Thetford’s expansion has lifted it into the GCA category for elite destination garden centres.  Further ‘out-there’ expansion is planned including a coffee shop in shipping containers – with a stage.   Read more - members only

Stax has followed up this autumn’s E.P. Barrus deal with a second that will add Flymo and McCulloch to its garden tools range. Read more - members only

Accounts recently published show how sales have tumbled at garden centres acquired by Wyevale. The only exception is Woodcote Green, where the local management have been allowed to continue managing the garden centre. Read more - members only

Rosebourne has started building its second garden centre at a site near Aldermaston. It will replicate the formula successfully developed at Andover which opened a year ago. Read more - members only

Bonnetts Garden Village, the first garden centre for Chris Bonnett the owner of online retailer Gardening Express, is to open its main store on Saturday 11th November, having traded since late May in plants. Read more - members only

Downtown Garden Centre near Grantham, part of the Oldrid Group, has submitted plans for an outlet village with 107 retail outlets and a new garden centre. Read more - members only

Stax is to offer distribution to manufacturers following the acquisition of PDS Logistics last week. The deal will increase flexibility and improve availability as Stax takes control of its supply chain. Read more - members only

Melmar Stone has announced that it has taken on the range of hand cast resin statues that used to be sold by DaVinci Home and Garden Products. Read more - members only

Brexit fears have increased demand for UK grown plants leading Allensmore to add a further 9 acres of outdoor production. Read more - members only

Scotts Miracle-Gro called on the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) to find that two adverts for Safelawn by Westland were misleading. Their complaint was not upheld. Read more - members only

One of Ireland’s foremost growers of nursery stock, Flannery’s Nurseries, is looking to develop its market by expanding into the UK with Bob Haward as their agent. Read more - members only

Following a reduced peat harvest, which Westland admits will have a cost impact, the company calls on the growing media industry not to take short cuts by using materials like green waste. Read more - members only

Wyevale accounts for 2016 show a net loss of £122m after a one-off charge for non-recurring items of £73.6m.  This gives a new starting position for Wyevale, which has raised £216.5m in new finance to replace exisiting facilities that would have expired in 2018. Read more - members only

Colemans Garden Centre in Templepatrick, N. Ireland is nearing the completion of phase 1 of a £5m redevelopment and expansion. Read more - members only

Press reports suggest Terra Firma is about to announce new long-term refinancing for Wyevale Garden Centres. Read more - members only

Bents have wrestled the GCA Christmas Display award back from Barton Grange, while Castle Gardens in Sherborne prove invincible yet again in the category for smaller garden centres. Read more - members only

The Hillier Awards Night celebrated a record year for the group. Suppliers and garden centres collected their awards as Robert Hillier praised the impact Chris Francis has made since taking control in March 2014. Read more - members only

Over 100 suppliers attended a meeting this morning to hear Wyevale’s CEO Roger McLaughlan and his team explain how the group is getting its act together and improving standards. Read more - members only

B&M the discount home and garden retailer increased sales by 17% as consumers shift to discount formats. Margins fell, partly due to end of season clearance on gardening and outdoor products. Read more - members only

Demand for Christmas at garden centres seems higher than ever on the South coast. Haskins are expecting over 1m visitors, while Stewarts Garden Centres payment gateway and phones became swamped as 10,000 tried to book their visit to Santa. Read more - members only

It has been confirmed that LBS Worldwide Ltd is in administration. It is continuing to trade, managed by the administrators. Read more - members only

Bunnings has reported a 14% drop in sales for Homebase over the last quarter. But they remain encouraged by the performance of the Bunnings pilots. Read more - members only

Gardman reduces losses in its first full year following the buyout in June 2015 by Rutland Partners LLP and says it has significant finance to invest in new categories. Read more - members only

Carol Paris has joined Jackie Eades on the board of Briers, the UK’s leading garden glove and boot supplier, to guide it through its next phase of growth. Read more - members only

Coolings Nurseries says it has agreed to buy The Potted Garden Nursery, which is located very close to Leeds Castle in Kent. They take over on Nov 1^st. Read more - members only

Deco-Pak is to sever links with a discount retailer so that it can develop a more creative offer for specialist garden centres. Read more - members only

As Wyevale refinances, Roger Mclaughlan has spoken for the first time since becoming CEO about how he and his new management team are working to get the core business right. Further acquisitions are firmly on the back burner. Read more - members only

Terra Firma says switch to central distribution was too much for Wyevale Garden Centres, hitting stock availability and sales in 2016. Trading profit fell 31%. Read more - members only

Wyevale Garden Centres is predicting that this weekend will be the most popular for the sale of bulbs, when it expects to sell around 2,000 packets of bulbs an hour. Read more - members only

Westland looks to raise its brand profile as the gardener’s champion after research shows there’s an opportunity to build consumer recognition. Read more - members only