Squire’s plans a ‘Raffles style’ Café Bar at Shepperton, with a piano

Squire’s plans to open a new 'Raffles' Café Bar at Shepperton Garden Centre, which will include a new style of service - where orders are placed at the till then an electronic tracker is taken to the table. Read more - members only

Marshall unveils his 3-year plan for Dobbies

New CEO, Nicholas Marshall unveils his £40m, 3-year plan to re-establish Dobbies’ reputation as a quality retailer of British plants. He also has ambitions to expand. Read more - members only

Barton Grange begins construction of £8m leisure venue

The Barton Grange Group has started the construction of its £8m leisure development to be built alongside its award-winning garden centre at Brock on the A6 near Preston. Read more - members only

Bunnings names its first Homebase conversion in the South West

Two more Homebase stores to be converted as Bunnings pilots, bringing the total to 10. The latest include Weston-super-mare and Harlow. Read more - members only

inside Folkestone

Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac Garden Tools

Mr Fothergill’s Seeds has acquired Darlac, the garden tools supplier based in Slough, to expand its offer to garden retailers. Read more - members only

John Fothergill and David Carey

EP Barrus buys Town and Country

EP Barrus has bought the gardening glove and footwear manufacturer, Town & Country.  Its founder and chairman Barry Page is to retire. Read more - members only

Barry Page

Fatal Legionnaire’s Disease incubated in a hot tub display

The owners of a regional DIY chain await sentence after an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that ‘probably’ come from a hot tub display in its garden centre led to two deaths. Read more - members only

The battle between Hare Hatch Sheeplands and the planners is over

Hare Hatch Sheeplands has finally complied with the council’s enforcement notice. The garden centre operation has been shut down, yet Rob Scott says the business has a bright future as a specialist nursery building on the heritage of the Floral Mile. Read more - members only

Rob Scott at Hare Hatch sheeplands

Blue Diamond acts after unacceptable food hygiene report at Fryer’s

Blue Diamond has replaced the front of house manager and head chef after Fryer’s garden centre received a ‘0’ rating, the lowest possible, for food hygiene in May. Read more - members only

Fire at Stephen H Smith Otley UPDATED

Local news report a fire at 11.15 last (Tuesday) night at Stephen H Smith garden centre at Otley, attended by 50 firefighters.  A number of pets are reported to have died in the fire. Read more - members only

Stephen H Smith's Garden Centre at Otley

HTA is to recruit a chairman, a figurehead for the industry

The HTA is to complete its restructuring by recruiting a part-time chairman to be the figurehead that speaks for the industry.  Read more - members only

Adam Wigglesworth

SBM ready to take centre stage

It is 7 months since SBM completed its purchase of Bayer garden and established SBM Life Science. So far it has kept a low profile. At Glee the industry will see how culturally different the ambitious, family owned group will be. Read more - members only

Jean-Paul Simmler, Darren Brown and  Alexandre Simmler at Glee 2016

Bents celebrates 80 years and looks ahead

Ron and Matthew Bent celebrate an 80-year history in which it has evolved from rose grower to a £20m garden centre and look 10 years ahead. Read more - members only

3 generations of Bents: Rom, Margaret, Alfred and Matthew

Bonnetts Garden Village – amended story

A new garden centre has started trading at Bonnetts Garden Village, managed by a former Dobbies general manager. Read more - members only

Squire’s has closed Woking Garden Centre for redevelopment

Squire’s has closed Woking Garden Centre for redevelopment, it will re-open in the spring – 50% larger. Read more - members only

Archiect's impression of the re-modelled garden centre at Woking

Trading to remain challenging for Bunnings UK

The historical poor performance of Homebase is expected to continue in the short term, despite encouraging sales growth in gardening categories, as customers continue to adjust to the Bunnings offer. Read more - members only

What is happening at Wyevale Garden Centres?

Following recent rumours and reports about the preformance and funding of Wyevale, Gardenforum talks to major suppliers and people close to the company and gets a better understanding of what is happening. Read more - members only

London’s Garden Bridge project is abandoned

The project to build a Garden Bridge over the river Thames has been abandoned, officially, following the Mayor of London withdrawing his support. Read more - members only

Innovation from Mr Fothergill's

As well as the acquisition of Darlac, Mr Fothergill’s revealed other innovations, including a new RHS AGM range, a starter range endorsed by David Domoney and the introduction Seasol and Optigrow. Read more - members only

David Domoney's Get growing range

Wyevale Garden Centres in possible re-financing deal

It has been reported that Terra Firma is negotiating a re-financing deal for Wyevale as the garden centre group has not met its trading targets. Read more - members only

La Hacienda has been sold to the Griffon Corporation for $11m (UPDATED)

It will be business as usual for La Hacienda, the global manufacturer, importer and distributor of outdoor heating and outdoor living products, after it became part of Griffon Corporation. Read more - members only

Wyevale is rated one of the 10 worst companies to work for

The Daily Telegraph listed Wyevale Garden Centres as one of the ten worst companies to work for, based on scores from the jobs website Glassdoor.co.uk. Gardenforum finds other garden retailers scored much better. Read more - members only

“It’s been an interesting ride” says PJ Davis

“It’s been an interesting ride” says the BUKI chief as he opened the fifth Bunnings pilot store in a former B&Q at Folkestone. Read more - members only

Vitax invests in expansion after a busy season

Vitax is to expand its production facility in Skelmersdale and warehouse in Coalville after faster than expected growth this year. Read more - members only

Frosts sells landscape maintenance division

Frosts has sold its landscape maintenance division to Nurture to focus on its core construction and garden centre operations, where profits fell last year. Read more - members only

B&M experiences best like-for-like growth in 3 years

Excellent sales in seasonal categories, particularly garden and outdoor living, and strong grocery sales contribute to strong like-for-like growth for B&M as it presses ahead with store openings. Read more - members only

Bonnett promises innovative ideas that will be new to garden centres

It has now been confirmed that Gardening Express owner, Chris Bonnett, has acquired his first bricks and mortar garden centre and called it Bonnetts Garden Village. Read more - members only

Bunnings doubles the number of Homebase pilot conversions

Early success encourages Bunnings to double to 20 the number of Homebase stores converted to the new format, but still says the success of the pilots remains a precursor to additional investment. Read more - members only

PJ Davis - MD Bunnings UK & I

Steve Pitcher joins Homebase / Bunnings

Steve Pitcher started work with Homebase / Bunnings last week, a year after leaving B&Q. Read more - open to all

Steve Pitcher

Kingfisher Nurseries to close as YouGarden takes over the site

Leading heather producer Kingfisher Nurseries is to close at the end of this month, the owners are retiring and have sold the site to YouGarden. Read more - members only

To see earlier stories - Look in the News Archive