In This Issue
2017: A year of transition for the garden centre trade
Top 50 most-read stories in GTN Xtra 2017
When will the For Sale sign go up at Wyevale GCs?
So what went on behind closed doors at the Wyevale suppliers meeting.?
Rising Stars 2017 - The final 12
Owners of garden centre face £21,000 bill after selling 'dangerous' items
Wyevale Garden Centres announces shift away from acquisitions
Wyevale Garden Centres named on 'worst to work for' list
Sad news - Alistair Lorimer dies
Durston Garden Products HOLD prices for 2018
New display ideas, new products, new suppliers at Bunnings first UK garden centre - GTN Xtra picture exclusive
Retail ops restructured as going gets tough for Wyevale GCs
All eyes will be on how Wyevale GCs plans to replace 'unsustainable' growth strategy with core business focus
Sir Terry and Mr M...unfinished business at Dobbies?
Mothers Day bonanza as garden centre records are broken across the country
We cleared out Homebase management too quickly, confesses parent company's new CEO
Carol Paris is leaving the HTA
Dobbies "gets together with Ocado to be the best on-line"
Nicholas Marshall is back in the gardening industry as CEO of Dobbies
Newshound finds Mr M has been busy recruiting 'experience'...
Terra Firma props up Wyevale Garden Centres
So this is what a Bunnings Warehouse looks like...
A bittersweet moment says Scott CEO as he announces UK, Europe and Aussie sell-off
Gardman reports £1.5m loss - but earnings soar by 50%
Blue Diamond buys Bridgford Garden Centre
Exponent Private Equity to buy Scotts business in UK, Europe and Australia
Brothers sell £15m Yarnton Nurseries business
Area Representative/Product Merchandiser
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Westland win Sword of Excellence with SafeLawn
Is this the smallest garden centre in the UK?
Glee to hold two shows per year from 2018 onwards
Garden retailers sign up to industry Xylella statement
Marshall's strategy for Dobbies to put focus back on plants
Woodlodge win GCA Associate of the year Award
"The Best Glee for Years" - Retailers verdict on this years show
"Xylella is the most serious situation I have come across in 32 years in the industry"
MEP's vote to ban glyphosate completely by 2022
Blisters, tomatoes, over 100 walkers and runners raise over £22k on Garden Re-Leaf Day
Coolings buys Potted Garden Nursery at Maidstone
Exclusive pictures from Bunnings' biggest store yet
New men at the top at Hillier
Xylella fastidiosa: how Italy has tackled the problem
Town & Country is sold to EP Barrus
Supplier rebates to exceed £1.5m for Choice members
"Garden Centre of the Future" planned for new outlet retail centre at Downtown Grantham
Bunnings UK No. 3 - Hemel Hempstead in pictures
Shoplifting costs retailers £800m a year says research
Scotts: We want out of Europe...but we won't give the business away
New trade show will demonstrate how to cater for vegans
Historic exhibition and new branding for Dobbies
Exciting new-build garden centre underway
Bunnings - Homebase - sales drop by £44m
Glyphosate licence approved for 5 years
Situations Vacant
Area Representative/Product Merchandiser
Kent/Sussex area. £20k to £23k per annum
 
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Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700


2017: A year of transition for the garden centre trade

 

It’s been a strange year, yet for all that an oddly exciting one when you begin to peer into the detail – a year of transition in which the garden industry has continued to adapt, albeit cautiously, to a rapidly changing retail world. In this special edition of GTN Xtra, associate editor Mike Wyatt looks back at 2017...

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Top 50 most-read stories in GTN Xtra 2017

GTN Xtra has been read by over 35,000 unique readers during 2017 with an average of 61,813 pages read each month and here are the Top 50 most read stories from another busy garden centre year...

Find out how the Top 50 most-read stories rated
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When will the For Sale sign go up at Wyevale GCs?
No 1 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 12 November, 2017

 

Woof! Newshound here…back and straining at the leash. So what’s cooking? The boss says people who’ve have had their ears to the walls at Wyevale GCs HQ reckon there’s something interesting about to break...

