The guessing games over who will buy 145 Wyevale Garden Centres continued this week with Edinburgh Woollen Mills being the latest company linked to the UK’s largest garden centre retailer. Sky News reported on Wednesday that EWM had made a bid before news leaked out shortly after that it had since been withdrawn.

A spokesman for EWM is reported as saying: “We put in a bid for the business but our interest has always been limited.

“We do not want to involve ourselves in a bidding war and, as a result, thought it best to withdraw from the process now.”

On an almost daily basis GTN Xtra gets asked the question “have they or haven’t they?”, as speculation continues to mount over which companies have made bids for part or whole of the Wyevale business.

We can continue the speculation as to what’s going to happen, and who will become the new owners of the 145 stores on offer. But we feel it better to say “let’s wait and see.” We may change our minds in the coming weeks, however.

GTN Xtra’s Trevor Pfeiffer says: “If the Wyevale group is split up now, as many expect, then suppliers will have an interesting time dealing with the different buyers involved.

“Our hope, above all, is that whoever takes on the ownership of these centres does so with a sense of nurture and love for plants, food, coffee and all the good things garden centres can be famous for. 

“Great independent garden centre operators have proved that when their staff and their retail ambience truly reflect ‘nurture’ that even when the weather goes against us, as this spring, good will always shine through and our businesses will grow.”