Happy New Year - Here's the Top 100 Most Read Stories of 2019
During 2019 we've published over 2000 stories in GTN Xtra that have been read by 35,519 unique readers. The e-mail newsletter and the website that is created for each issue has been opened 532,607 times during the year and 1,061,667 pages viewed.
From all that activity here are the Top 100 Most Read Stories of the year...
During 2019 we've published over 2000 stories in GTN Xtra that have been read by 35,519 unique readers. The e-mail newsletter and each issues website has been opened 532,607 times during the year and 1,061,667 pages viewed.
From all that activity here are the Top 100 Most Read Stories of the year. The Top 5 are re-published in this year end newsletter and the rest can be accessed via the links below or by searching the GTN Xtra Archive here.
Thank you for all your reading during the year, and your news items, for which we are extremely grateful.
Happy New Year for all of the team at GTN. May it be another prosperous year for UK garden centres!
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Out of the 145 Wyevale Garden Centres put up for sale at the end of May 2018, 129 have been sold as garden centres and 16 sold for development or closed (2 of these will be run as garden centres for up to 2 years by British Garden centres before being developed.)
The trading sites were bought by 31 different businesses. British Garden Centres and Dobbies have each bought 37 centres with Blue Diamond buying 16 sites, Hilliers 5 sites and In-Excess 4 centres.
Using the "offers based on prices" listed by Christie & Co in May 2018, Dobbies spent almost £240m on 20 freehold sites and 17 leasehold garden centres. British Garden Centres purchases total up to £57.5m of which 18 are freehold and 19 leasehold. The Blue Diamond sites were valued at £50.5m and are split 5 freehold and 11 leasehold.
See the October issue of Garden Trade News for more analysis and views.
Here's GTN Xtra's A-Z list of all 145 centres and where they have ended up.
Centre |
Purchaser |
Date Sold |
Acres |
Offers Based on |
Lease or Freehold |
Albrighton |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
6.2 |
£2,000,000 |
Freehold |
Aldridge |
Developers |
Aug-18 |
5.91 |
£800,000 |
Freehold |
Altrincham |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
4.1 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Andover |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
5.97 |
£6,500,000 |
Freehold |
Ashford |
St Johns |
Sep-18 |
5.1 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Barnett Hill |
Cherry Lane |
Mar-19 |
18.04 |
£1,200,000 |
Leasehold |
Beaconsfield |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
5.97 |
£9,250,000 |
Freehold |
Bicester Avenue |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
22 |
£1,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Binfield |
Developers |
Jul-18 |
4.16 |
£2,400,000 |
Freehold |
Birchencliffe |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
2.2 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Bressingham |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
5.6 |
£1,400,000 |
Freehold |
Blooms Cardiff |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
8.2 |
£1,300,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Cheltenham |
Webbs |
Aug-19 |
3 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Gloucester |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
8.1 |
£2,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Rugby |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
17 |
£4,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Solihull |
Rosebourne |
Sep-18 |
7 |
£250,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Swindon |
Studley Grange Limited |
Aug-19 |
3.63 |
£250,000 |
Leasehold |
Blooms Worcester |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
17 |
£3,800,000 |
Freehold |
Bold Heath |
British Garden Centres |
Feb-19 |
2.51 |
£2,100,000 |
Freehold |
Bolton |
British Garden Centres |
Feb-19 |
4.4 |
£250,000 |
Leasehold |
Bournville |
British Garden Centres |
Aug-19 |
1.89 |
£1,100,000 |
Leasehold |
Braintree |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.9 |
£1,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Bridgemere |
Blue Diamond |
Aug-19 |
108 |
£1,700,000 |
Leasehold |
Brighton |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
3.04 |
£7,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Brockworth |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.75 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Bude |
Homeleigh |
