The property, which had a guide price of £2 million, went under the hammer at the auction in the Holt Suite at Aston Villa FC on Thursday.

The garden centre closed when the owner Mark Tredwell retired earlier this year. The business had its roots in the flower shop his grandmother started in Sparkbrook in 1900. Her own father had sold chrysanthemum plants from his back garden in 1881.

A second shop was opened on Sparkhill where seeds, plants and garden sundries were also on offer.

Mark’s father took over the business from his mother and in 1952 he bought a nursery on Solihull Road, which supplied plants and cut flowers to the shops.

When Mark joined the business in the 1960s, the flower shops were sold and the nursery was turned into a garden centre.

The Woolmans business still exists, selling chrysanthemums, dahlias and plants online.