GTN Xtra - GTN Xtra - Issue 56 2018

As you'll see from our list of most read stories below, 2018 was a year dominated by news about Wyevale Garden Centres, Gardman, Blue Diamond and Dobbies (Nicholas Marshall did leave in the end...

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GTN Xtra's most read stories of 2018

2018 was a year of extremes weather wise and a series of events that will shape our UK garden retailing market for years to come. As a result GTN Xtra was read by over 45,000 people during 2018 and they viewed almost 1.2 million pages, a monthly pages viewed average of 98,584.

But what were the most read stories during one of the busiest in our memory for industry news? Surprisingly our most read story wasn't about Wyevale garden centre sales or Gardman, it was a story that got picked up via social media and ended up being viewed over 83,000 times.

Here's our Top 25 most read stories of the year. Just click on the link to see them in full or click the link below to see the full Top100. Thank you for all your reading of GTN and GTN Xtra in 2018, here's to a fantastic 2019. Happy New Year!

1	Ivyline spreads happiness with Greenfingers launch - GTN Xtra Issue 15 2018
2	Wyevale Garden Centres agrees sale of four more garden centres - GTN Xtra - Issue 39 2018
3	Man arrested on suspicion of arson after Gardman warehouse fire - GTN Xtra Issue 12 2018
4	Home & Garden Group of nine garden centres goes into administration - GTN Xtra Issue 14 2018
5	Gardman fire destroys the stock and the building - drone video and company statement - GTN Xtra Issue 12 2018
6	Jobs at risk at Wyevale Garden Centres following ‘challenging trading conditions’ - GTN Xtra - Issue 3 2018
7	Gardman up for sale - GTN Xtra Issue 44 2018
8	Wyevale Garden Centres agrees sale of eight of its largest garden centres to Blue Diamond - GTN Xtra Issue 33 2018
9	Redfields Plus' wows customers in Nottingham - GTN Xtra Issue 14 2018
10	The bids are in for 145 Wyevale Garden Centres - GTN Xtra Issue 29 2018
11	Has Nicholas Marshall left Dobbies? - GTN Xtra Issue 11 2018
12	Westland buy Gardman - GTN Xtra Issue 45 2018
13	Guy Hands puts the "For Sale" notice up at Wyevale Garden Centres - GTN Xtra Issue 23 2018
14	Wyevale Garden Centre story updated - GTN Xtra Issue 27 2018
15	Gardman was on brink of Administration - GTN Xtra Issue 45 2018
16	Jail for garden centre owner who stole almost half a million from elderly mother - GTN Xtra Issue 45 2018
17	Wyevale Garden Centres agrees sale of five more garden centres - GTN Xtra - Issue 38 2018
18	Westland's £4m offer for Gardman put them at front of a long queue - GTN Xtra Issue 47 2018
19	Worst garden centre trading week in Bestsellers history - but how are centres trading in the aftermath? - GTN Xtra Issue 12 2018
20	It was a challenging Christmas, say UK garden centres - GTN Xtra - Issue 2 2018
21	Fire destroys Strikes Stokesley Garden Centre - GTN Xtra Issue 16 2018
22	Wyevale refine leadership structures and introduce more flexible ways of workings - GTN Xtra - Issue 54 2018
23	Gardman plan first deliveries after the fire for week commencing 26th March - GTN Xtra Issue 13 2018
24	Wyevale "Sale of the Century" enters the second stage - GTN Xtra Issue 32 2018
25	How will the Wyevale "Sale of the Century" play out? - GTN Xtra - Issue 49 2018

See the full Top 100 most read stories of 2018

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Ivyline spreads happiness with Greenfingers launch
No 1 most read story 2018 - From GTN Xtra issue 15 2018

Leading indoor plant pot supplier Ivyline are 'spreading happiness' since the launch of their link with Greenfingers, which sees 25p from every Happiness Pack sold being donated to the charity...

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Wyevale Garden Centres agrees sale of four more garden centres
No 2 most read story 2018 - From GTN Xtra Issue 39 2018

Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of four garden centres to individual buyers. The centres are: World of Pets and Leisure; Codicote; Sudbury and Oxford. Sudbury and Oxford have been sold to operators who are expected to continue to run them as garden centres...

Sudbury has been sold to Perrywood Garden Centre.

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Man arrested on suspicion of arson after Gardman warehouse fire
No 3 most read story 2018 - From GTN Xtra Issue 12 2018

Northamptonshire Police have just issued a bulletin on their website stating that a man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire. Roads in the industrial estate remain closed while firefighters continue to tackle the fire and work closely with the police and other agencies to maintain public safety....

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Home & Garden Group of nine garden centres goes into administration
No 4 most read story 2018 - From GTN Xtra Issue 14 2018

GTN Xtra has learned today that the Home & Garden Group, which own nine garden centres, has gone into administration. The news came from several sources...

Rutland Garden Centre is part of the Home & Garden Group.

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Gardman fire destroys the stock and the building - drone video and company statement
No 5 most read story 2018 - From GTN Xtra Issue 12 2018

Drone footage from Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue, filmed on Monday, shows the extent of the fire at the Gardman warehouse in Daventry and the company have issued a statement saying: "the fire has destroyed both the stock and the building"...

See the drone video and read the Gardman update

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The best of last week's

If you missed last week's GTN Xtra, below are the most-read stories...

Wyevale sells Chichester to property developer

Wyevale Garden Centres has sold its Chichester site to local property developer Drayton Investments Ltd...

Garden centre fears devastation during 5-month road closure

Gloucestershire garden centre Trioscape is fighting a proposal by Severn Trent Water to close a 2.6k section of the main road outside for five months...

Defra bans metaldehyde slug pellets from 2020

Defra has announced a ban on the outdoor use of metaldehyde slug pellets in a range of crops and gardens from Spring 2020...

Haskins Garden Centre in Snowhill unveils plans for redevelopment

The popular garden centre based in Crawley has announced plans for a £15 million redevelopment, with a revamped centre due to open in spring 2020. The work is expected to create up to 70 new jobs...

Storm Deirdre takes gloss off Christmas

Storm Deirdre may have had devastating effects on high street retail footfall but it didn’t stop garden centres selling as much in total as the snow of last year. Top line volume sales analysis from GTN Bestsellers shows that volume sales for last week were up by 12% on the same week last year and on a par with the week after Easter earlier this year.

Family shines through at Bents Garden & Home

‘Bents equals family and family equals Bents’; one of the main messages to come from recent customer focus groups held by Warrington based Bents Garden & Home and designed to gain a deeper understanding of its customer base and awareness of its popular be inspired privilege club...