Peter Smith Garden Furniture to continue trading as a new company

The Smith family is buying the assets and business of Peter Smith Garden Furniture (PSGF Ltd) which has called a creditors meeting with a view to going into voluntary liquidation. See more... Read more - members only

Sinclair buys green compost manufacturer

William Sinclair has bought Yorkshire Horticultural Supplies, a compost manufacturer near Doncaster. This represents an important strategic move into green composting and gives Sinclair more control over quality. See more... Read more - members only

More supermarket interest in garden centres

There has been much activity in garden centre property in the last week. Supermarkets are in prospect for 3 garden centre developments including Peterborough Garden Park. Worsley Hall Garden Centre is to re-open and Sheeplands is to spend £2m. See more... Read more - members only

Growers say retailers must sell Impatiens at their own risk

After the worst outbreak of Downy Mildew on Impatiens yet, it appears that it has become resistant to the key fungicide and can overwinter in soil. Growers are saying they will continue production as long as retailers accept there can be no guarantee against infection. See more... Read more - members only

Scotts puts the Customer First with Innovation

Everything Scotts Miracle-Gro does in 2012 is aimed at putting the Customer First says the new sales director. They will achieve this with several significant product innovations, a massive new distribution centre and a £7m TV campaign. See more... Read more - members only

Vital Earth goes to National finals as East Midlands Business of the Year

Vital Earth has been named East Midlands Business of the Year and is in the running for the UK title in the annual British Chamber of Commerce Awards. See more... Read more - members only

Home Retail shares slide as autumn trading disappoints

Brokers downgrade forecast profits for Home Retail as first half sales and margins fall at the Argos and Homebase group. It warns that early weeks of the second half have not improved as anticipated. See more… Read more - members only

GCG unveils Click and Collect service for plants

The Garden Centre Group has launched a ‘Click and Collect’ service for plants. The company believes this is a major step forward in building the group’s credentials as a serious plant retailer. See more... Read more - members only

Chepstow Garden Centre seeks to expand

Chepstow Plantaria Ltd, owner of 3 garden centres in the West, is seeking permission to extend Chepstow Garden Centre. See more... Read more - members only

James Coles seeks planning permission for housing

James Coles & Sons Nurseries are to submit a planning application to build 175 houses on their 20-acre nursery at Thurnby in Leicestershire. See more... Read more - members only

Tesco changes directors on Dobbies board

The three Tesco non-executive directors at Dobbies have resigned. The new chairman of Dobbies is the Tesco UK property director. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies renews York application and opens Speke in Liverpool

Dobbies today opens a new store at Speke in Liverpool and announces plans for an alternative site in York, having had the first one rebuffed. See more... Read more - members only

Weed Puller to feature on ITV this afternoon

Having been spotted at Glee, a double GIMA Award winning product from Fiskars, the Weed Puller, will be featured live on this afternoons “The Alan Titchmarsh Show” on ITV1. Read more - members only

Glee New Product Awards Winners

Javado’s hardy garden orchid wins the Glee special award. Scotts Miracle-Gro, Westminster Stone, Floramedia and Slug Gone are also winners. See more… Read more - members only

Garden Centre Group sale on track - UPDATED

The Sale of The Garden Centre Group looks to be on track for completion around the end of November. Suggestions that Tesco/Dobbies will cream off the best centres seem improbable. See more... Read more - members only

Peter Smith Garden Furniture calls creditor meeting

PSGF Ltd which trades as Peter Smith Garden Furniture at Bradford has called a meeting of creditors with a view to putting the company into liquidation. See more... Read more - members only

Four bidders remain in the contest for The Garden Centre Group

Weekend reports have named two private equity houses, Apax Partners and Terra Firma, that are thought to be in the final round of bidding for The Garden Centre Group. Gardenforum has learnt that four bidders remain in the contest. See more... Read more - members only

Big expansion plans for Bents

In its quest to be the best in everything it does, Bents has disclosed that it is planning a big expansion over the next 10 years as it aims to become the ‘Trafford Centre’ for garden, home and leisure shopping. See more... Read more - members only

William Notcutt is stepping down from Notcutts

William Notcutt is to leave Notcutts at the end of this month to set up his own agriculture and forestry business. He will resign as deputy chairman of the Notcutts board. See more... Read more - members only

Scotts deal gives access to natural pesticide technology

Scotts Miracle-Gro is to collaborate with MBI, a leading provider of bio-pesticides for pest management. The result should be a new range of natural products for the lawn and garden. See more... Read more - members only

2010 profits fall for many garden retailers

2010 seemed to be a good year for some nurseries but a significant proportion of garden centres showed a small reduction in sales accompanied by a larger fall in profits. There were losses for The Garden & Leisure Group and Webbs Garden Centres. Solus and Decco both performed strongly. To see summaries for over 50 garden companies, See more... (This article is open to all readers) Read more - open to all

Blue Diamond acquires Fryer’s Garden Centre, Cheshire

Knutsford- based Fryer’s Garden Centre has completed a deal to sell the family-owned garden centre and award-winning rose growing business to Blue Diamond Garden Centres of Guernsey. See more... Read more - members only

William Sinclair gains market share

William Sinclair says it is pleased with 2011 trading. It claims to have gained market share and results will be in line with expectations. See more... Read more - members only

The Garden Centre Group reveals 2010 results

Results just released by The Garden Centre Group show that 2010 was not the recovery year it had hoped for. However, its performance has improved this year and the bank has extended the group loan facility till 2013 pending a possible sale. See more... Read more - members only

Dobbies to close Paisley GC

Dobbies is to close Paisley garden centre at the end of December. This will reduce the stores to 31 till Gillingham opens in the spring. See more... Read more - members only

Another warning from Flying Brands

Shares halve at Flying Brands as Gardening Direct performs significantly below expectations. The value of Sir Tom Hunter’s investment has fallen by 97%. See more... Read more - members only

The Angels tell how to launch a new garden product

Revealing advice from the Garden Angels at the Glee garden exhibition shows how to turn a great idea for the garden into a commercial success, against the odds. See more... Read more - members only

Golden Acres buys Badger Nurseries

Alexander Mackie Associates report that Golden Acres Garden Centre and Nursery has bought Badger Nurseries & Plant Centre. Report to follow. Read more - members only

Hillview Garden Centres completes its first aquisition

Studley becomes the foundation stone for Hillview Garden Centres Ltd as Boyd Douglas-Davies completes his first purchase backed by Hillview Capital. See more... Read more - members only

Fire damages Crooklands Garden Centre

A major fire in a scrapyard has damaged Crooklands Garden Centre. A 200m exclusion zone has been set up, which has closed the railway between Barrow and Ulverston. See more... Read more - members only

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