Dobbies 'On-Boards' 11 Wyevale Garden Centres

Dobbies has taken control of the first 11 of the 31 Wyevale garden centres it agreed to buy in April.  They are Swansea, World’s End, Gosforth, Northampton, Shenstone, Poppleton, Brighton, Andover, Havant, Thornbury and Telford.

The remaining centres will be ‘on-boarded’ at the rate of 5 or 6 a week, with the transfer all but completed before the end of July.  There will be a delay until September for the last of the 31, Altrincham, to be transferred. 

For a full list see: https://www.gardenforum.co.uk/headlines/wyevale-garden-centres-agrees-the-sale-of-31-centres-to-dobbies-garden-centres/.

The process

Each centre is given a buddy from the Dobbies team to introduce them to ways of their new owner.   The Dobbies EPOS is being installed and rebranding will take place within weeks. 

The Wyevale stock will be sold through and the Dobbies stock ranges will start being fed in with the Christmas lines.

Dobbies eyes further Wyevale centres

Dobbies has put its name to 37 garden centres from the Wyevale group so far. 

54 Wyevale sites remain that have yet to be found a buyer.  Gardenforum believes that the Scottish group is in discussions to buy a further tranche.    

In addition, a number of other purchasers are known to be in discussions as the Wyevale management team, led by CEO Anthony Jones, seeks to complete the break-up of Wyevale.  He is believed to be trying to balance the deals so that all the remaining garden centres are found a new home, even if some leasehold sites are sold for a nominal sum.

At Chelsea, Guy Hands, the head of Terra Firma, confirmed to Gardenforum that the Wyevale disposals would be completed before the end of the year and that there would be substantial value left in the equity. 

Source: Reproduced with kind permission from George Bullivant and Gardenforum

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