British Garden Centres strengthens its nursery team
_3.jpg)
-
Henry Nicholson
-
Emily Wheeler
-
Gareth Noble and Tom Westwell
-
James Jackson
Following a period of exponential growth, British Garden Centres has strengthened its nursery team to increase its plant growth and production facilities nationwide.
The UK’s largest family-run garden centre group, with 65 stores across the country, has taken on experts in their field as the business continues its move towards more British plants in-store. Headed up by Scott Morahan, British Garden Centres currently has three nursery sites, Woodthorpe, Temple, and Water End.
James Jackson has joined as Nursery Manager for the newly acquired Langlands Nursery, renamed Water End Nursery. James is an experienced nursery manager having worked for Tillage Nursery and will be overseeing the transformation of the site to produce quality plants for our garden centres in the future.
Emily Wheeler has also joined as Nursery Grower for Water End Nursery. With a strong background in plant science having worked as a Horticultural Technician and Research Assistant, Emily’s technical and plant knowledge will be a real asset to the British Garden Centres plant team.
Henry Nicholson also joined following a seasonal contract at Temple, but when the British Garden Centres team realised how passionate he was about plants and transferring his amenity horticulture skills to production, they seized the chance to get him permanently into the nursery.
These new recruits join Gareth Noble and Tom Westwell who were recruited for Temple Nursery in 2023 when the group acquired the former Hawkesmill site in Warwickshire. Both Gareth and Tom are former Hawkesmill employees and have a strong background and knowledge in production horticulture and will run the operational activity at the nursery permanently moving forward.
Scott Morahan, Group Nursery Manager at British Garden Centres said: “As a family-run business, we're proud to support British horticulture and create opportunities for talented individuals. By strengthening our nursery team with experienced professionals like James, Emily, Henry, Gareth, and Tom, British Garden Centres is poised for continued growth and innovation. We're excited to bring even more beautiful, high-quality British plants to our customers.”
British Garden Centres (BGC) is the UK’s largest family-owned garden centre group with 65 centres around the country. The group is owned and led by The Stubbs family, who also own and operate Woodthorpe Leisure Park in Lincolnshire.
BGC was launched in 1987 with the opening of Woodthorpe Garden Centre by brothers Charles and Robert Stubbs. Since 2018 it has expanded rapidly with the acquisition of 50 garden centres allowing it to grow from its heartland to the business it is now with 65 garden centres spread from Carmarthen to Ramsgate, Wimborne to East Durham.
The group has a team of 2,700 colleagues working across the garden centres, restaurants, growing nurseries, distribution centres, Woodthorpe Leisure Park, and Woody’s Restaurant & Bar.