B&Q sold 326,000 fence panels this spring

Kingfisher has released trading figures showing 10.5% growth on last year. Pack bedding, fence panels, rattan and resin furniture showed strong growth. See more... Read more - members only

Compass to install 30 coffee shops with Homebase

Compass Group’s Instore has secured a new five-year partnership with Homebase to install 30 coffee shops. See more... Read more - members only

Notcutts sells farms to fund GC expansion

Notcutts has put 445 acres of Suffolk farmland up for sale. The money raised will allow further investment in the core garden centre business. See more... Read more - members only

91 job losses at Solus as discussions continue

Administrators from PwC have announced 91 redundancies at Solus so the business can continue trading while discussions with interested parties continue. See more... Read more - members only

Solus goes into administration

Rob Hunt and Tony Barrell of PwC have been appointed joint administrators of Solus Garden & Leisure Limited today, 15 May 2014. The company will continue to trade while a buyer is sought. This story is open to all See more... Read more - open to all

Marshalls increases output to meet strong sales growth in all markets

Marshalls says order books for domestic installers of its landscape products have stretched to 11.5 weeks and is predicting better than expected results for 2014. See more… Read more - members only

Delamore takes on Volmary operations in the UK

Delamore, which grows young plants for UK growers, has announced that it is taking on the growing, sales and distribution of the Volmary product range in this country. See more... Read more - members only

Next opens its first store to focus purely on Home and Garden

Next has opened its first store to focus purely on the home and garden part of the business, at Cribbs Causeway. See more... Read more - members only

Haxnicks to join forces with Tildenet

The sales and distribution of Haxnicks products is to move from Smart Solar to Tildenet, the netting and ground cover specialist at the end of May. See more... Read more - members only

Latest TGCG recruits bring the best of the retail industry to the gardening world

TGCG has drawn from Dixons, Homebase, Waitrose and Britvic to expand its trading division and bring the best of the retail industry to the gardening world. See more… Read more - members only

Industry experts at opening of Highfield’s massive extension

Last week saw the official opening of the £2.5m extension at Highfield Garden World that has doubled sales and makes it one of the largest garden centres in the country. See more... Read more - members only

Another rebuff for Yarnton Nurseries

Yarnton Nurseries has had plans to build 14 houses on surplus land turned down due to Green Belt restrictions. See more... Read more - members only

Solus in new talks

Solus engages Grant Thornton and says it is in talks as Bayer becomes the latest supplier to move away. See more... Read more - members only

TGCG names new regional operations directors

TGCG has announced the new regional operations structure for its garden centres, but it is not strictly regional as the group seeks synergies from centres of a similar size. See more... Read more - members only

More normal conditions appear to be returning

Marshalls says sales are up 18% and Sinclair suggests more normal conditions appear to be returning to the sector, while B&Q continues to optimise store size as it moves to omni-channel retailing. See more... Read more - members only

A time to reflect says Westland chief

As PwC confirms that discussions with interested parties about buying Solus are still ongoing, Edward Conroy suggests this is an opportunity to reflect on our progress as an industry and to consider what still needs to be done. See more... Read more - members only

Is old compost sabotaging your plants?

Which? Gardening calls on compost manufacturers to add a production date to bags of compost as it again finds old stock on garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

Ex Sinclair MD joins Kärcher

Danny Adamson has teamed up with Kärcher as the company seeks to become a significant supplier of garden watering products to UK garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair fails to profit from better spring weather

William Sinclair shares opened 20% lower as the company warned that sales were lower than was anticipated from a return to more normal weather patterns. See more… Read more - members only

Williamson grandchildren unify Wyevale Nurseries

Wyevale Containers, Wyevale Trees and Wyevale Transplants in Herefordshire have officially re-launched this month under the generic name Wyevale Nurseries, with Andy Johnson as MD. See more.... Read more - members only

Brantano seeks concession space in 30 garden centres

Brantano opens in two TGCG garden centres with more to follow as companies such as WH Smith and Viners open concessions in the group's stores. See more… Read more - members only

Record Easter and good May Day holiday for garden centres

Garden furniture, sundries and plants drive strong garden centre sales in April; and stock keeps flowing despite upheavals in the supply chain. There is a feeling that the gardening feel-good factor is back. See more... Read more - members only

Hillview Garden Centres has acquired its 9th garden centre

Hillview Garden Centres has acquired Little Heath Garden Centre. This is the 7th site acquired by the group in 2014. See more... Read more - members only

Good progress in Solus talks

Solus says good progress is being made in talks with potential trade and financial investors, but the process will take a few weeks. See more... Read more - members only

Culture change for Gardman

Stewart Hainsworth started as CEO of Gardman last September. He has spent his first 7 months looking and listening, building a new management team, restoring relations with agents and changing the culture. See more... Read more - members only

New hope for Hare Hatch Sheeplands

Weeks before a public enquiry to hear an appeal against enforcement action that would effectively close Hare Hatch Sheeplands, there is hope of a negotiated settlement. See more… Read more - members only

TGCG didn’t have a very attractive offering to the leisure customer, says Hands

Guy Hands talks about his strategy for TGCG, a business that was in need of fundamental change in 2012, when Terra Firma bought it. A director describes how the puzzling stock of goods was reassessed. See more... Read more - members only

Talks between Solus and Scotts have broken down

Negotiations between Scotts and Solus have broken down without a deal and the distribution agreement between the two companies has expired. See more... Read more - members only

Staff confirmed as Notcutts COO as Tunbridge Wells reopens

Notcutts is to hold the official reopening of the garden centre at Tunbridge Wells next week. At the same time it has emerged that former FD Andrew Staff has been confirmed as the new COO. See more... Read more - members only

TGCG buys Brooks Nursery & Garden Centre

The Garden Centre Group has this morning announced the acquisition of a Brooks Nursery and Garden Centre in Cornwall.  See more... Read more - members only

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