In This Issue
Easter volume sales down on 2022 but up on pre-covid levels
GCA opens applications for 2023 Rising Stars programme
Forest Garden awarded King's Award for Enterprise
Dog Rocks supplier achieves King’s Award for Enterprise
Roses fit for a King!
Little dobbies Cheltenham set to open this Thursday
All the latest updates from Glee 2023
Wet March dampens GCA’s BoT figures
Gardening industry shows resilience during the wettest month in over 40 years
LANDSCAPE partners with LOFA & SOLEX for second year
Bents donates over £23k to Manchester Mind
GARDENA raises over £4,200 for Greenfingers
New product team at AMES UK brings innovation to fore
Positive results for Squire's in a challenging climate
Yorkshire garden centre group launches new concessions
Old Railway Line relaunches membership to inspire young gardeners
Environmental Horticulture Strategy motion tabled in Scottish Parliament
College students tour Wyevale Nurseries
Awards Special Issue of GTN - GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards - Garden Centre Association Awards - Read on-line now
Get your copy of GTN Xtra
HTA reaction to delay of Scottish deposit return scheme
RHS endorses new gardening caddy bag from Genus Gardenwear
Cost of living crisis sees DIY boom continue
BHETA to partner with Glee at BHETA BIRA village
The best of last week's
Boyd Douglas-Davies to leave British Garden Centres
Blue Diamond buys Beckworth Emporium
Garden centre car parks and tills busy this weekend
British brilliance features in USA Garden Center magazine
In numbers: Garden Re-Leaf 2023
Treadstone gloves made from recycled bottles hit market
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
Interview with Evergreen Garden Care's new MD Colin Stephens in the latest edition of GTN, read on-line here
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Positive results for Squire's in a challenging climate

 

Squires’s Garden Centres continues to invest and looks ahead with positivity as the group filed its annual accounts for the year ending 31 July 2022 with Companies House.

 

Squire’s has reported a good performance for 2022, well above pre pandemic levels. The year was never going to match the record results of 2021, and the company’s budgets and aspirations reflected this. Sales dropped 2% overall to £68.2m (2021: £69.5m).  Within that total, Garden Centre sales dropped by 9% to £59.9m (2021: £65.8m), while Restaurant sales more than doubled to £8.3m (2021: £3.7m). Profit before tax dropped to £4.0m (2021: £7.9m) (underlying, adjusted).

 

Demand for plants and horticultural products remained at above pre-Covid levels in FY2022, as gardening and outdoor living in general remained popular.  However, like other operators, Squire’s experienced supply challenges in many categories, resulting in higher stock levels than usual at the year end. In the current year the supply chain has recovered, and stocks are returning to more normal levels.

 

Restaurants were open throughout the year, unlike the previous year, hence the large sales increase in that part of the business. Post year end cost price increases and challenges in the labour market remain influential.  Customer numbers at Squire’s Garden Centres dropped by 3% while in the restaurants they rose by 130%.  

 

Squire’s new e-commerce offering recorded sales of nearly £1m in its first full year. The company remains pleased with the steady development of this channel.

 

During the year Squire’s continued to invest, notably in the Wokingham garden centre, which was acquired in 2019. In January 2023 Squire’s acquired a longstanding supplier to the group, Barnsfold Nurseries, which grows superb bedding plants on the Sussex/Surrey borders. The synergy between the two companies and their shared values makes this a very exciting relationship for the future. The capital expenditure programme in the garden centres for 2023 will focus on more moderate improvements across a number of centres rather than one large project, including a number of investments aimed at carbon and energy cost reduction.  We look forward to continuing to work on our sustainability programme and remain committed to our charitable and community involvement.

 

Sarah Squire, Chairman, comments: “As we move forward into the post Covid world, I am pleased with the set of results we have posted again this year. Once again, I am full of admiration for my amazing colleagues, in our Centres and in Group Office, who worked so tirelessly in a constantly changing landscape throughout FY2022.

 

“Experience teaches us that the weather is still likely to have the greatest effect on our results for 2023. The view ahead of us may be an unpalatable combination of war; energy cost increases; stubborn inflation; wage pressures; higher interest rates; and volatile consumer confidence. However, despite all this, we believe we are well-placed to withstand the storms around us. We will continue to champion plants and gardening and work hard to maintain standards and give our customers the best service we are able. This means we can view the future with confidence."

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