Wyevale Garden Centres

Wyevale Garden Centres (formerly The Garden Centre Group) was a British chain of garden centres. At its height, it was the largest garden centre operator in the United Kingdom, with 154 locations in England and Wales. It became the largest garden centre group by acquiring the Blooms of Bressingham chain in February 2007, and traded under both the Wyevale and Blooms names.[1] It had acquired many smaller garden centre locations during its time, which also helped to allow it to reach its peak.

For the town in Canada, see Wyevale, Ontario.
Wyevale Garden Centres
Wyevale and Blooms
TypePrivate
IndustryGardening, retail
Founded1960
Defunct2019
FateIn liquidation
OwnerDeloitte

Following Wyevale’s financial difficulties, Dobbies Garden Centres acquired the vast majority of Wyevale locations in 2018. Any remaining locations were sold to Blue Diamond Garden Centres, independent owners and smaller chains, with the final outlets sold and converted to British Garden Centres in 2019.[2]

As of late 2020, Wyevale is currently going through the final legal stages of liquidation with Deloitte.[3]

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 the 1990s, the chain purchased the Kennedy's Garden Centres,[4] and Cramphorn Garden Centre chains[5] and transformed all outlets into Wyevale.

In 2007, Blooms of Bressingham was purchased by Wyevale, Blooms had previously acquired the Jardiniere Garden Centre chain.[6]

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.[7] In 2009, the name was changed to The Garden Centre Group.[8]

The company was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma in March 2012.[9]

On 17 July 2014, the company announced it would be rebranding to Wyevale Garden Centres.[10]

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.[11]

On 16 August 2018, Wyevale sold eight of its largest garden centres to Blue Diamond Garden Centres, including Bicester, Oxfordshire; Endsleigh, Devon; Sanders, Burnham-on-sea; Cadbury, Bristol; Cardiff, Wales; Percy Thrower, Shrewsbury; Melbicks, Birmingham; and Weybridge, Surrey.[12]

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 Garden Centres.[13] A further four centres were sold to individual buyers on 4 September 2018[14] Dobbies Garden Centres, headquartered in Scotland, agreed to purchase a portfolio of five Wyevale Garden Centres sites in England on 8 October.[15]

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.[16] In the same month, Dobbies purchased 37 of Wyevale locations, 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.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Wyevale to trade under two names". www.diyweek.net. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  2. Laister, David (2019-10-14). "37 Wyevale outlets taken on by British Garden Centres". Business Live. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  3. "One year on: what happened to Wyevale Garden Centres?". www.hortweek.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  4. "KENNEDYS GARDEN CENTRES LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  5. Neil Tyler (2014). Sanders Bros. The Rise and Fall of a British Grocery Giant. ISBN 9780750957274.
  6. "Tarporley Garden Centre in Cheshire - JustGardenCentres". www.justgardencentres.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
  7. News - Wyevale Group now under Bank of Scotland control
  8. Wyevale rebrands to return to its roots - RetailWeek
  9. Terra Firma buys Garden Centre in £276m deal - FT.com
  10. "Kevin Bradshaw: Longer deals will be positive for garden industry".
  11. "Wyevale May 2018 Press Release" (PDF). Wyevale Garden Centres.
  12. "WGC Press Release" (PDF). 25 July 2018.
  13. "WGC 30 August Press Release" (PDF). 30 August 2018.
  14. "WGC 4 September Press Release" (PDF).
  15. "Dobbies Acquires 5 Garden Centres in £25m boost".
  16. "Wyevale Garden Centres agrees sale of three centres" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  17. "Wyevale is no more after selling last remaining stores to BGC".
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