Marshall tells growers, “Your Country needs you”

Marshall challenged UK growers to grab the opportunity presented by Brexit. About Ocado he said online gardening sales are ‘piffling’ and now is the time for this to change. Read more - members only

Nicholas Marshall

BGC wins permission for a massive new garden centre at East Durham

British Garden Centres have been given permission for a massive re-development of their East Durham garden centre that will create 250+ new jobs. Read more - members only

Westland Horticulture files 2016 accounts

Westland Horticulture increase sales to £127.7m and made a pre-tax profit of £4.1m after charges for integrating William Sinclair, bad debt write-offs and foreign currency losses. Read more - members only

Barrus signs up for new 16 acres site

E.P. Barrus, distributor of brands such as Wolf, Wilkinson Sword and Energiser, is to consolidate its operations under one roof and remain in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Read more - members only

The Kelling Estate has acquired Emcy Garden & Leisure

The Kelling Estate has acquired the business and assets of Emcy Garden & Leisure including the land and buildings. Read more - members only

B&Q sales down 4.6% on back of store closures

Quarterly results from Kingfisher show a strong performance from Screwfix to compensate a fall in sales at B&Q as the ONE Kingfisher transformation plan progresses. Read more - members only

Amazon seeks improved links with BHETA suppliers

At the recent BHETA networking event, Amazon buyers were out in force and outlined several services that could take the supplier opportunities to new levels.  Read more - members only

Oliver Sawers (L) and Jeff Wemyss

Blue Diamond agrees a deal on Bridgford

Blue Diamond is to take on the lease of the new £10m Bridgford garden centre near Nottingham once it has been built. Read more - members only

The proposed new garden centre

3 garden retailers listed as UK’s most dynamic businesses by the LSE

The London Stock Exchange has listed 3 garden retailers in its list of 1000 companies to inspire Britain.  They are Creative Gardens, Notcutts and Primrose. Read more - members only

Sarah Downing joins Kelkay as head of marketing

Kelkay has announced that the former Gardman marketing director, Sarah Downing, has been appointed as head of marketing, a newly created role. Read more - open to all

Sarah Downing

Berwick buys 14 acre Plantsplus

Berwick Garden Centre has revealed that they bought a third site at the end of last year. Primarily a retail nursery, Plantsplus is being extended to include a restaurant. Read more - members only

Surrey grower seeks planning for new nursery

RC Kemp & Son, a bedding and veg plant grower in Worplesdon, Surrey, is seeking to build new nursery to cope with increasing demand. Read more - members only

Dobbies to launch national online garden centre

Dobbies is to launch an online store early next year serving the whole of the UK following an agreement with the Ocado Group’s Speciality Stores. Read more - members only

George Hillier takes a senior management role as Hillier rewards loyalty

Hillier has recruited from within and attracts a buyer from Dobbies to fill the vacancies left after last month’s departures to Dobbies. Read more - members only

George Hillier

Planters plans to extend Bretby Garden Centre

Planters at Bretby has submitted an application to redevelop and extend its garden centre at Bretby in South Derbyshire. Read more - members only

Dobbies to open at 7am for ‘Coffee to Go’

A highlight of the first day of the HTA Catering Conference was Costas Constantinou explaining to Matthew Appleby, how he would improve the Dobbies restaurants. Read more - members only

Costas Constantinou

Wesfarmers says further investment in Homebase depends on successful pilots

It has been reported that Bunnings was disappointed with the Homebase performance in May, but that the two pilots are trading well. Read more - members only

Garden centres making the headlines around the country

Garden centres have made headlines in their areas for reasons as different as a fire, planning permission for housing, giving a facelift to a hospital garden and pleading not guilty to breaching planning laws.  Read more - members only

Fire at Solent Nurseries

Squire’s is to close Woking GC in June for redevelopment

Having completed upgrades at Long Ditton, Chertsey and Hersham, Squire’s is to close Woking in June for redevelopment.  Read more - members only

Artists impression for Squire's Woking

B&M reports a very strong performance in gardening

B&M the ‘disruptive’ discounter with a strong gardening offer, opened 53 new stores in the UK during 2016-17 and increased sales to £2,035m. Read more - members only

Wyevale is propped up by Terra Firma -UPDATED

The Sunday Telegraph appears to confirm trade rumours that Terra Firma was forced to prop up Wyevale earlier this year. Updated with  comments from Guy Hands. Read more - open to all

Guy Hands

Crocus to trial clicks and bricks

Crocus.co.uk, the original online garden centre, is to test a new retail concept with a geographical presence starting next year at Dorney Court. Read more - members only

Rapid growth continues at Blue Diamond as profits jump 28%

Blue Diamond plans to double turnover by 2022 as profits jump by 28%. So far 2017 trade has been promising. Read more - members only

Strong domestic sales for Marshalls

Marshalls, UK manufacturer of paving and hard landscaping products, says domestic order books are the longest ever as overall sales are up 6% so far this year. Read more - members only

Work starts on creating one of the largest garden centres in the UK

Newspan has started construction to create one of the biggest destination garden centres in the country at Bridgford garden centre. Read more - members only

What Bridgford will look like...

New team to improve Dobbies restaurant offer

Nicholas Marshall brings in former Wyevale colleagues as he builds a new Dobbies catering team with plans for significant improvements. Read more - members only

Gardena pilots first Ambassador Store at Gordale

Gardena is piloting an Ambassador store to showcase its product range at Gordale Garden Centre in the Wirral. Read more - members only

Blue Diamond closes on £100m threshold

248 Blue Diamond staff celebrated at the group’s annual awards and were told by MD Alan Roper that the group is fast becoming a titan of its industry. Read more - members only

Fryer's Garden Centre Team with Manager Bijal Mistry (centre)

Forest uses stealth technology to reduce unwanted noise in the garden

Forest has unveiled a noise reducing Decibel Panel that it believes is the most significant development in fence panels in years. Read more - members only

Caution after a buoyant Easter

Garden centres report an excellent Easter and April with sales up 40% on last year and storm Katie. But chief executives tell us, “We must keep our feet on the ground,” and it will get tougher, with increased competition and inflation. Read more - members only

To see earlier stories - Look in the News Archive