Wyevale’s Hillingdon garden centre is to close

The Wyevale garden centre at Hillingdon is to close at the end of January, it is reported.

Read more - members only

Notcutts celebrates 120 years

Notcutts will be marking its 120th anniversary this year as a family-owned garden centre business after opening as a nursery in 1897. Read more - members only

Notcutts garden centre in Woodbridge in the 1960’s

Bob Hewitt joins Kelkay board

Former chief executive, now non-executive chairman of Klondyke, Bob Hewitt has taken up an additional part-time role as non-executive director of Kelkay. Read more - members only

Anthony Harker and Bob Hewitt

Caulders buys Cupar garden centre

Caulders Garden Centres have started the year by buying a 5th site at Cupar. The owners will invest £250,000 on refurbishment before the season. Read more - members only

Mandy and Colin Barrie

2016 - a year of change

2016 saw second tier garden centre chains and independents invest as Wyevale consolidated. Homebase and Argos are sold. The HTA moved offices and moved to become the lead association for all gardening related businesses. Glyphosate, Xylella and the weather made frequent headlines. Scotts and Bayer looked for a way out of distributing consumer garden chemicals. Read our review – open to all. Read more - open to all

Bunnings buys Homebase

Lovania launches a mobile website to aid plant buyers

Lovania has teamed up with Floramedia to create a mobile website to aid plant buyers with information and images while shopping the plant area. Read more - members only

HTA embraces GCA and GIMA

Once estranged, The HTA and GCA plant a tree at the new HTA Hub to show that they are more together than for many years. While the GIMA president has joined the HTA board.  Read more - members only

L-R Adam Wigglesworth, Carol Paris of the HTA; Iain Wylie and Julian Winfield of the GCA

Stewarts buy Abbey Garden Centre

Stewarts Garden Centres have today bought Abbey Garden Centre in Titchfield, making it 3 in the group. Martin Stewart said he was thrilled. Read more - members only

Strong profit growth from T&M

T&M revealed a sharp improvement in performance in its latest accounts, crediting more efficient operations along with a shift away from traditional catalogues to the web. Read more - members only

Plant inspecting at T&M

Uncertainty for suppliers as Dunelm buys WS Group

It is widely reported that Dunelm has bought WS Group the online retailer of home and garden in what seems to involve a pre-pack deal. Read more - members only

Garden centre fire near Heathrow

15 fire engines took 5 hours to control a major fire at Ansell Garden Centre on Sunday. Read more - members only

Decco fined £2.2m following death of a worker

Garden and DIY wholesaler, Decco, has been given the largest ever fine for a local authority prosecution after a worker died following a fall at one of its depots. Read more - members only

Why are gardening brands ignoring QVC?

Richard Jackson, the gardening guru on QVC, asked why many garden brands ignore QVC when so many famous brands in other sectors sell through it. Read more - members only

Richard Jackson

‘Europe is not a long term priority for us’ says Scotts chairman

Scotts-Miracle Gro continues to look at ways to exit Europe and hopes of a final answer in the near future. UK sales were hit by the closure of Solus. Read more - members only

Wyevale Folkestone is to close

Radnor Estates that own Folkestone garden centre have served notice on Wyevale having won planning consent to use the site for residential use. Read more - members only

Wyevale’s new website is central to its multi-channel plans

Wyevale Garden Centres says its new website is a platform for e-commerce and a unique resource for Britain’s gardeners to derive consistently good quality and trusted advice. Read more - members only

H&E Knowles (Lye) is bought out of administration

Former owners of garden equipment maker H&E Knowles (Lye) have formed a new company to buy part of the assets from the administrators, so protecting 78 jobs. Read more - members only

Elho completes purchase of Ebertsankey

Elho’s Good(s)Factory has completed the purchase of Ebertsankey as Fiskars focuses on its core consumer business. Read more - members only

GC Christmas sales have ‘stalled a bit’ after a 7 – 10 year trend of huge increases

The majority of garden centres say Christmas sales were up but competition is increasing and December sales were disappointing for some. Read more - members only

New management structure as BGC develops

Phillippa Stubbs tells how British Garden Centres group in the North East is strengthening management and controls now that it is a £26m, 10 garden centre group. Read more - members only

British Garden Centres

Wilko want to create more of an open door policy

Wilko tells suppliers, “We’ve lost touch over recent years.” Now, “We want to create more of an open door policy.” Read more - members only

Blue Diamond takes on Polhill’s Cambridge garden centre

Blue Diamond has today taken over Coton Orchard garden centre in Cambridge from Sevenoaks based Polhill. Read more - members only

Blue Diamond's flagship store at Redfields

Hare Hatch Sheeplands looks set for a long fight with Wokingham

The enforcement dispute between Wokingham District Council and Hare Hatch Sheeplands seems set for the long run after a Council debate that was called a farce by owners of the garden centre. Read more - members only

Buoyant Hillier celebrates a year of growth

Hillier crowned Eastbourne their Garden Centre of the year. They named Meon Valley Nurseries, Westland and Bramblecrest as their best suppliers but warned that any price increases would be resisted. Read more - members only

Hillier Eastbourne

Under the radar changes at Klondyke

As Bob Hewitt retires and David Yardley takes over they explain the under-the-radar changes at Klondyke since Bob Gault died in 2011. Read more - members only

Klondyke executive directors, David Yardley, Sharon Allan and David Abbott with Bob Hewitt

Two garden centre groups open new restaurants in time for Christmas

Frosts at Woburn Sands and Notcutts at Norwich are completing £multi-million developments in time for Christmas. Read more - members only

Opening of Notcutts' restaurant in Staines

B&M reports good sell-through of gardening and outdoor furniture

B&M is delighted with last year’s new stores, including the significant number of larger, former DIY stores that have garden centres. Read more - members only

Take a sneek peek at the new Wyevale website

Wyevale has offered Gardening Club members a sneek peek at its long awaited new website, which launches very soon. Read more - members only

Bunnings to pilot 10 warehouse stores

Bheta hears there will be 10 pilot Bunnings Warehouse stores by the end of next year, starting with St Albans, and there will be fewer direct imports. Read more - members only

PJ Davis

More independent garden centres show growth in 2015

Latest results on Gardenforum show growth in 2015 for garden centres like Otter Nurseries, Polhill, West Country Garden Centres and Woodthorpe Hall.  Sales declined for two suppliers of garden machinery. Read more - members only

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