Former Maplin owner races to save bird-care group Gardman

The former Maplin owner tries to avoid another administration with a sale of the garden products group Gardman, Sky News learns.

Gardman was founded in 1992 as a leading provider of garden products, especially in the bird feed field
Image: Gardman was founded in 1992 as a leading provider of garden products, especially in the bird feed field
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The former owner of Maplin, the electrical goods retailer which collapsed this year, is racing to prevent another of the companies it owns crashing into administration within days.

Sky News has learnt that Rutland Partners is canvassing bids to rescue Gardman Group, one of the UK's biggest providers of garden products.

Sources said that the company had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in order to buy itself breathing space as it attempts to negotiate an emergency sale with prospective buyers.

They added that Rutland had already received a number of "credible" bids and that the turnaround investor was confident of securing a deal that would avert Gardman's collapse.

It is understood that a deal needs to be concluded sometime next week to avoid that fate, although it was unclear on Thursday whether any sale would be on a solvent basis or through a pre-pack administration.

Maplin has more than 200 stores in the UK. Pic: Maplin
Image: Maplin collapsed on the same day as Toys R Us this year

Founded in 1992, Gardman supplies products across a range of garden products categories, such as solar lighting, gardening tools and bird-care products.

Rutland bought the company in 2015 from a syndicate of banks, saying that the deal "gives the business stability and the resources to develop its operations to better address market needs".

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The accelerated sale process is being run by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which would be expected to act as Gardman's administrator if a collapse becomes unavoidable.

An insolvency would deal a major blow to Rutland, which saw Maplin crash into administration in February, falling victim to the same toxic cocktail which has forced the high street to undergo a period of brutal restructuring.

A spokeswoman for Rutland declined to comment.