Aug-18 |
5.94 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Bury St Edmunds |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
4.34 |
£4,600,000 |
Freehold |
Cadbury |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
5.97 |
£2,500,000 |
Leasehold |
Cadnam |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
3.38 |
£5,000,000 |
Freehold |
Canterbury Chartham |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
2.68 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Carmarthen |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.23 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Carr Gate |
British Garden Centres |
Feb-19 |
5.31 |
£2,100,000 |
Freehold |
Cheddar |
Hilliers |
Apr-19 |
8.85 |
£2,700,000 |
Freehold |
Chichester |
Developers |
Dec-18 |
7.09 |
£1,700,000 |
Freehold |
Chilton |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
6.87 |
£2,400,000 |
Freehold |
Chipperfield |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
7.94 |
£3,500,000 |
Freehold |
Codicote |
Developers |
Sep-18 |
5.86 |
£10,000,000 |
Freehold |
Coventry |
British Garden Centres |
Feb-19 |
4.66 |
£300,000 |
Leasehold |
Crawley |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.99 |
£700,000 |
Leasehold |
Crockford Bridge |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
6.24 |
£800,000 |
Leasehold |
Crowland |
Closed |
Closing Down |
8.86 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Croydon Purley Way |
Developers |
Sep-18 |
2.57 |
£2,800,000 |
Leasehold |
Dorking |
Hilliers |
Apr-19 |
6.44 |
£700,000 |
Leasehold |
Dummer |
Maidenhead Aquatics |
Jun-19 |
2.1 |
£1,500,000 |
Freehold |
Elm Court |
Elm Court Garden Centre Ltd |
Sep-19 |
3.96 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Endsleigh |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
13.84 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Enfield |
Developers - BGC trading under licence |
Dec-18 |
4.9 |
£2,300,000 |
Freehold |
Fair Oak |
In-Excess |
Nov-18 |
6.2 |
£2,600,000 |
Freehold |
Findern |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
5.22 |
£7,500,000 |
Freehold |
Findon |
Findon Garden Centre Ltd |
Aug-19 |
4 |
£700,000 |
Leasehold |
Galton |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
11.07 |
£5,500,000 |
Freehold |
Gardenlands |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
22.24 |
£3,400,000 |
Freehold |
Hamstreet |
Grovewell |
Dec-18 |
8.8 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Hare Hatch |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
10.89 |
£7,250,000 |
Freehold |
Harlestone Heath |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
6.48 |
£1,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Harrow |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.58 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Hastings |
Blackbrooks |
May-19 |
1.12 |
£600,000 |
Leasehold |
Havant |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
5.95 |
£7,000,000 |
Freehold |
Heathlands |
Squires |
Jul-19 |
13.86 |
£2,700,000 |
Freehold |
Heighley Gate |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
49.8 |
£14,000,000 |
Freehold |
Hemel Hempstead |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
6.07 |
£2,000,000 |
Freehold |
Hereford |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
7.95 |
£1,000,000 |
Leasehold |
Hereford |
English Salvage |
Nov-18 |
7.95 |
£8,000,000 |
Freehold |
Hitchin |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.54 |
£3,800,000 |
Freehold |
Hungerford |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
2.67 |
£6,000,000 |
Freehold |
Huntingdon |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
20.26 |
£2,200,000 |
Leasehold |
Jack's Patch |
Otter Nurseries |
Apr-19 |
15.25 |
£3,100,000 |
Freehold |
John Brown |
Hilliers |
Aug-19 |
6.01 |
£3,400,000 |
Freehold |
Keston |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
3.8 |
£5,250,000 |
Freehold |
Keynsham |
Developers |
Aug-18 |
4.45 |
£1,300,000 |
Freehold |
Landford |
In-Excess |
Nov-18 |
5.9 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Lechlade |
Hilliers |
Apr-19 |
4.52 |
£1,100,000 |
Leasehold |
Leicester Rowena |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
6.45 |
£8,000,000 |
Freehold |
Lelant |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
5.53 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Lewes |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.29 |
£1,900,000 |
Freehold |
Leyland |
British Garden Centres |
Feb-19 |
4.76 |
£1,400,000 |
Freehold |
Louth |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
