Blue Diamond CE Alan Roper has revealed more details of the significant rises in footfall and cash profit at the eight outlets acquired from Wyevale Garden Centres during the past year.

Roper told BBC Radio 4’s ‘You & Yours’ programme in June that turnovers at the former Wyevales had risen between 35% and 60% since joining Blue Diamond.

The latest figures he has now shared with GTN Xtra show that customer numbers across those stores in the first two weeks of July were 48% up overall on the same period last year, while cash profits rose by 92%.

Leading the way was the Bicester Avenue store, with a 92% customer numbers increase and 142% cash profits lift.

The weakest performance from the former Wyevale cluster was Sanders Garden World in Somerset, which saw customers numbers in the fortnight rise by only 22% and cash profits by 46%. A few miles further up the M5, Cadbury enjoyed a 64% lift in customer numbers and 122% in cash profits.

Figures at the rest of the Blue Diamond Group’s centres look tame by comparison – a mere 15% more customers and 17% extra cash profit over the same 14 days in 2018!