Garden Centre Group chief Kevin Bradshaw has appointed a business consultant to help drive a cost-cutting programme, including a move to develop long-term relationships with suppliers and growers.

Charles Coates, an engineer turned business adviser who founded the Stonebeck consultancy, helped Bradshaw reduce costs during his time as CEO at the Avis UK car rental company.

Coates’s profile on the Linked In business networking site carries a testimony from Bradshaw. “I think the rigour of your approach and hopefully the experience that has now been imparted to the team is excellent,” it says. “I am certain we wouldn't have achieved the same level of savings without you....Our interaction was just right - light touch, frequent enough and focused."

The Garden Centre Group, acquired by Guy Hands’s equity group Terra Firma 17 months ago, is believed to have started consulting with its regional managers about redundancy as a prelude to a wider managerial re-shuffle.

TGCG declined to comment on speculation that it is about to buy the Lechlade and Cheddar garden centres from the Park group when approached by GTN.