4.97 |
£3,000,000 |
Freehold |
Lower Dicker |
Blackbrooks |
May-19 |
4.27 |
£1,800,000 |
Freehold |
Lower Morden |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
3.08 |
£1,400,000 |
Leasehold |
Marlow |
Hilliers |
Apr-19 |
3.8 |
£3,800,000 |
Freehold |
Marple |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
7.1 |
£7,000,000 |
Freehold |
Melbicks |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
11.61 |
£9,250,000 |
Freehold |
Moreton Park |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
6.64 |
£8,000,000 |
Freehold |
Nailsworth |
Blue Diamond |
Aug-18 |
2.84 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Northampton |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
14.35 |
£1,900,000 |
Leasehold |
Old Barn |
Tates of Sussex |
Nov-18 |
15.53 |
£5,200,000 |
Freehold |
Ongar |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
6.01 |
£600,000 |
Leasehold |
Osterley |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
7 |
£1,100,000 |
Leasehold |
Oxford |
AWBS |
Sep-18 |
4.87 |
£800,000 |
Freehold |
Paddock Wood |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
3.2 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Par |
Maidenhead Aquatics |
Jul-19 |
5.12 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Pennine |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
3.2 |
£6,000,000 |
Freehold |
Percy Thrower |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
7.66 |
£8,500,000 |
Freehold |
Peter Baratt's Gosforth |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
18.5 |
£800,000 |
Leasehold |
Peter Baratt's Stockton |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
4.2 |
£8,000,000 |
Freehold |
Playhatch |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
2.09 |
£2,800,000 |
Freehold |
Podington |
Cherry Lane |
Jun-19 |
3.31 |
£1,800,000 |
Freehold |
Poppleton |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
6.8 |
£7,500,000 |
Freehold |
Potters Bar |
Closing Down 22-9-19 |
Closing Down |
6.91 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Pulborough |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
21.46 |
£2,700,000 |
Freehold |
Raglan |
Coldbrook Ventures |
May-19 |
7.42 |
£1,500,000 |
Freehold |
Rake |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
4.58 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Ramsgate |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
4.62 |
£1,300,000 |
Leasehold |
Rayleigh |
Closing Down 22-9-19 |
Closing Down |
3.24 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Royston |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
10.5 |
£1,500,000 |
Leasehold |
Salisbury |
In-Excess |
Nov-18 |
6.95 |
£800,000 |
Freehold |
Sanders Garden World |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-18 |
6 |
£12,250,000 |
Freehold |
Seven Hills |
Developers |
Mar-19 |
4.42 |
£3,500,000 |
Freehold |
Shenstone |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
7.98 |
£8,500,000 |
Leasehold |
Sherfield On Loddon |
Capital Gardens |
May-19 |
10.1 |
£1,600,000 |
Freehold |
Shirley |
Developers |
Aug-18 |
0.9 |
£2,000,000 |
Freehold |
Sidmouth |
Kings Exmouth |
Sep-18 |
2.61 |
£900,000 |
Freehold |
Springfield |
Longacres |
Jul-19 |
1.72 |
£4,400,000 |
Leasehold |
Sprowston |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
5.31 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Stanway |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
5.87 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Stevenage |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
7.8 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Stratford Upon Avon |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
4.28 |
£1,200,000 |
Leasehold |
Sudbury |
Perrywood |
Sep-18 |
35.68 |
£1,000,000 |
Freehold |
Swansesa |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
6.03 |
£5,250,000 |
Leasehold |
Swindon |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
3.73 |
£5,750,000 |
Freehold |
Syon Park |
Closing Down 22-9-19 |
Closing Down |
2.69 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Tarporley |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
5.9 |
£1,200,000 |
Freehold |
Taunton |
Otter Nurseries |
Apr-19 |
4.33 |
£2,800,000 |
Freehold |
Telford |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
9.47 |
£2,100,000 |
Leasehold |
Thatcham |
Closing Down 22-9-19 |
Closing Down |
8.8 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Thornbury |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
9.19 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Tring |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
