Business

Acquisitions of Dobbies locations

Following the Dobbies Restructuring Plan, which included the closing of 17 stores, British Garden Centres and Stratford Garden Centre have announced location acquisitions.

Dobbies Stratford Upon Avon

The family run, British Garden Centres (BGC) announced the acquisition of three Dobbies Garden Centres in Gloucester, Reading and Gosforth Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne, marking a significant milestone for the business. The garden centre group now has a portfolio of 68 stores. The Reading store will take the name Shinfield Garden Centre to better reflect the area and local community.

According to BGC, their immediate priority is to work closely with the existing teams to restock and reopen the centres as soon as possible. The new locations are expected to open in mid to late February. The group have stated that they will be retaining all existing centre team members and a recruitment drive, creating new employment opportunities within the respective local areas.

Regarding their latest acquisition of the Dobbies Gosforth site at Gosforth Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, Charles Stubbs, founder and director of British Garden Centres said: “We are delighted to welcome the Gosforth Garden Centre into our family, along with the team members and customers. It’s another very exciting opportunity as we have clear ambitions to grow the centre. We look forward to getting ready for the opening.”

Stratford Garden Centre (SGC) have announced taking over the former Dobbies site at Warwick Road, Black Hill in Stratford upon Avon. SGC have entered into a lease of the garden centre site and have confirmed that the existing team will be retained, following the closure of the site on 23 December 2024.  Stratford Garden Centre is a trading name of Whitacre Garden Centre Limited.

Stratford Garden Centre Managing Director Helen Lloyd said: “It is 20 years since we moved into our site at Clifford Chambers, serving Stratford and the North Cotswold area. As a family-owned garden centre we have built close links with the local community and are looking forward to establishing a similar presence in the north east of Stratford serving customers from South Warwickshire and further afield along the M40 and A46 corridors. We have built a strong team of more than 100 staff at Clifford Chambers and are keen to develop the team at our new site at Warwick Road. We are planning substantial improvements to the site at Warwick Road and, after a closure period while this work is carried out, we plan on a grand re-opening in March.”