracle-Gro backs its commitment to soilless indoor gardening by completing the purchase of AeroGrow International that produces indoor gardening kits. Read more - members only
Tong wins Outstanding Employer award
The team at Tong Garden Centre are celebrating after winning the Outstanding Employer award at the 15th annual Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business awards. Read more - open to all
Thompson and Morgan buys Suttons Seeds
T&M has acquired 100% of the share capital of Suttons Seeds Ltd and its 3 brands: Suttons, Dobies and the Organic Catalogue. It also launches T&M Marketplace. Read more - members only
Dobbies launches Christmas TV advertising
Dobbies unveils a new Christmas advertising campaign called The Joy of Dobbies. The campaign also launches Dobbie’s new positioning, ’Not Your Average Garden Centre’. Read more - members only
Gardman purchase lifts Westland sales to £182m
August 2019 results for Westland Horticulture show sales up 38% to £182m following the purchase of Gardman and profit before tax of £10.2m. Read more - members only
Mountain Gorillas help Neudorff to climate neutral production
Neudorff, manufacturer of environmentally friendly products for plant care and natural gardening, has achieved climate-neutral production at all of its sites. Read more - members only
Haskins on course for enhanced profits till Covid-19
The reopening of Snowhill had set Haskins on course for significantly enhanced profits say the most recent accounts. Then came Covid-19, the full impact of which remains uncertain. Read more - members only
Little Dobbies
Dobbies, the 68 strong garden centre group, is to open its first small format store, Little Dobbies, in November in Edinburgh. Read more - members only
Blue Diamond reorganises its garden buying team
Blue Diamond has reorganised its category management team for gardening following the departure of 3 buyers, to give it a more commercial focus says Alan Roper. Read more - members only
Woodthorpe Hall files accounts for BGC
The 2019 results for British Garden Centres have been filed by Woodthorpe Hall Garden Centres. This was the year the group added 41 garden centres from Wyevale and Hillview. Read more - members only
Covid-19 leads to redundancies at Haskins
The reduced capacity in restaurants and an unknown future due to Coronavirus has forced Haskins to consult with employees and call for voluntary redundancies. Read more - members only
Homebase to roll out ‘The Green Aisle’
Homebase is rolling out ‘The Green Aisle’ across its stores and online, showing a range of the most environmentally friendly and energy-efficient products all in one place. Read more - members only
John Lewis launches its ground-breaking 3D virtual Christmas
John Lewis launches its ground-breaking 3D virtual Christmas shop as garden centres report a boost in early Christmas sales and are optimistic for the season. Read more - members only
Store openings to accelerate at B&M
B&M is to accelerate UK store openings after 23% like-for-like growth in the 6 months since end of March, opening up to 45 new stores this year.
Read more - members onlyWorks starts on Dobbies at Tewkesbury
Work has started on the 180 acre Designer Outlet Cotswolds, that will have a ‘flag-ship’ Dobbies Garden Centre as a cornerstone. Read more - members only
B&Q’s outdoor sales up £45% in last quarter
Kingfisher reports strong growth in B&Q’s outdoor sales in last quarter. Higher demand has led to lower in-store availability. Tariffs of c. 2% are expected if it’s a no deal Brexit. Read more - members only
Simpsons expands into north-east with Happy Plant acquisition
Inverness based Simpsons Garden Centre is expanding into the north east. It has acquired an Aberdeen-shire Garden Centre, Happy Plant, based in Mintlaw. Read more - members only
Homebase is put up for sale
The FT reports that Homebase has been put up for sale as its owner, Hilco, looks to capitalise on the pandemic boost for home improvement groups. Read more - members only
Landmann in Germany has filed for bankruptcy
It has been reported in Germany that its oldest grill manufacturer, Landmann, has filed for bankruptcy. The company is looking for new investors. Read more - members only
Retail equipment Ltd acquires Greenkey Garden & Home Ltd
Greenkey has announced that the sale of its business has been agreed for an undisclosed sum to Retail Equipment Limited of Sudbury, Suffolk. Read more - members only
Homebase signs a licensing partnership with Hearst UK
Homebase has agreed a licensing partnership with House Beautiful, Country Living and Good Housekeeping to create a range of house and garden products. Read more - members only
Garden centre sales flourish in September
The GCA Barometer has recorded a 21% increase in garden centre sales during September, with Christmas, seeds and bulbs leading the way. Read more - members only
Wymondham Garden centre buys Aylsham
Brenda and Gary Groucott, owners of Wymondham Garden Centre for almost 20 years, are reopening Aylsham Garden Centre having bought the site at auction. Read more - members only
Expansion plans approved at Derwen Garden Centre
Planning permission has been granted for a new building at Derwen Garden Centre at Welshpool in Wales. Read more - members only
Bradford Garden Centre seeks planning permission for a second site
Directors of Tong Garden Centre have applied for planning permission to build a second site in West Yorkshire at the Acanthus Golf Centre, Tingley. Read more - members only
The Internet Gardener is to be revived
ARB & Grounds, a garden machinery business in Derby, is to bring back The Internet Gardener, the online garden furniture retailer that went into liquidation last November. Read more - members only
Half year results from Blue Diamond show great resilience
Blue Diamond has revealed half-year sales down only 5% despite all but one of its garden centres being closed for 1/3rd of the period. Profit before tax declined by only 17%. Read more - members only
Kingfisher adopts a mobile first approach for B&Q
Revealing resilient half year results, Kingfisher has accelerated e-commerce plans, with a focus on fulfilment from stores which it says are integral to delivering a seamless customer experience. Read more - members only
Blue Diamond opens online fashion shop
Blue Diamond has launched an online fashion shop. It will be followed next week by Christmas going live. Read more - members only