Blue Diamond are celebrating the acquisition of their 21st garden centre this morning following the completion of the purchase of Orchard Park Garden Centre in Gillingham, North Dorset.

MD, Alan Roper, told GTN Xtra this morning that it was an ideal addition to the group; "it is in a very good AB1 customer catchment area in a growing town and there is planning permission in place which will allow us to add 3,500 sq m to take the centre to 5,500 sq m overall.  Orchard Park is a very well located centre.  It has a loyal customer base and we were particularly attracted by the opportunity of developing the centre and moving the business forward.”

Richard Cumming, Managing Director of Orchard Park said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Blue Diamond will be taking over the business. We’ve worked hard with our staff to create a business which is successful at a local and regional level and has lots of potential”.

The garden centre was built in 2004 on a green field site and has developed a strong customer base. It is on an 8 acre site and has an existing planning consent to expand it more than three-fold to create a lifestyle centre.

Gilbert Evans acted on behalf of Orchard Park, Mike Gilbert commenting, “there’s a strong demand for well-run garden centres with potential.  We approached a limited number of parties and received very strong interest.  We’re all delighted with the result.”