Dobbies was in the news throughout 2024. Find out how many times the UK's largest garden centre group hit the headlines in GTN Xtra in 2023.

Happy New Year to you all.  We hope you all had a good and safe festive period and are now looking forward to an exciting 2024. Since New Year the GTN gnomes have been beavering away to compile the Top 100 stories read in GTN Xtra last year as our review of 2023.

We've thoroughly enjoyed bringing you all the news, views and ideas during 2023 and we hope you found GTN Xtra both useful and informative.  Between you all, during 2023 GTN Xtra was opened 288,921 times by 38,789 unique readers and you viewed over 1 million pages. Thank you.

Top 100 most-read stories in GTN Xtra during 2023
(click on the item to read the story)

1. Voting has started for The Greatest Christmas Garden Centre teams – Issue 45 2023
2. Funds managed by Ares Management have acquired Dobbies – Issue 6 2023
3. Boyd Douglas-Davies to leave British Garden Centres – Issue 16 2023
4. Blue Diamond buys 4 nursery sites from Glendale Horticulture – Issue 30 2023
5. Dobbies Garden Centres announces a new CEO – Issue 29 2023
6. Blue Diamond buys Beckworth – Issue 16 2023
7. GCA Theme Night gets conference buzzing – Issue 4 2023
8. Dobbies states net loss of £5.2m after reporting pre-tax loss of £130.8m – Issue 49 2023
9. Wellingborough Garden Centre sold to industry newcomers – Issue 38 2023
10. GCA Conference gets off to a crazy start – Issue 4 2023
11. Vote now for the Best Buyers of 2023 - The Buyers Power List at Glee – Issue 25 2023
12. Short Memories - UPDATED with comment from Ken Cox – Issue 33 2023
13. Winning suppliers at Choice Marketing – Issue 39 2023
14. Deco-Pak former director Michael Hall receives five-year prison sentence – Issue 24 2023
15. Longacres acquires Bourne Valley Garden Centre – Issue 28 2023
16. Planters buy Brookfields in Nottingham – Issue 15 2023
17. Bents and Klondyke Morton Hall win the GCA Awards – Issue 4 2023
18. Two more Blue Diamond Centres by Easter – Issue 11 2023
19. 2023 GIMA Awards crown new winners – Issue 42 2023
20. GTN’s Greatest Christmas Award winners revealed – Issue 6 2023
21. Choice Marketing Group welcomes five new members – Issue 31 2023
22. Grosvenor and Brambridge Park win the Blue Diamond Awards – Issue 10 2023
23. Blue Diamond add Fosseway Garden Centre to make it 44  – Issue 19 2023
24. Barton Grange, Cowells and Tong join Prosper Buying Group – Issue 25 2023
25. Zest regain GIMA Charity Golf Day Trophy – Issue 24 2023
26. Nuyard acquires fourth centre thanks to £1.9m funding – Issue 28 2023
27. GCA Conference Monday in pictures – Issue 4 2023
28. Perrywood interview with Simon Bourne – Issue 18 2023
29. Glee 2024 – 50th anniversary event moves to September – Issue 47 2023
30. Memorial service arranged for the late Paul Cooling – Issue 3 2023
31. What next for the AMES Companies? – Issue 35 2023
32. Windmill turns again at Van Hage Great Amwell – Issue 21 2023
33. Votes pour in for The Greatest Christmas Garden Centre Teams – Issue 47 2023
34. Who are the Greatest Christmas Garden Centre teams of 2023? – Issue 43 2023
35. Klondyke acquire The Crieff Food Company – Issue 43 2023
36. Chelsea 2023…trade and trends – Issue 22 2023
37. Garden centre for sale after 40 years of family ownership – Issue 47 2023
38. Busy Bee and Southwood Farm jump up Greatest Awards vote charts – Issue 49 2023
39. ‘Trained horticultural people, you are like gold dust’ – Issue 37 2023
40. Photo Tours of all The Greatest Gold Award winning centres – Issue 7 2023
41. Caroline Owen takes over as chair of the Tillington Group – Issue 1 2023
42. British brilliance features in USA Garden Center magazine – Issue 16 2023
43. Shareholder reorganisation of group that owns Mr Fothergill’s – Issue 32 2023
44. Incredible sales of Grow Your Own Name – Issue 9 2023
45. British Garden Centres collects keys for state-of-the-art unit – Issue 12 2023