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So what went on behind closed doors at the Wyevale suppliers meeting.?
No 2 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 19 November, 2017

There was chat, there was cheer...and there was even a chance to whip things up with a bit of chanting...

 

Wooff woof! Yes it’s me, your industrious (and occasionally industrial) Newshound reporting for duty. You’ll be wondering if I found much to set the tail wagging at this week’s gathering of the supply chain at Fortress Wyevale. Read on...

 

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Rising Stars 2017 - The final 12
No 3 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Tuesday 1 August, 2017

 

The final 12 candidates in the Rising Stars class of 2017 have been announced...

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Owners of garden centre face £21,000 bill after selling 'dangerous' items
No 4 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 17 September, 2017



The owners of a Hornsea Garden Centre have been fined for selling items which "posed a serious fire risk" to customers...

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Wyevale Garden Centres announces shift away from acquisitions
No 5 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 24 September, 2017
 

Wyevale Garden Centres has announced the successful refinancing of external bank debt facilities, which stabilises the capital structure enabling the leadership team to focus on delivering the new strategy, centred on building a better business for customers. Roger Mclaughlan, CEO of WGC said: “There’s been a significant shift in our financial priorities away from acquisitions and other capital intensive growth initiatives to investment in the core infrastructure, systems and processes..."

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Wyevale Garden Centres named on 'worst to work for' list
No 6 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 9 July, 2017


Wyevale Garden Centres appeared on a list published by the Daily Telegraph of what it says are some of the worst companies to work for in the UK, based on ratings on the job site Glassdoor...

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Sad news - Alistair Lorimer dies
No 7 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 25 June, 2017
 

Sad news has reached the GTN Xtra office of the death of Alistair Lorimer last week after a long battle with cancer...

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Durston Garden Products HOLD prices for 2018
No 8 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Saturday 14 October, 2017



Durston Garden Products have been Flying the Flag for a BUY BRITISH campaign and all for a very good reason. The company generally believes that as BREXIT negotiations continue to take shape; that now is the time to start shopping closer to home. Not only will you save yourself all the stress, and often logistical nightmare that goes with the lengthy process of  shopping overseas but that you will also find it can be much cheaper too.

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New display ideas, new products, new suppliers at Bunnings first UK garden centre - GTN Xtra picture exclusive
No 9 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 12 February, 2017




The Bunnings Warehouse garden centre area at their pilot St Albans store provided plenty of new ways of displaying plants and products as well as some surprising new product lines and new suppliers to the UK market, when GTN Xtra made a visit yesterday...

See GTN Xtra's exclusive picture gallery
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Retail ops restructured as going gets tough for Wyevale GCs
No 10 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 6 August, 2017
 

Reports circulating online this week suggest that life is not getting any easier for Terra Firma’s Wyevale Garden Centres operation, which is facing re-structuring and re-financing after disappointing earnings. Pictured: WGC retail operations director David Anderson, who announced last week's changes.

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All eyes will be on how Wyevale GCs plans to replace 'unsustainable' growth strategy with core business focus
No 11 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 1 October, 2017
 

Wyevale Garden Centres’ results published last week suggest that the problems facing parent Terra Firma as it strives to turn the 149-centre business around ahead of a planned sale are even greater that most people feared – but CEO Roger Mclaughlan says performance is improving...

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Sir Terry and Mr M...unfinished business at Dobbies?
No 12 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 12 March, 2017



What's going on in the world of Dobbies? GTN Newshound has been sniffing out a couple of juicy theories...

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Mothers Day bonanza as garden centre records are broken across the country
No 13 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 26 March, 2017



It was a record breaking Mothers Day weekend - official!  Over the course of yesterday and this morning GTN Xtra has been speaking to garden centres across the country and here is the feedback from: Green Pastures, Scotsdales, Caulders, Alton's, Millbrook, Haskins, Stewarts, Fron Goch, Raemoir, Bents, Hillview, Baytree, Cowells, Fresh @ Burcot, Perrywood and Creative Gardens...

