Haskins to buy Forest Lodge at Holt Pound
Haskins Garden Centres is in the final stages of buying Denys E Head, the owners of Forest Lodge Garden Centre, Garden Style and Birdworld. Read more - members only
Haskins to buy Forest Lodge at Holt Pound
Haskins Garden Centres is in the final stages of buying Denys E Head, the owners of Forest Lodge Garden Centre, Garden Style and Birdworld. Read more - members only
Caulders buys Loch Lomond Homes & Gardens Centre
Caulders Garden Centres is to buy Loch Lomond Homes and Garden, bringing the number of garden centres in the Central Scotland group to eight. Read more - members only
Sue Allen steps into the shoes of John Ashley at Greenfingers
Sue Allen has succeeded John Ashley as chair of Greenfingers, the industry backed charity that creates gardens at children’s hospices to cheer patients and their families. Read more - open to all
Further expansion planned for Thetford Garden Centre
A further £3m investment is planned for Thetford Garden Centre to include containerised catering in the style of the Wahaca Mexican street food restaurants. Read more - members only
Mr Fothergill's trial ground recognised with Fleuroselect status
Newmarket-based Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has been selected as a trial site for Fleuroselect, the international organisation for the ornamental plants industry. Read more - members only
Dobbies is to close Dalgety Bay Garden Centre
Dobbies is to close Dalgety Day garden centre, near Dunfermline, its smallest garden centre. Read more - members only
Ditchling opens Notcutts’ largest restaurant
Notcutts' Garden Pride Garden Centre in Ditchling, East Sussex has opened a new restaurant with dining for 300 as part of a centre-wide refurbishment. Read more - members only
Review of 2019
Here is a summary of the news stories published on Gardenforum during 2019: Wyevale disintegration and the expansion of other groups, the environment, supplier consolidation and people in the news. This review is open to all. Read more - open to all
Camping World leases part of Chichester Garden Centre
Seaward Properties has leased half the space at the Chichester garden centre to Campingworld. The site, a Wyevale Garden Centre until August, has undergone an extensive refurbishment in the last 5 months. Read more - members only
Dobbies to lead the future of Garden Centre retailing
2018-19 accounts just filed for Dobbies reveal a strategic plan to lead the future of garden centre retailing, a loss before tax of £14m and that it paid £70m for six garden centres. Read more - members only
Strikes opens rebuilt Stokesley garden centre after fire
After a devasting fire in April 2018, Klondyke has announced the opening of a brand new Strikes Garden Centre and restaurant at Stokesley. Read more - members only
Dobbies to consider float in a year or so UPDATED
Dobbies says that its underlying sales are around £300m after acquisitions and 5% like for like growth. Chairman Andrew Bracey says it will look to float on the Stock Exchange “in a year or so”. Read more - members only
New Welcome building boosts sales at RHS Wisley
Sales have risen 24% at RHS Wisley since the opening of its new Welcome building in June, attracting the younger shopper. Houseplant sales are up 62%. Read more - members only
Decco Mills is Hillier’s garden shop supplier of the year
Among the winners at Hillier’s Awards Dinner were: Botley, Hillier’s garden centre of the year; Meon Valley, Horticultural Supplier of the year; and Decco Mills. Read more - members only
Sir Terry says garden spend could double
Sir Terry Leahy former CEO of Tesco and current investor in Dobbies explained how retailing has changed. Garden centres are well placed, gardening spend could double because of today’s issues. Read more - members only
Klondyke acquires 22nd centre
The Klondyke Group is now 22 strong following its acquisition of Garden Wise Plant and Garden Centre in Dumfries. Read more - members only
Haskins to open Snowhill within weeks
Haskins' new Snowhill Garden Centre is to have a soft opening in mid-February before a formal ribbon cutting in March. Read more - members only
Hillier gets green light for major extension project
Visitors to Hillier Garden Centre Newbury can look forward to a transformed experience as West Berkshire Council gives green light for major extension project. Read more - members only
Dobbies sales up by 44% over Christmas
Dobbies chairman, Andrew Bracey said, “Dobbies Christmas performance with sales up 44% and like-for-like growth of 6% is very encouraging." Read more - members only
Bord na Mona changes name in UK
The UK retail arm of Bord na Mona will change its name to The Greener Gardening Company, effective 1st February 2020. Read more - members only
Wyevale head office moves from Syon Park
As announced in the autumn Wyevale’s head office has moved out of Syon Park to nearby Brentford, while the business is wound up. Read more - open to all
Sales up 15% at Squire’s
Results for the year ending 31 July 2019 show it was another record year for Squire’s with sales up 15% to £57m and profits up despite increased wages costs. Read more - members only
BGC completes the purchase of Hillview
Hillview Garden Centres has been trading as part of British Garden Centres since September, but only today has the deal been completed for BGC to buy them from the Hillview Group. Read more - members only
The Solar Centre expands into new premises
The Solar Centre has moved into a new warehouse, 5 times the size of its previous site to accommodate its rapid growth of 40% per annum. Read more - members only
Westland announces two key appointments
Two appointments at Westland Horticulture: Simon McArdle becomes marketing and category director at Gardman Crest and Mark Sage joins from Wyevale to become head of commercial horticulture. Read more - open to all
Apta has been acquired by AMES
Griffon Corporation has announced that its subsidiary AMES has bought Apta, to add to its purchases of Kelkay, Anchorfast and La Hacienda. Read more - members only
"If you do nothing else, do Crazy Golf" Guy Topping
If you do nothing else, do Crazy Golf, said Guy Topping at the HTA Conference, explaining his development of the Flower Bowl, a leisure experience at Barton Grange Garden Centre. Read more - members only
Administrators appointed at National Polytunnels Ltd
Administrators have been appointed at National Polytunnels (01656315). The phones are not being answered and the website has been suspended. Read more - members only
HTA commits to creating a Sustainability Roadmap
What are the industry plans for environment? The HTA will create a Sustainability roadmap that it hopes the different voices in horticulture will unite behind. Read more - members only
Tough start for new Kingfisher CEO
There is much to do to improve our performance says Thierry Garnier, reporting his first quarterly results for Kingfisher. They show a like for like drop in sales at B&Q of -3.4%. Read more - members only