Hillier Garden Centres Acquires Rosebourne

George Bullivant at Gardenforum has reported on the acquisition of Rosebourne by Hillier Garden Centres:

Hillier Garden Centres completed the acquisition of the Rosebourne garden centre group on Tuesday 8th November, bringing the number of sites in the group to 22.

Rosebourne

Rosebourne has 3 centres at Weyhill near Andover, Aldermaston and Hampton in Arden formerly Solihull when owned by Wyevale.  Turnover in the year to January 2021 was £10.9m, making a loss of £232,000. 

Rosebourne opened Weyhill, its first garden centre in October 2016.

Carol Paris, who was appointed CEO in April 2020, has left the business.

Correction:  We previously stated that Stuart Whalley had left the business.  This is not the case, he has merely resigned as a statutory director of Rosebourne.

Hillier

Hillier currently runs 19 centres, having bought Ducks Hill (Ruislip) in January. It has just completed a major refit at Wimborne, and a major redevelopment is currently under way at Newbury.  The acquisition will increase its estate to 22 garden centres.

In the year to August 2021 the group had sales of £51m with a profit before tax of £10.7m (including a property gain of £4.6m).  Total borrowings were £7.5m.

The announcement states that at the heart of the Hillier business is a mission to “inspire the creation of green living spaces for now and the future.” Visitors can expect to see Hampshire based Hillier Nurseries’ great range of home grown, top-quality plants arriving in the Rosebourne garden centres soon, blending with the extensive product range already on offer in the centres."

Comments

“We are delighted to be adding Rosebourne with its three fantastic garden centres to our business,” comments Chris Francis, Hillier Wholesale and Retail Director. “They are all really impressive destinations, we feel they are a great fit for our business... This acquisition continues the rapid growth the company has seen over the last few years and makes it well equipped to move forwards confidently into the future”

Carol Paris and Charles Good from Rosebourne comment: “We are delighted that we have been able to secure a sale to Hillier with such a strong horticultural pedigree and a family run business.”

Source : Reproduced with kind permission from George Bullivant at Gardenforum

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