Dobbies Appoints New CEO

Edinburgh based Garden centre group Dobbies has appointed Graeme Jenkins as their new chief executive following the departure of industry veteran Nicholas Marshall.

Jenkins, who was previously chief operating officer at the company, has taken up the post with immediate effect.

Nicolas Marshall was appointed CEO in March 2017 after 30 years in the Garden Centre Industry, running companies including Country Gardens and Wyevale. At the time, he replaced previous CEO John Cleland who had spent only nine months in the role.

Earlier this year, the trade press speculated that Marshall was no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the company. Jenkins had previously joined the business as chief financial officer in 2016 following the acquisition of Dobbies by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital from  the supermarket chain Tesco.

Chairman of Dobbies Andrew Bracey said: “The board is delighted to appoint Graeme as our chief executive, having worked closely with him over the last two years. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Nicholas Marshall for his support and leadership during his time as chief executive. The board wish him well for the future.”

Jenkins added: “Dobbies is a great business with an incredibly talented team, and I am very pleased to be appointed as chief executive. We have had a strong start to 2018 and I am confident that we will be able to grow the business successfully over the coming years.”

Dobbies major competitor Wyevale Garden Centres remains for sale and looks like it's in the process of being broken up, following the news that emerged earlier this week that eight of their largest centres including Bicester and Percy Throwers had been sold to Blue Diamond.

Read - Wyevale sells eight centres in Blue Diamond.

Source: Insight Team

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