5.75 |
£900,000 |
Leasehold |
Tunbridge Wells |
Blue Diamond |
Jul-19 |
20.97 |
£5,000,000 |
Freehold |
Upminster |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
6.85 |
£400,000 |
Leasehold |
Wellingborough |
Higgins Building Supplies |
Dec-18 |
5.44 |
£700,000 |
Freehold |
West Parley |
In-Excess |
Nov-18 |
2.05 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Wimborne |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
2.43 |
£200,000 |
Leasehold |
Windsor |
Developers - BGC trading under licence |
Sep-18 |
3.14 |
£5,500,000 |
Freehold |
Winnersh |
British Garden Centres |
Sep-19 |
9.2 |
£5,000,000 |
Freehold |
Woburn Sands |
Rochmills Group |
Feb-19 |
9.61 |
£6,500,000 |
Freehold |
Woking |
The Plant Area Ltd |
Jun-19 |
3.62 |
£500,000 |
Leasehold |
Wolds View |
British Garden Centres |
Dec-18 |
4.65 |
£1,800,000 |
Freehold |
Wolseley Bridge |
British Garden Centres |
Jun-19 |
7.55 |
£3,800,000 |
Freehold |
Woodbridge |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
6.27 |
£11,250,000 |
Freehold |
Woodcote Green |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
20 |
£35,000,000 |
Freehold |
Woodlands |
Dobbies |
Oct-18 |
17.1 |
£3,400,000 |
Leasehold |
World of Pets and Leisure |
Developers |
Sep-18 |
7.2 |
£3,000,000 |
Freehold |
World's End |
Dobbies |
Apr-19 |
10.9 |
£13,000,000 |
Freehold |
Worthing Ferring |
Cobbins |
May-19 |
3.7 |
£2,300,000 |
Freehold |
Wych Cross |
Coolings |
Jun-19 |
3.82 |
£1,400,000 |
Freehold |
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Hillview Group put 6 sites up for sale
No 2 Most Read Story from 2019 - from GTN Xtra - Issue 5 2019
The Hillview Group have put six of their sites up for sale with a price for all six set at £12.9m...
The Hillview Group have put six of their sites up for sale with a price for all six set at £12.9m
Advertised on www.adsre.co.uk as Project Pollard the six Freehold sites are:
HILLTOP GARDEN CENTRE, RAMSDEN 14.75 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £ 2,950,000.
SHIPLEY GARDEN CENTRE, SHIPLEY 2.18 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £2,950,000.
STUDLEY GARDEN CENTRE, STUDLEY 4.84 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £2,500,000.
SCOTLAND NURSERIES, MATLOCK 10.09 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £2,450,000.
CHARLECOTE GARDEN CENTRE, CHARLECOTE 1.89 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £1,500,000.
NEWTON REGIS GARDEN CENTRE, NEWTON REGIS 3.38 Acres. Freehold. OIRO £550,000.
Hillview Garden Centres CEO, Boyd Douglas-Davies told GTN Xtra; "our hope is that a new investor buys all six sites to continue the growth of the group."
"Our shareholders have decided to undertake a formal process to evaluate opportunites that have arisen and it is possible that these could lead to a strategic transaction of merging our business, selling individual sites or equally, that nothing changes and we continue to acquire new sites."
"Our suppliers understand that trading activities continue as normal, with all teams focussing on running our business successfully through the upcoming spring season and beyond."
As Boyd said in the GTN interview last month: "The Hillview Group has been a very good start up investor. They have funded us to get to this point and we are now seven and a half years old in terms of an investment fund so at some point they will probably be looking to realize some of that investment. That gives us an opportunity to bring in additional investors alongside them. We have been approached by a number of parties – strategic, financial and real estate developers – expressing interest to participate in Hillview Garden Centres, we always take those approaches seriously and fully evaluate them”
“We’ve created a great team, portfolio of well-located garden centres with massive development and growth potential and I’m looking forward to seeing us go onto the next stage and take what we've proven to work and extend across more stores. We’ve completed Phase one and now look forward to the next step. This is an exciting sector and completely differentiated from high street retail”
https://www.adsre.co.uk/disposals/project-pollard.html#top
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Eleven more Wyevale centres sold today
No 3 Most Read Story 2019 - From GTN Xtra - Issue 25 2019
Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of 11 garden centres in four separate transactions to British Garden Centres, The Plant Area Limited (t/a Clandon Park Garden Centre), Coolings Garden Centres and Maidenhead Aquatics.
