Alan Roper has just announced the Blue Diamond Acquisition of the Van Hage group of 3 garden centres. The sites are the flagship store at Gt Amwell Ware; Chenies between Amersham and Rickmansworth and their centre on the PE1 retail park at Peterborough. Blue Diamond will own and operate the retail park.

Blue Diamond CEO Alan Roper told GTN Xtra: "For me personally, this is a landmark acquisition, Van Hage’s was one of 3 garden centres in the early nineties I would visit as a younger man for inspiration and would feel in awe of what they had achieved and never imagined that one day, we would be the proud owner of such a business.

The Van Hage family have said "The Board and Shareholders of Van Hage &Co. Holdings can today confirm the sale of our Trading company, Van Hage and Co. Ltd and our Garden Centre business to the Blue Diamond Group.

"The entire trading business, all colleagues and centres will now become part of the successful Blue Diamond family of garden centres with immediate effect.

"Making the decision to pass the Group into new hands was not an easy one to make; it has been a central part of all of our lives, and many of our staff and suppliers over the decades, and our priority was to ensure that the Company and our colleagues would be passed into the hands of new owners who would have the vision and resources to ensure the continued thriving of Van Hage.

"Blue Diamond are rapidly growing and are Britain’s second-largest Garden Centre group, known for great quality and customer experience.  They have both the resources and vision to further grow and develop our brand going forward. The Company will continue to trade as Van Hage under their stewardship."