Brexit leads Allensmore to extend perennial production

Brexit fears have increased demand for UK grown plants leading Allensmore to add a further 9 acres of outdoor production. Read more - members only

Brian Taylor

Scotts challenges Westland’s SafeLawn adverts and loses

Scotts Miracle-Gro called on the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) to find that two adverts for Safelawn by Westland were misleading. Their complaint was not upheld. Read more - members only

Irish grower to expand into the UK

One of Ireland’s foremost growers of nursery stock, Flannery’s Nurseries, is looking to develop its market by expanding into the UK with Bob Haward as their agent. Read more - members only

Bob Haward

Westland calls on the industry to avoid short cuts when there is a shortage of peat

Following a reduced peat harvest, which Westland admits will have a cost impact, the company calls on the growing media industry not to take short cuts by using materials like green waste. Read more - members only

Edward Conroy shows West + to Darmuid Gavin and the current DUP Leader, Arlene Foster.

Terra Firma confirms the re-financing of WGC after massive losses in 2016

Wyevale accounts for 2016 show a net loss of £122m after a one-off charge for non-recurring items of £73.6m.  This gives a new starting position for Wyevale, which has raised £216.5m in new finance to replace exisiting facilities that would have expired in 2018. Read more - members only

Chilton, a Wyevale garden centre

Phase 1 extension of Northern Ireland garden centre to open

Colemans Garden Centre in Templepatrick, N. Ireland is nearing the completion of phase 1 of a £5m redevelopment and expansion. Read more - members only

Wyevale refinancing has been agreed according to reports

Press reports suggest Terra Firma is about to announce new long-term refinancing for Wyevale Garden Centres. Read more - members only

Scotts UK has a perpetual license to sell Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Company (UK) reveals more about the buy-out from the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Investment in innovation backed by TV advertising is the way forward. Read more - members only

Origins, Scotts new naturals range

Notcutts reports a 58% jump in operating profit

Notcutts lifts sales and profit after 5 garden centres are modernised as part of their 5-year plan. A new leadership team has been recruited. Read more - members only

The Notcutts show garden at Norwich

Wholesalers go hand in hand with competing glove brands

National wholesaler, Decco, has signed an exclusive partnership with Briers, while Stax has secured a deal with E. P. Barrus to distribute their brands including the newly acquired Town & Country. Read more - members only

Smart Garden celebrates a massive new logistics centre

The Mayor of Peterborough joined Paris Natar and the Smart Garden team to celebrate the opening of a massive new distribution hub that should see turnover grow to £100m. Read more - members only

'So now what do we do?' MD Jonathan Stobart and Paris Natar

SBM Company to market MaxiCrop in the UK

SBM Company, which bought Bayer Garden last year, has announced a partnership agreement with Italy-based Valagro to sell and market its garden brands in Europe and the US.  For the UK these include MaxiCrop. Read more - members only

Darren Brown, Head of SBM Life Science

Briers launches Pignut, a new fashion company

Briers has launched a quality home textile range for garden centres with fashion conscious customers.  The new company has been named Pignut. Read more - members only

Jackie Eades, Mel Griffiths and Erin Belmont show a Pignut cushion

The Orangery Collection launches in two garden centres

Lolly Lee was so convinced that her new venture would be a success that she sold her house to fund the launch of The Orangery Collection, introducing design led ranges from artisan producers around the world. Read more - members only

Lolly Lee opening the display at Coolings with MD Gary Carvoso and Nicki Peto

Squire’s plans a ‘Raffles style’ Café Bar at Shepperton, with a piano

Squire’s plans to open a new 'Raffles' Café Bar at Shepperton Garden Centre, which will include a new style of service - where orders are placed at the till then an electronic tracker is taken to the table. Read more - members only

Carol Paris becomes a non-exec director at Briers

Carol Paris has joined Jackie Eades on the board of Briers, the UK’s leading garden glove and boot supplier, to guide it through its next phase of growth. Read more - members only

Carol Paris and Jackie Eades

Coolings is buying a third garden centre

Coolings Nurseries says it has agreed to buy The Potted Garden Nursery, which is located very close to Leeds Castle in Kent. They take over on Nov 1st. Read more - members only

Gary Carvosso

Deco-Pak takes a strategic decision to focus on garden centres

Deco-Pak is to sever links with a discount retailer so that it can develop a more creative offer for specialist garden centres. Read more - members only

Rod Slater holds a One Penny stepping stone watched by owner Mike Hall and his sons, Craig and David

As Wyevale refinances after massive losses, has it turned the corner?

As Wyevale refinances, Roger Mclaughlan has spoken for the first time since becoming CEO about how he and his new management team are working to get the core business right. Further acquisitions are firmly on the back burner. Read more - members only

Roger Mclaughlan, CEO of wyevale Garden Centres

WGC trading profit hit by switch to central distribution

Terra Firma says switch to central distribution was too much for Wyevale Garden Centres, hitting stock availability and sales in 2016. Trading profit fell 31%. Read more - members only

Wyevale expects to sell 2000 bulb packs an hour this weekend

Wyevale Garden Centres is predicting that this weekend will be the most popular for the sale of bulbs, when it expects to sell around 2,000 packets of bulbs an hour. Read more - members only

Westland refreshes logo and aims for higher brand profile

Westland looks to raise its brand profile as the gardener’s champion after research shows there’s an opportunity to build consumer recognition. Read more - members only

Lifestyle imagery

Stihl’s pilot with Dobbies marks a major advance for cordless battery tools

The Stihl Group expects demand for Lithium-Ion products to grow exponentially and is to test the selling of cordless products through garden centres. The first pilot is with Dobbies. Read more - members only

Stihl Lithium-Ion products on show at Glee

Gardman’s field sales team visits its new National Distribution Centre

The Gardman sales team visited the almost completed 415,000 sq ft. National Distribution Centre last week to be briefed on Glee and the 2018 growth plans. Read more - members only

Another respectable year for The Barton Grange group

Garden centre sales in 2016 were level, with profit increasing slightly at the Barton Grange Group as construction of the Flower Bowl has started for opening in 2018. Read more - members only

Plans for new Honiton GC look set for approval

Planning officials have recommended that plans for a new garden centre on the outskirts of Honiton are approved. Which means it could be trading by next spring. Read more - members only

Exponent Private Equity completes purchase of Scotts Miracle-Gro brands worldwide

Sheila Hill is UK Country Manager and says, “We look forward to strong investments in our brands and categories with more media and innovation.” Read more - members only

Sheila Hill - UK Country Manager

New DC for Zest, plus a university link

Timber product supplier, Zest 4 Leisure, has just bought a new distribution centre in Saltney, Flintshire. It has also announced a collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University. Read more - members only

Investment pays off for Creative Gardens

Creative Gardens beats the GCA averages following improvement works. Overall, almost as many centres were down in July as up. Read more - members only

Creative Gardens' house plants area

Trading to remain challenging for Bunnings UK

The historical poor performance of Homebase is expected to continue in the short term, despite encouraging sales growth in gardening categories, as customers continue to adjust to the Bunnings offer. Read more - members only

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