Wyevale Garden Centres has today announced the sale of 11 garden centres in four separate transactions to British Garden Centres, The Plant Area Limited (t/a Clandon Park Garden Centre), Coolings Garden Centres and Maidenhead Aquatics.
British Garden Centres will acquire 8 centres: Albrighton, Birchencliffe, Bressingham, Gardenlands, Hemel Hempstead, Louth, Tarporley and Wolseley Bridge. This follows their earlier acquisition of six centres.
In separate transactions, The Plant Area Limited will acquire Woking garden centre, Coolings Garden Centres will acquire Wych Cross garden centre and Maidenhead Aquatics will acquire Dummer garden centre.
Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “The sale of a further 11 centres takes the total number sold to 101 since the sale process began. I’m delighted that these 11 centres will remain as garden centres and would like to thank all colleagues for their commitment and contribution and wish them all well for the future.”
Charles Stubbs, MD of British Garden Centres said: “We are proud to announce the purchase of these additional centres into our rapidly expanding British Garden Centres family. Phillippa, Robert and I and all the British Garden Centres teams are looking forward to supporting the new centres in the set up for the Autumn/Winter trading period. We would like to express our thanks to all involved in this complex purchase process.”
Lee Wong, MD at Clandon Park Garden Centre said: “Clandon Park has been under our independent ownership since 2003 and we are delighted to welcome all the staff at Woking Garden Centre into our company. The two centres serve different towns, but are less than 20 minutes apart and already share many customers offering significant opportunities to work and grow together.”
Paul Cooling, Chairman of the 3rd generation family business said: "The whole team at Coolings is looking forward to welcoming their new colleagues from Wych Cross. The centre and nursery has a great reputation for roses, and is a great fit for Coolings. After completion the centre will close temporarily for refurbishment and will re-open as Wych Cross Nursery on Friday 23rd August."
David Lawrence, MD of Maidenhead Aquatics said “Maidenhead Aquatics are pleased to have acquired Dummer Garden Centre. Having traded from the site for over ten years as a concession it was an opportunity to secure both the future of the site as a local traditional garden centre as well as enhancing and securing our existing specialist aquatics offering. We very much look forward to working with the existing team and further improving the centre.”
Christie & Co, the specialist business property advisor is managing the sale process on behalf of Wyevale Garden Centres. There still remains the opportunity to acquire a small group or a portfolio of well performing garden centres located in attractive locations.
Following the completion of this and other previously announced sales, Wyevale Garden Centres will trade 43 garden centres plus 4 centres trading under license. These include 42 restaurants and 154 concessions with 125 partners. These have been key to driving footfall and de-seasonalising the business, making the centres attractive all year-round destinations.
At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last month, Guy Hands told GTN Xtra that all of the remaining centres would be sold by the end of the year and at The National Plant Show there were plenty of rumours flying around about other sales and purchases that are in the pipeline.
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Wyevale Garden Centres sell six more centres
No 4 Most Read Story 2019 - From GTN Xtra - Issue 5 2019
Wyevale Garden Centres have today announced the sale of a further six centres. Five northern centres centres have been sold to British Garden Centres and Woburn Sands has been sold to Rochmills Group...
Wyevale Garden Centres have today announced the sale of a further six centres.
A portfolio of five centres has been sold to British Garden Centres, comprising Bold Heath, Carr Gate, Leyland, Coventry and Bolton. In a separate transaction Woburn Sands has been sold to Rochmills Group. Both buyers will continue to operate all sites as Garden Centres with the sales expected to complete by the end of February.
Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer of WGC, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of a further six centres - since the launch of the sale process in May 2018 we have sold 46 centres and have transformed our financial position. We continue to evaluate a wide range of competitive offers from group buyers, regional operators and local entrepreneurs, but we also look forward to re-focusing our efforts and trading the upcoming spring season with the vast majority of our remaining centres. We would like to thank our great colleagues at these centres, who have been central to the performance of their centres and made them so appealing to these buyers. We wish them well for the next stage of their growth and development under new ownership.”
Charles Stubbs, MD of British Garden Centres, said “We are proud to announce the purchase of these five centres into our British Garden Centres family, making our independent, family owned group now 16 centres. Myself, Robert and Phillippa and all of the team are looking forward to working with these new centres and their teams ahead of a busy spring season. We would like to express our thanks to all involved in this complex process.”
Christie & Co, the specialist business property advisor managing the sale process on behalf of WGC, has achieved considerable interest from a wide variety of buyers. The opportunity to acquire garden centres has ignited significant interest within the sector and beyond, and as part of the process Christie & Co continue to liaise with bidders.
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Smart acquires Briers
No 5 Most Read Story 2019 - From GTN Xtra - Issue 5 2019
Smart Garden Products have announced the purchase of the Briers business and assets from administrators Duff & Phelps...
Smart Garden Products have announced the purchase of the Briers business and assets from administrators Duff & Phelps.
"The business was short of cashflow and their directors were trying to find a buyer for some months without success, eventually placing the company in administration. We came in at the end of this process with an acceptable offer and managed to complete very quickly, within days in fact. It was all very quick!" said Paris Natar, Smart's Chairman.
"The timing could be better with the season upon us and Chinese New Year holiday factory closures" added MD Jonathan Stobart.
"Fortunately there is some stock that has recently arrived at UK ports and even more in transit, in addition to that already in the Briers warehouse. So we are now bringing that in and arranging for early shipment of other goods already on order, mostly made, as soon as the factories re-open in the second half of February. Not where we would like to be with this, but also not irrecoverable by any means."
Paris added: We are determined to restore normal and full supply of this fantastic range and brand to our retail partners as soon as practically possible, doing whatever it takes. We will be supplying Smart Standards and Smart Service Levels. This is a brilliant opportunity for Smart Garden Products and we intend to make the most of it."
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Most Read Stories in 2019 - 6 to 10
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Most Read Stories in 2019 - 11 to 20
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The best of last week's
If you missed last week's GTN Xtra, below are the most-read stories...
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Toddington Garden Centre in Gloucestershire closed last Tuesday after the landlords – the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway railway – declined to renew its lease.
A final Facebook post by joint owners, husband and wife Mark and Liz Tsakarisianos, announced: “We are now closed after 45 years. We would like to say a very big thank you to our amazing staff and customers and thank you for all the support you have given us.”
The site is owned by GWR, who say they need it to add new retail restaurant and parking facilities to their headquarters next door.
A spokeswoman for the garden centre, which the owners say is a thriving business, said the closure would lead to the loss of about eight part-time jobs. However, the family’s other business, Gotherington Nurseries, about 6 miles away, will continue to operate.
The spokesman added: “There’s a lot of sadness. It was leased [to us] by GWR and they wanted the site back so there wasn’t much we could do about it. We’ve got a thriving business here. We assumed that we would just renew the lease or have a shorter one.
“We’re devastated, absolutely. It’s been a fantastic place to work. We’re really sad and so are the customers.”
GWR’s Ian Crowder said: “We are sorry that the garden centre will close. We ended the 10-year lease after a lot of deliberation and a heavy heart as we are aware that the garden centre is something of an attraction for visitors to the railway. “We gave the garden centre plenty of notice and opportunities to talk to us over recent months.
“The site is needed for expansion of our facilities at Toddington, which is the railway’s headquarters. It will be used solely to expand and improve the experience for visitors to our railway.
“It has been a long-term intention to eventually re-use this space and the lease coming to an end provides that opportunity.”
