Wyevale Garden Centres (“WGC”), the UK’s biggest garden centre operator, has announced the sale of four garden centres to individual buyers.
The centres are: World of Pets and Leisure (“WOPAL”); Codicote; Sudbury and Oxford. Sudbury and Oxford have been sold to operators who are expected to continue to run them as garden centres.
Roger Mclaughlan, Chief Executive of WGC, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of four of our garden centres. In the case of those centres which have been sold for alternative use, we are very pleased to honour our commitments to our colleagues and partners and will seek to redeploy our excellent colleagues in our other garden centres wherever possible in coming months. We would like to thank our great colleagues at these centres, who have been central to our turnaround in the past few years.”
WOPAL and Codicote been sold in separate transactions to purchasers who are expected to develop the sites for alternative use. These centres were previously identified for potential redevelopment as part of the company’s active portfolio management strategy. WOPAL centre has already been closed and Codicote is expected to continue to operate as a garden centre for at least 12 months after completion of the sale.
Anthony Jones, Chief Financial Officer of WGC, said: “The centres sold to date had been highlighted as ‘non core’ as part of our ongoing portfolio review, which predated the sale process. The sale of these centres reflects our continued pursuit of positive outcomes for our colleagues, concession partners, suppliers and customers. We are very grateful for the dedication and commitment of the teams at these centres, and we’ll continue to support them through the transition.”
WGC has received a significant number of offers for all or part of the remaining WGC business from national, regional and financial operators as well as local entrepreneurs.
Sudbury has been sold to Perrywood Garden Centre and Nurseries Ltd and Oxford has been sold to AWBS Ltd, which is an existing concession holder on site. WOPAL has been bought by Harlex Property, while Codicote has been sold to Taylor Wimpey Plc.
