In an exclusive interview, Anthony Harker tells GTN Xtra about his sadness at the demise of AMES UK, where the closure of the business brought members of his family to tears last month.

“I’ve been in the garden industry since I was 15 and together with my wife Hayley, we started Kelkay in 2001.  It started as a very small company out of a gravel yard with a Portacabin, an old forklift and an old bagging machine. We went to our first Glee in September 2001 with all the branding and products trying to portray ourselves as being much larger than we were, when in fact it was a tiny company behind the scenes. Fortunately, that worked and we grew quickly and within five years we were up to about 60% market share within garden centres. The company grew on the same principles as most good garden centre supply companies – great product quality, good customer service and quick & efficient deliveries.  It is vital to have stock when the sun's out and if you don't, you shouldn't be supplying the garden industry. 

“Then in 2018 AMES /Griffon Corporation bought Kelkay and they bought a fantastic company with some amazing people. They were a good fit - they already owned La Hacienda and after I left the business they bought another industry leading company, Apta. It is unfortunate to see what’s happened, from mine and my family's part, and of course, quite a lot of the staff that work at Altico, who worked with us at Kelkay.

“When we heard the news a couple of weeks ago, it was a sad day for us as a family. Kelkay has been such a huge important part of our lives, and my daughters Kelsey and Cally, who Kelkay was named after, were in tears when they found out that it was going to close.

“I've got a lot of sympathy for Paul North and his team. I think they have worked incredibly hard in difficult circumstances. There's a lot of staff there that are facing redundancy, many of whom we know.

“The growth we are experiencing at Altico as well as our close proximity to Kelkay, mean we can take on quite a lot of the staff. We've got an open door for them to call and many are already reaching out.

“Altico is growing very quickly. We had a fantastic Glee where we gained a lot of new customers, and I can reassure our customer base that even though we are absorbing a lot of new business, there's absolutely nothing to worry about with our ability to supply on an ongoing basis. Altico is an extremely focused Garden Centre supplier, dedicated to our retail industry and isn’t distracted by trying to supply other sectors.  As such, we are the largest supplier of decorative aggregates and fountains into UK Garden Centres.

“For our aggregates operation, we had already increased the number of automated packing machines for 2026, making us more efficient to operate single shift model. This now means we can easily double our output, over and above our current forecast, by adding additional shift patterns. In terms of our production and availability, it just won't be affected, we can soak it up easily and keep everyone supplied.

“We’ve also been having great success with our fountain range.  In January 2026 we delivered nearly the same amount of fountains that we sent out the whole of last year, and we sent a lot out last year. Our warehouse is full again and it will continue to be replenished as we go through the spring season when the re-orders start.”

Contact details for Altico: salesoffice@altico.co.uk