The opening of GWR’s Broadway station last year, which re-linked the village by rail with Cheltenham 14 miles to the south, via Toddington, brought a 44% increase in passenger numbers.
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The Topping family have sold the Barton Grange Hotel in Preston to a catering company in order to concentrate on their garden centre and newly-opened Flower Bowl entertainment complex.
The 51-bedroom hotel was opened by Eddie Topping and his wife Ada in 1951 in a small manor house they acquired in 1945. The original Barton Grange garden centre was added on adjacent land in the 1960s but superseded by the current centre in 2008.
The new owner of the hotel, Skelmersdale-based Mellors Catering Services, also owns the 81-bedroom Lancashire Manor Hotel at Pimbo near Wigan.
The company also operates over 285 in-site catering contracts in business and education premises across northern England. The Barton Grange Hotel will retain all current staff, with bookings unaffected by the sale
Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Barton Grange MD Guy Topping, said: “We are extremely pleased that the Hotel has been bought by Mellors. Like us, they are an award-winning, family business and we know they will continue the traditions of excellent hospitality and first-class customer service for which the hotel is known.”
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Leading garden centre, Hayes Garden World, has released a report exploring consumer buying habits and trends at Christmas time.
People may like to conserve their money for most of the year however when it comes to Christmas, consumers love to splash out. This is beneficial for the industry so long as you know how to make the most of your customer’s buying habits.
Although not everyone may be purchasing a new tree this year, a massive 75% of Brits say they spend up to £158 on Christmas decorations for the whole year.
When it comes to Christmas trees, the retailer - who sells both real and artificial options - discovered that artificial Christmas trees are the more popular option. 86% of Brist will have an artificial tree this year compared to 9% who plan on buying a real tree. 45% of those who plan on having an artificial tree this year are keeping their tree from last year. 41% will buy a new artificial tree this year, with 11% of those switching from a real tree.
If one tree wasn’t enough just under 40% of those surveyed said they plan to put up two Christmas trees, indicating an opportunity for retailers to offer smaller, supplementary trees.
Cost and aesthetics were regarded as the most important factors when choosing a new Christmas tree, cost coming in at 50% and aesthetics follow closely behind at 41%. These factors are important to consider when choosing new stock and setting prices. 50% of Hayes’ Christmas trees are sold on Black Friday, highlighting just how important cost is to consumers.
The survey, looking into shopper’s spending habits, reveals that 63% of people follow a theme when decorating their tree. You may not be surprised to find out that over 40% of those surveyed found inspiration for their decorations from social media and ¼ from newspapers and magazines. So, take advantage of your social media platforms this Christmas as it may give your customers the inspiration that they need
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Commenting on the data, Lyndan Orvis, Ecommerce Director at Hayes Garden World said:
“Make sure to stock up on baubles and string lights this festive season as the results show that they are the shopper’s favourite decorations. Over 90% of respondents said they will be purchasing them this year.
“It is great to see that artificial Christmas trees have a stronghold in the market. As consumers are beginning to buy more than one tree there is a great opportunity to sell additional trees alongside the main Christmas tree purchase.
“As a retailer that sells both real and artificial Christmas trees, it’s interesting to see that just 9% of shoppers plan to buy a real Christmas tree this year. Artificial Christmas trees have come on a long way in the past few years and new technologies such as the Feel-Real PE technology, which uses a mixture of Polyethene and PVC, have opened up the market to artificial trees that look authentic.
“With 30% of shoppers planning on purchasing a new artificial Christmas tree this year, it’s crucial for retailers to release trees with exciting new features that are worthy of an update. New releases for 2019 include Bluetooth trees that connect to playlists and change lights in time with the music and trees with a longer stem that are perfect for cat owners.”
View the full Christmas trends buying report here.
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The West London garden centre operating from a railway arch has opened its new indoor plant centre, The Green Room to acclaim from the experts.
