Wyevale sells 31 garden centres to Dobbies
Wyevale has sold 31 of its garden centres to Dobbies for an undisclosed sum.
The move marks the third transaction with Dobbies following the sale of five centres and single site sale to the retailer last October.
The centres include sites in Altrincham, Andover, Beaconsfield, Brighton, Bury St Edmunds, Cadnam, Findern, Galton, Gosforth, Hare Hatch, Harlestone Heath, Havant, Hungerford, Keston, Leicester Rowena, Lelant, Marple, Moreton Park, Northampton, Pennine, Poppleton, Royston, Rugby, Shenstone, Stratford upon Avon, Stockton, Swansea, Swindon, Telford, Thornbury and World’s End.
All of the centres will continue to trade as Wyevale over the coming weeks as the two companies work through completion of the sale from late May until the end of June.
Following the sale, Wyevale will have 60 centres in the UK and a further four centres operating under licence.
The retailer has reported strong trading in the first quarter of 2019 with sales up 26% year-on-year.
Anthony Jones, chief operating officer of Wyevale, said “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of a portfolio of our centres to Dobbies Garden Centres. We would like to thank all of our garden centre colleagues for their contribution to Wyevale Garden Centres and wish them well for the next stage of their growth and development with Dobbies. I am delighted with our strong start to the year and am excited about trading for the rest of the main gardening season. Meanwhile, we also continue to evaluate a wide range of options as part of our ongoing sale process.”
Wyevale has also announced that it has begun a collective consultation process with staff at its Syon Park customer support centre as it looks to reduce the number of roles at the centre by at least 20.
