As the country wrapped up against the snow and freezing conditions over the weekend of Garden Re-Leaf and Mother's Day, garden centres throughout the land were encouraged by an increase in buying activity in their stores.
45 jobs saved as Whiteley's Garden Centre is bought
Whiteley's Garden Centre at Mirfield, which was placed in administration last November, has been bought as a going concern.
The centre has been running for over 25 years, is well-known locally and sells a wide range of plants, garden furniture, and pets and aquatics supplies as well as having a busy café.
Its annual turnover is estimated to be over £2m and assets include its freehold site and significant levels of stock.
The business was placed in the hands of joint administrators, Julian Pitts, Bob Maxwell and Andrew Dick of Begbies Traynor, in November last year and the administrators continued to trade the garden centre, without making any redundancies, while a buyer was sought.
Whiteley's Garden Centre has now been bought by a private investment vehicle chaired and managed by lawyer and turnaround adviser Chris Jones.
"This is a well-established and viable business with a loyal customer base which suffered from financial pressures that were not related to its day-to-day operations,” said joint administrator Julian Pitts.
“As we were confident that a buyer could quickly be found, we continued to trade the business, preserving the jobs of all staff.
“The garden centre generated a high level of interest from potential buyers and it is great news for the business, staff and customers that a deal has been completed so quickly with the minimum of disruption.
"The deal is the best possible outcome, securing a future for one of the area’s most popular garden centres, without having made any redundancies.”