At the W6 Garden Centre (on the corner of Ravenscourt Park between Hammersmith and Chiswick), an empty unloved railway arch has been transformed into a lush green environment filled from floor to ceiling with a huge collection of indoor houseplants.
“Our aim is to green-up homes all over London and The Green Room will have you spoilt for choice with the biggest selection of popular and unique varieties of indoor plants,” says the centre’s publicity. “The Green Room is a plant-enthusiast’s dream come true. In store there is also a hand-selected range of plant accessories and care items; that will ensure the continued health and growth of your indoor plants.”
Botanist, science writer and BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time panellist James Wong commented: “Looks bloody brilliant!”
Jane Perrone, indoor gardening journalist, presenter and producer of ‘On the Ledge’ podcast, said: “Paul Holt [the creative director] has done a wonderful job turning this railway arch into houseplant heaven. Sets the standard for the UK houseplant selling scene…”
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Opened in March 2011,W6 has established itself as a leading London garden centre and its coffee shop was named Best Garden Cafe 2019 in the LUX Life magazine’s awards.
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A very happy Christmas for garden centres
Even after record weeks in November when Christmas sold through faster than in previous years, garden centres have still been seeing record sales levels into December...
Even after record weeks in November when Christmas sold through faster than in previous years, garden centres have still been seeing record sales levels into December.
After the end of week 50, the week ending 15th December, the GTN Bestsellers Christmas Top 50 products index recorded another record high for the week and cumulativeley, from the start of October, garden centre Christmas product sales finished 13% up on last year, and 7% up on 2017 which was the previous best year for Christmas sales volumes according to the GTN Bestsellers Epos data.
And it wasn’t just sales of Christmas products that have been flying through garden centre tills. The GTN Bestsellers All Products Total Volume sales index was up by 8% on the same week last year and has reached the year end cumulatively up by 4.2%.
Given the turbulent year for retailing on the high street, at DIY and supermarkets that means garden centres have once again stood out like a bright star, leading the way in creating memorable leisure based shopping and eating experiences.
We can’t wait to report on even more success for garden centres during 2020 and in the meantime all of the team at GTN and Garden Radio wish you all a Very Merry Christmas indeed!
GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year: Week 50
• Garden Products Top 50 – up 14%
• Growing Media Top 50 – up 25%
• Wild Bird Care Top 50 – down 13%
• Christmas Top 50 – up 20%
• All Plants index – up 9%
• All Items index - up 8%
Due to a few technical issues we were unable to produce the full GTN Bestsellers Newsletter last week. We'll catch up with a bumper issue in the New Year.
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Garden Centre Photo Tours
If you've missed one of our popular photo tours of garden centres then click on the links below:
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Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.
The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra newsletter.
As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2017 as well as 2018 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.
Access is by subscription only. For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales. To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.
Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Garden Plants Bestsellers chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Christmas Products chart for this week are here
Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care Products chart for this week are here
WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers. Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.
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Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.
GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.
Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.
For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.
Buy your subscription today and start receiving the GTN Bestsellers charts this week.
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GTN's Sustainability Directory 2020
GTN is compiling a Sustainability Directory to be published in January 2020 that will provide a guide for garden centre buyers and staff to the sustainability initiatives of garden centre suppliers...
Following many conversations with garden centres while out and about post Glee and at the Cultivating Retail conference, the GTN team have realised there is a real need for more information about sustainability initiatives from existing suppliers and ideas that could lead to products from new suppliers to be stocked.
In answer to this, GTN is compiling a Sustainability Directory to be published in January 2020 that will provide a guide for garden centre buyers and staff to the sustainability initiatives of garden centre suppliers and their products.
Suppliers to garden centres will be able to take a FREE Sustainability Listing in the directory and there will also be opportunities for advertising and advertorial content to emphasise your sustainability activities.
To take advantage of this FREE Sustainability Listing companies should use this link or send an e-mail to alan.burdon@tgcmc.co.uk by 5:00pm on Wednesday 8th January 2020.
For information about advertising and advertorial opportunities please call Alan Burdon or Ben Greenwood on 01733 775700.
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