Wyevale Garden Centres
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Gardening |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Defunct | October 2019  |
| Headquarters | Syon Park, Brentford, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom |
| Products | Garden centres |
| Owner | Terra Firma |
Number of employees | 5,000 |
| Website | www |
Wyevale Garden Centres, formerly The Garden Centre Group, is a chain of 152 garden centres in England and Wales. Wyevale Garden Centres encompass Blooms, Country Gardens, Bridgemere, Heighley Gate, Jack's Patch, Old Barn, Sanders, Woodlands, Wyevale, the Garden & Leisure Group, Golden Acres Garden Centre Group and Armitage's Garden Centres as well as many smaller centres like Syon Park.
It was voted 'Best Garden Centre 2009' in an online poll by Gardeners' World Magazine.[1]
The group now owns 17 of the "Garden Retail Top 100" individual centres by turnover, including nine in the top 40.[2]
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.[3] In 2009, the name was changed to The Garden Centre Group.[4]
The company was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma in March 2012.[5]
Locations
- Barnett Hill (Former Garden & Leisure)
- Gardenlands (Former Garden & Leisure)
- Percy Throwers (Former Garden & Leisure)
- Melbicks (Former Garden & Leisure Originally Airport & NEC)
- Cadbury (Former Garden & Leisure)
- Eastleigh (Former Garden & Leisure)
Wyevale Garden Centres encompass Blooms, Country Gardens, Bridgemere, Heighley Gate, Jack's Patch, Old Barn, Sanders, Woodlands, Wyevale, the Garden & Leisure Group, the Golden Acres Garden Centre Group as well as many smaller centres like Syon Park. The Group has changed the external signage on most of the garden centres back to their original names.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.gardenersworld.com/awards/results/
- ^ http://www.hortweek.com/Retail/article/1213221/kevin-bradshaw-longer-deals-will-positive-garden-industry/
- ^ News - Wyevale Group now under Bank of Scotland control
- ^ Wyevale rebrands to return to its roots - RetailWeek
- ^ Terra Firma buys Garden Centre in £276m deal - FT.com
- ^ Wyevale rebrands to return to its roots | The People Pod