Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac Garden Tools
Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac, the garden tools supplier based in Slough, to expand its offer to garden retailers. Read more - members only
Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac Garden Tools
Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac, the garden tools supplier based in Slough, to expand its offer to garden retailers. Read more - members only
EP Barrus buys Town and Country
EP Barrus has bought the gardening glove and footwear manufacturer, Town & Country. Its founder and chairman Barry Page is to retire. Read more - members only
Fatal Legionnaire’s Disease incubated in a hot tub display
The owners of a regional DIY chain await sentence after an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that ‘probably’ come from a hot tub display in its garden centre led to two deaths. Read more - members only
The battle between Hare Hatch Sheeplands and the planners is over
Hare Hatch Sheeplands has finally complied with the council’s enforcement notice. The garden centre operation has been shut down, yet Rob Scott says the business has a bright future as a specialist nursery building on the heritage of the Floral Mile. Read more - members only
Blue Diamond acts after unacceptable food hygiene report at Fryer’s
Blue Diamond has replaced the front of house manager and head chef after Fryer’s garden centre received a ‘0’ rating, the lowest possible, for food hygiene in May. Read more - members only
Fire at Stephen H Smith Otley UPDATED
Local news report a fire at 11.15 last (Tuesday) night at Stephen H Smith garden centre at Otley, attended by 50 firefighters. A number of pets are reported to have died in the fire. Read more - members only
HTA is to recruit a chairman, a figurehead for the industry
The HTA is to complete its restructuring by recruiting a part-time chairman to be the figurehead that speaks for the industry. Read more - members only
SBM ready to take centre stage
It is 7 months since SBM completed its purchase of Bayer garden and established SBM Life Science. So far it has kept a low profile. At Glee the industry will see how culturally different the ambitious, family owned group will be. Read more - members only
Bents celebrates 80 years and looks ahead
Ron and Matthew Bent celebrate an 80-year history in which it has evolved from rose grower to a £20m garden centre and look 10 years ahead. Read more - members only
Bonnetts Garden Village – amended story
A new garden centre has started trading at Bonnetts Garden Village, managed by a former Dobbies general manager. Read more - members only
Squire’s has closed Woking Garden Centre for redevelopment
Squire’s has closed Woking Garden Centre for redevelopment, it will re-open in the spring – 50% larger. Read more - members only
Marshall tells growers, “Your Country needs you”
Marshall challenged UK growers to grab the opportunity presented by Brexit. About Ocado he said online gardening sales are ‘piffling’ and now is the time for this to change. Read more - members only
BGC wins permission for a massive new garden centre at East Durham
British Garden Centres have been given permission for a massive re-development of their East Durham garden centre that will create 250+ new jobs. Read more - members only
Westland Horticulture files 2016 accounts
Westland Horticulture increase sales to £127.7m and made a pre-tax profit of £4.1m after charges for integrating William Sinclair, bad debt write-offs and foreign currency losses. Read more - members only
Barrus signs up for new 16 acres site
E.P. Barrus, distributor of brands such as Wolf, Wilkinson Sword and Energiser, is to consolidate its operations under one roof and remain in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Read more - members only
Wyevale Garden Centres in possible re-financing deal
It has been reported that Terra Firma is negotiating a re-financing deal for Wyevale as the garden centre group has not met its trading targets. Read more - members only
La Hacienda has been sold to the Griffon Corporation for $11m (UPDATED)
It will be business as usual for La Hacienda, the global manufacturer, importer and distributor of outdoor heating and outdoor living products, after it became part of Griffon Corporation. Read more - members only
Wyevale is rated one of the 10 worst companies to work for
The Daily Telegraph listed Wyevale Garden Centres as one of the ten worst companies to work for, based on scores from the jobs website Glassdoor.co.uk. Gardenforum finds other garden retailers scored much better. Read more - members only
“It’s been an interesting ride” says PJ Davis
“It’s been an interesting ride” says the BUKI chief as he opened the fifth Bunnings pilot store in a former B&Q at Folkestone. Read more - members only
Vitax invests in expansion after a busy season
Vitax is to expand its production facility in Skelmersdale and warehouse in Coalville after faster than expected growth this year. Read more - members only
Frosts sells landscape maintenance division
Frosts has sold its landscape maintenance division to Nurture to focus on its core construction and garden centre operations, where profits fell last year. Read more - members only
B&M experiences best like-for-like growth in 3 years
Excellent sales in seasonal categories, particularly garden and outdoor living, and strong grocery sales contribute to strong like-for-like growth for B&M as it presses ahead with store openings. Read more - members only
Bonnett promises innovative ideas that will be new to garden centres
It has now been confirmed that Gardening Express owner, Chris Bonnett, has acquired his first bricks and mortar garden centre and called it Bonnetts Garden Village. Read more - members only
Bunnings doubles the number of Homebase pilot conversions
Early success encourages Bunnings to double to 20 the number of Homebase stores converted to the new format, but still says the success of the pilots remains a precursor to additional investment. Read more - members only
Steve Pitcher joins Homebase / Bunnings
Steve Pitcher started work with Homebase / Bunnings last week, a year after leaving B&Q. Read more - open to all
Kingfisher Nurseries to close as YouGarden takes over the site
Leading heather producer Kingfisher Nurseries is to close at the end of this month, the owners are retiring and have sold the site to YouGarden. Read more - members only
Dobbies to open at 7am for ‘Coffee to Go’
A highlight of the first day of the HTA Catering Conference was Costas Constantinou explaining to Matthew Appleby, how he would improve the Dobbies restaurants. Read more - members only
Wesfarmers says further investment in Homebase depends on successful pilots
It has been reported that Bunnings was disappointed with the Homebase performance in May, but that the two pilots are trading well. Read more - members only
Garden centres making the headlines around the country
Garden centres have made headlines in their areas for reasons as different as a fire, planning permission for housing, giving a facelift to a hospital garden and pleading not guilty to breaching planning laws. Read more - members only
Squire’s is to close Woking GC in June for redevelopment
Having completed upgrades at Long Ditton, Chertsey and Hersham, Squire’s is to close Woking in June for redevelopment. Read more - members only