Dobbies Garden Centres have just announced the sale of two of its smallest centres, Kinross and Cumbernauld, to Caulders, an independent family-owned group of five garden centres across central Scotland.
The sale of these two smaller centres is in line with Dobbies’ strategic growth plan, as it focusses on building a destination garden centre business.
Graeme Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of Dobbies Garden Centres, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of our two smallest centres to Caulders, one of Scotland’s leading and most experienced independent garden centre operators. We would like to thank our fantastic colleagues at these centres and wish them well for the next stage of their career under Caulders’ ownership.”
“The sale of these two centres is in line with Dobbies’ wider growth and expansion strategy as we focus on growing our stall with larger destination garden centres.”
Graeme also told GTN Xtra: ""We are looking at a number of options for growth and we'll update any plans as soon as we're in a position to do so. We're less concerned with timescales, and more concerned about making sure we build the best garden centre business in the UK."
All 43 Dobbies team members at Kinross and Cumbernauld will transfer across to Caulders.
Colin Barrie, Managing Director, of Caulders said: “We are looking forward to welcoming our new team members to the Caulders family, and to working with them to develop these fantastic garden centres over the years to come.
“There are superb teams at both Kinross and Cumbernauld who have created successful garden centres for their local communities. The centres are a great fit for us and a welcome addition to our family business.”
Colin told GTN Xtra this morning that they had been taling with Dobbies on and off for a period of time. He said: "We are really excited to have these two centres joining Caulders. They are both well run centres that will suit our small family business style of operation and they are the perfect geographic fit for us."
The sale is expected to complete during February, with the centres re-opening as Caulders Garden Centres soon after.
