Internet reports suggest that the Thompson & Morgan seeds and plants business is being prepared for sale by its owners, the Brecon-based multi-channel retailer BVG Group.
Speculation first appeared on the ‘This is Money’ website at the end of July. The site quoted city sources as reporting that BVG had appointed KMPG to advise on ‘strategic options’ that could lead to a sale. Bankers were said to have estimated the value of the business at £150 to £200 million. Some observers believe the high price could be an obstacle to any sale.
After T&M acquired rival brand Suttons (which included Dobies and the Orghanic Gardening Catalogue) in November 2020, BVG’s joint MD Chris Wright (pictured) said the combined business had the potential to generate full-year revenues of £80 million, far and away the biggest plants businesses for the UK’s online/mail order channel.
The move is thought to be a desire to cash in after a year of ultra-buoyant sales driven by high demand for gardening products during the pandemic lockdowns. The brand recently received major investment from the Business Growth Fund, which buys stakes in small and medium-sized businesses.
T&M, Britain’s oldest mail order plants and seeds business and a leading promoter of new species and cultivars, was set up in 1855 by baker’s son William Thompson, who later teamed up with John Morgan, a shrewd businessman.
There have been frequent changes of ownership. T&M was in the hands of the Sangster family from 1921 to 1999. Primary Capital funded a management buyout in 2002.
In the 1990s, a pioneering young plants mail order operation was established by hen-MD Paul Hansord and now makes a dominant contribution to turnover.
BVG claims to be Britain’s biggest multi-channel retailer of garden products and outdoor buildings. It says it is on track to clear sales of £150 million in the current year and earnings of £30 million. Its other brands include Waltons, Van Meuwen and Garden Gear. The group acquired T&M in 2017.
GTN Xtra’s attempt to obtain confirmation of a planned sale was dismissed by by a BVG sales agent, who said the story was unlikely to be true and declined to suggest a spokesman who could help with our enquiry.