46. Interview with Evergreen Garden Care's new MD Colin Stephens – Issue 14 2023
47. Coolings Wych Cross and Ruxley Manor are award winners at GCA South Thames – Issue 26 2023
48. More than 300 new launches from Smart Garden Products – Issue 2 2023
49. GIMA members hear positive outlook from garden centre groups – Issue 12 2023
50. Squire's announces retirement of Darren Oakley – Issue 33 2023
51. Cooks of Stourport lead the way in Greatest Christmas Awards voting – Issue 46 2023
52. ‘We need the horticultural sector to be prosperous’ – Issue 23 2023
53. Record numbers assemble for the Garden Re-Leaf Day walk – Issue 13 2023
54. Three new members for Choice Marketing – Issue 20 2023
55. GTN August 2023 – Glee and SOLEX Reviews – Issue 32 2023
56. New homes planned for garden centre site – Issue 35 2023
57. Tom Chambers Garden Furniture Showroom – Issue 36 2023
58. GTN's Glee Preview Issue including interview with Dobbies CEO – Issue 24 2023
59. Centurion Jeffrey Bernhard sadly passes away – Issue 35 2023
60. Amazing people, doing amazing things, to make magical gardens grow – Issue 13 2023
61. Barnsfold Nurseries acquired by D.J. Squire & Co Ltd – Issue 1 2023
62. Plans revealed for new £13m Blue Diamond garden centre – Issue 30 2023
63. Charles Taylor offers Two-Seater Bench at original price – Issue 39 2023
64. Nursery stock producer and wholesaler Boningale for sale – Issue 6 2023
65. Awards Special Issue of GTN – Issue 10 2023
66. The Grange Garden Centre opens new store at Belvoir Castle – Issue 35 2023
67. Governess Cart offered in garden centre’s Ukraine fundraiser – Issue 36 2023
68. GTN Bestsellers Volume sales analysis – Issue 10 2023
69. Suppliers get influential at The Garden Media Guild Awards – Issue 46 2023
70. A Summer of Shows and Jonathan Stobart Interview – Issue 21 2023
71. New GCA chief discusses future of sustainable gardening – Issue 4 2023
72. Little dobbies Cheltenham is open - see our photo tour – Issue 18 2023
73. Glee goes Floral Thursday for Greenfingers – Issue 26 2023
74. Garden Re-Leaf Day goes ooop north! – Issue 13 2023
75. Buying Power – Who wins through in 2023? – Issue 21 2023
76. Cooks customers get them back to the top of Christmas Awards voting – Issue 48 2023
77. That was the year that was...2022 – Issue 1 2023
78. Glee closes on a high after three successful days – Issue 26 2023
79. Warning of plant shortages for UK gardeners – Issue 23 2023
80. Webbs of Wychbold and Fairways Garden Centre win GCA awards – Issue 26 2023
81. HTA Conference leads on the value of plants – Issue 40 2023
82. New owners for Threaplands Garden Centre – Issue 33 2023
83. Christmas comes early at Woodthorpe Garden Centre – Issue 33 2023
84. Successful Autumn Fair showcases 2024 trends – Issue 35 2023
85. Glee New Product Awards - Winners revealed – Issue 26 2023
86. Back by popular demand – The Greatest this Christmas – Issue 43 2023
87. Over £30,000 raised at Greenfingers Charity Dinner – Issue 49 2023
88. New GCA CEO Peter Burks interview in GTN's January Issue – Issue 4 2023
89. Yorkshire Garden Centre group invests in new EPOS system – Issue 12 2023
90. GTN July 2023 – SOLEX Preview issue – Issue 26 2023
91. Garden retail sector shows strength despite unpredictability – Issue 34 2023
92. GCA announces 2023 Christmas display winners – Issue 49 2023
93. Garden centre get sets to open new 100-seater restaurant – Issue 2 2023
94. Coronation weekend brings highest volume sales of the year – Issue 20 2023
95. Short Memories – Issue 32 2023
96. Bramblecrest moves to employee ownership – Issue 15 2023
97. SALES AGENTS REQUIRED – FIRMANS – Issue 49 2023
98. AMES UK expands merchandising team to increase countrywide coverage – Issue 16 2023
99. GCA’s April figures show an ‘encouraging’ sales increase – Issue 22 2023
100. First new rapid EV charging sites open at British Garden Centres’ stores – Issue 29 2023