Wyevale Garden Centres

Wyevale Garden Centres, formerly The Garden Centre Group, was at the height of its scale, a chain of 154 garden centres in England and Wales. It was formerly the largest garden centre group in the UK.

Wyevale Garden Centres Limited
Private
IndustryGardening
Founded1960
Defunct2019
HeadquartersSyon Park, Brentford, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
Number of locations
None as of defunct closures / transfers taken place (Nov 2019)
Key people
Justin King, Chairman
Anthony Jones, COO
ProductsGarden centres
OwnerTerra Firma Capital Partners
Number of employees
5,000+
Websitewww.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk

It was voted 'Best Garden Centre 2009' in an online poll by Gardeners' World magazine.[1]

History

The company started as a mail-order nursery operated by the Williamson family in the 1930s in Hereford and in 1967 opened the first Wyevale Garden Centre on Kings Acre Road. It became a public limited company (PLC) in 1987 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In February 2009, following the collapse of the Icelandic investment company Baugur Group who had a large stake in the firm, the Bank of Scotland became the majority owner of the firm in a debt-for-equity deal.[2] In 2009, the name was changed to The Garden Centre Group.[3]

The company was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma in March 2012.[4]

On 17 July 2014 the company announced it would be rebranding to Wyevale Garden Centres.[5]

In May 2018, the company announced that its investors (Terra Firma) had decided to put it up for sale as a complete business or for its individual garden centres.[6]

On 16 August 2018, Wyevale sold eight of its largest garden centres to Blue Diamond, including Bicester, Oxfordshire; Endsleigh, Devon; Sanders, Burnham-on-sea; Cadbury, Bristol; Cardiff, Wales; Percy Thrower, Shrewsbury; Melbicks, Birmingham; and Weybridge, Surrey.[7]

On 30 August 2018, Wyevale announced the sale of five garden centres to individual buyers, including Nailsworth Garden Centre which was sold to Blue Diamond.[8] A further four centres were sold to individual buyers on 4 September 2018[9] Dobbies Garden Centres, headquartered in Scotland, agreed to purchase a portfolio of five Wyevale Garden Centres sites in England on 8 October.[10]

On 21 May 2019, Wyevale announced the sale of two garden centres to Blackbrooks Garden Centres. The sale consisted of their Lower Dicker & Hastings stores.[11] In the same month, Dobbies purchased 37 of Wyevale's garden centres, doubling their reach and becoming the largest garden centre company in the UK.

On 10 September 2019, the business announced the sale of its remaining centres to British Garden Centres, leading to the closure of the historic Wyevale Garden Centres brand[12].

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References
  1. http://www.gardenersworld.com/awards/results/
  2. News - Wyevale Group now under Bank of Scotland control
  3. Wyevale rebrands to return to its roots - RetailWeek
  4. Terra Firma buys Garden Centre in £276m deal - FT.com
  5. http://www.hortweek.com/Retail/article/1213221/kevin-bradshaw-longer-deals-will-positive-garden-industry/
  6. "Wyevale May 2018 Press Release" (PDF). Wyevale Garden Centres.
  7. "WGC Press Release" (PDF). 25 July 2018.
  8. "WGC 30 August Press Release" (PDF). 30 August 2018.
  9. "WGC 4 September Press Release" (PDF).
  10. "Dobbies Acquires 5 Garden Centres in £25m boost".
  11. https://www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk/file/general/WGC_21st-May-2019-Press-Release.pdf
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