Wyevale's Shrewsbury, Telford and Albrighton garden centres up for sale
Percy Thrower's Garden Centre in Shrewsbury could be sold by its parent company Wyevale, along with its sites in Telford and Albrighton.
The £40 million centre was opened on the site of the garden centre formerly run by the Blue Peter gardener.
Its future was today cast into doubt by the decision by Wyevale Garden Centres to sell up.
The centre in Oteley Road, Shrewsbury, is a flagship within the Wyevale group of 145 garden centres.
But private equity company Terra Firma, which owns Wyevale, says it is willing to sell the brand as a whole or break it up by selling centres individually.
Albrighton Garden Centre and Telford Garden Centre are also up for sale in the move.
Around 200 people work at Percy Thrower's, which was opend in 2015. It has become a popular destination for people from across Shropshire as it is situated with easy links to north Shropshire and Telford.
Roger Mclaughlan, chief executive of Wyevale Garden Centres, said the sale provided a "fantastic opportunity for new long-term owners" who wanted to take on a successful brand. He insisted the company was healthy and the centres had a future.
He said: "Wyevale Garden Centres have been transformed beyond recognition over the last few years, and our customers are responding really positively to all the improvements we’ve been making. Our improved business has engaged colleagues and put customers at the heart of what we do. Thanks to the hard work of all of our colleagues, we remain firmly on track to grow our sales and profits this year.”
Wyevale is the largest operator of garden centres in the UK employing about 6,000 staff. It began as a mail order nursery in 1932 before becoming one of the UK’s earliest garden centres in 1966. Its current owners, Terra Firma Capital Partners, purchased Wyevale Garden Centres in 2012.
It has has sites across the UK but with more in the South East.
Invested
It also owns Aldridge Garden Centre; Barnett Hill Garden and Leisure, near Stourbridge; Gardenlands Garden and Leisure, Wolverhampton; Wolseley Bridge Garden Centre, between Stafford and Rugeley and Shenstone Garden Centre, near Lichfield. The sites range in size from one to 108 acres.
Wyevale Garden Centres have invested significantly in the business and the majority of sites have high specification restaurants and cafes, many with children’s soft play areas.
Steve Rodell, managing director for retail at Christie & Co, said: “The garden centre market is vibrant and on an upwards trajectory. In recent years garden centres have become much more than places just to buy plants, evolving to become wider leisure and retail destinations with play centres for children, restaurants and other activities designed to improve the shopping experience.
“These attractive consumer fundamentals with multiple income streams mean the market is likely to be resilient to headwinds experienced by the high street.
“The sale of Wyevale Garden Centres presents a unique opportunity for a wide range of buyers from financial institutions, existing garden centre operators, independent business people and entrepreneurs to buy well-invested local garden centres within the price range of £200,000 to £35 million.”
