Primrose Online Garden Centre Reportedly Up For Sale

Online garden retailer, Primrose.co.uk, has been put up for sale, reports the Times.  This confirms rumours within the trade that the company was looking for a buyer. 

The news continues the upheaval among online garden retailers.  Earlier this year Greenfingers Trading went into liquidation.  There was the MBO of YouGarden last autumn and the Internet Gardener entered liquidation in November.

The Times reports that Primrose had sales of £40m last year and aimed to hit £60 million of annual sales in 2023, but could achieve that earlier according to the newspaper.  Customer numbers rose 76% during lockdown.

Primrose, was sold to Rockpool two years ago who created a new management team lead by Mark Pearson, former CEO of Gardman and Solus.  It has advisers at Cavendish Corporate Finance to run a sale that could value the business at between £20 million and £30 million.

Source : Reproduced with permission from George Bullivant at Gardenforum

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