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We cleared out Homebase management too quickly, confesses parent company's new CEO
No 14 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 26 November, 2017
 

The new CEO of Bunnings and Homebase parent company Wesfarmers has confessed to shareholders that the company had made a mistake by changing the Homebase management team and product ranges too quickly when it took over the UK chain last year...

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Carol Paris is leaving the HTA
No 15 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Thursday 16 March, 2017
 

The Horticultural Trades Association has just announced that Carol Paris, CEO, will be leaving the organisation at the end of April...

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Dobbies "gets together with Ocado to be the best on-line"
No 16 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 30 April, 2017

Nicholas Marshall announces new partnership live on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme

 

"In the whole of the UK the retail industry 40% of all sales are online and growing. Growing all the time. And yet in gardening it is tiny, almost irrelevant and therefore there is going to be a step change and I'm delighted to say that I can announce today that Ocado has very kindly agreed to link up with us (Dobbies) and to go on-line with us which is really exciting because they are one of the best British online companies..."

Read what Nicholas Marshall and Guy Topping said on the BBC yesterday, 1st May 2017
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Nicholas Marshall is back in the gardening industry as CEO of Dobbies
No 17 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Monday 6 March, 2017

Dobbies Garden Centres Limited has announced that Nicholas Marshall is joining as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. He replaces John Cleland, who has left the business for family and personal reasons...



Pictured from left to right: Andrew Bracey, Chairman; Nicholas Marshall, CEO; and Graeme Jenkins, CFO.

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Newshound finds Mr M has been busy recruiting 'experience'...
No 18 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 26 March, 2017

Woof woof! No time to ‘paws’ for thought this week, my friends, as the pace quickens at Dobbies now that Mr Marshall is getting into his stride...

 
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Terra Firma props up Wyevale Garden Centres
No 19 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 21 May, 2017
 

The Sunday Telegraph has revealed today that Terra Firma had to dip into its warchest to buy out £25m of bank debt related to the purchase of Wyevale Garden Centres in 2012...

Read more and link to full story in The Sunday Telegraph
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So this is what a Bunnings Warehouse looks like...
No 20 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 5 February, 2017

The first Homebase store to undergo a Bunnings makeover opened for business in St Albans last week, welcoming customers with an Aussie-style 'sausage sizzle'...



Click the link for full story and more pictures.

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A bittersweet moment says Scott CEO as he announces UK, Europe and Aussie sell-off
No 21 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 7 May, 2017
 

You almost detect a tear in his eye as Scotts Miracle-Gro’s CEO Jim Hagedorn, admitting that the garden industry in the UK was more competititve than the US, told investors after last week's sell-off announcement: “This is a bit of a bittersweet moment for us...”

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Gardman reports £1.5m loss - but earnings soar by 50%
No 22 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Saturday 14 October, 2017
 

Gardman has reported a pre-tax loss of £1.5m for the year ending December 2016, mainly down to the exceptional costs of almost £2.3m associated with re-structuring following the previous year’s management buy-out, but earnings are up 50%...

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Blue Diamond buys Bridgford Garden Centre
No 23 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Monday 15 May, 2017
 

The Blue Diamond Group has officially announced today the acquisition of its 20th garden centre at East Bridgford, near Nottingham...

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Exponent Private Equity to buy Scotts business in UK, Europe and Australia
No 24 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Tuesday 2 May, 2017

ScottsMiracle-Gro announces binding offer from Exponent Private Equity LLP to acquire its International Consumer Business


Exponent Private Equity LLP today (Tuesday 2nd May 2017) made a binding and irrevocable offer to The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company to purchase SMG’s European and Australian operations.  The deal is being reported in the US as being worth $250m...

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Brothers sell £15m Yarnton Nurseries business
No 25 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Friday 14 April, 2017
 

The sale of Yarnton Nurseries near Oxford to investors Newcore Capital Management, announced last Thursday, comes just a year before its owners, twin brothers Richard and Nigel Wallbridge (left), were due to celebrate the family business’s 50th anniversary. The business, with its plethora of its concessions generates turnover of £15m...

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