Wyevale sells four more garden centres
Wyevale Garden Centres Group has agreed the sale of four more garden centres to individual buyers.
The World of Pets and Leisure and Codicote sites are expected to be developed for alternative use following their sale, while the Sudbury and Oxford sites have all been sold to companies that are expected to run them as garden centres.
The Sudbury site has been sold to Perrywood Garden Centre and Nurseries and the Oxford site to AWBS, which is an existing concession holder on site. Meanwhile, World of Pets and Leisure has been bought by Harlex Property and Codicote has been acquired by Taylor Wimpey.
Roger Mclaughlan, chief executive of Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of four of our garden centres. In the case of those centres which have been sold for alternative use, we are very pleased to honour our commitments to our colleagues and partners and will seek to redeploy our excellent colleagues in our other garden centres wherever possible in coming months.”
The World of Pets and Leisure and Codicote centres had previously been identified for potential redevelopment as part of Wyevale’s portfolio management strategy. While the World of Pets and Leisure centre has already been closed, Codicote is expected to continue operating as a garden centre until early 2019.
Anthony Jones, chief financial officer of Wyevale Garden Centres, said: “The centres sold to date had been highlighted as ‘non-core’ as part of our ongoing portfolio review, which predated the sale process. The sale of these centres reflects our continued pursuit of positive outcomes for our colleagues, concession partners, suppliers and customers.”
Wyevale said it has received a significant number of offers for all or part of the remaining business from a range of national, regional and financial operators.
The company has been announcing the sale of a number of garden centres in recent weeks.
