News Archive July 2015
Westland acquires William Sinclair
31 July 2015
Westland Horticulture has acquired William Sinclair and has immediately taken the business out of administration.
Carl Kammerling sponsors young electrician in WorldSkills competition
29 July 2015
Hand tools and security supplier Carl Kammerling International is supporting Team UK in the WorldSkills competition 2015 in São Paulo.
Ruxley Rose garden centre finalists revealed
29 July 2015
The Garden Centre Association (GCA) has announced the names of the finalist garden centres in its re-vamped Ruxley Rose competition.
Homebase 'normal price' claim was misleading
29 July 2015
Homebase has been taken to task by the ad watchdog for failing to prove that a product had previously sold at the 'normal price' stated.
Birds and bees push gnomes out of the garden
28 July 2015
Hot tubs, built-in barbecues and bee houses are in but wind chimes, windmills and white plastic patio furniture are out.
Garden centres celebrate more GCA regional wins
27 July 2015
More garden centres across the country have been celebrating following the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) further announcements of its regional award winners.
Wantage hardware shop expands with new decor outlet
27 July 2015
An Oxfordshire hardware independent is significantly growing its decor offer by expanding into the shop next door.
Chocolate bathrooms melt awards judges' hearts
27 July 2015
Bathrooms.com has been shortlisted for PR Week's Best Use of a Small Budget Award for a campaign created around chocolate bathrooms.
GCA South Thames winners revealed
24 July 2015
The winners of the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) South Thames regional awards were revealed during a presentation on Wednesday, July 22 at Haskins Garden Centre.
B&Q's Q2 sales uplift boosted by outdoor products
23 July 2015
Kingfisher's Q2 results released today reveal a 2.6% increase at B&Q, while Screwfix storms ahead, up 28.3%, boosted by the opening of 11 new trade counters during the period.
Langlands adds third garden centre with Sheffield acquisition
22 July 2015
The Garden Style garden centre in Sheffield has been sold to Langlands Garden Centres, adding to its two existing centres in York and Leeds.
Kingfisher products win international design awards
22 July 2015
Kingfisher has won a series of design awards for several of its products, including a door chime, sealant applicator and lawnmower.
DIY spend rides wave of consumer confidence
22 July 2015
Spend in DIY stores experienced a surge in the second quarter of the year, driven by growing consumer confidence.
GCA reveals Midlands area winners
22 July 2015
Planters Garden Centre - Bretby and Webbs of Wychbold are celebrating their titles of Best Garden Centre (GC) and Best Destination Garden Centre (DGC) respectively in the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) Midlands region awards, announced this week.
Victoria Plumb rebrands ahead of launch into bedrooms
22 July 2015
Online-only retailer Victoria Plumb has dropped its 'b' and rebranded as VictoriaPlum.com as it prepares to expand from bathrooms into bedrooms.
Harris has the scents to delight decor shoppers
21 July 2015
Paint brush and roller brand Harris is taking a novel approach to making shopping for decor products more attractive - giving its independent retailers a way to create a scented store environment.
GCA announces North Thames winners
21 July 2015
Sunshine Garden Centre and Burston Rose & Garden Centre were declared Best Garden Centre (GC) and Best Destination Garden Centre (DGC) respectively as the Garden Centre Association (GCA) unveiled its area award winners for the North Thames region.
Mocap buys William Beckett Plastic Packaging
21 July 2015
American firm Mocap LLC, of Park Hills, Missouri, through its subsidiary of Mocap Ltd., has successfully completed the acquisition of Sheffield-based William Beckett Plastic Packaging.
Gardman provides the tools for garden makeover
21 July 2015
Patients at a Northamptonshire hospice now have rooms with a view after volunteers transformed their garden with help from Gardman.
Logistics crisis sparks big shed development boom
21 July 2015
Chronic undersupply in the logistics market sparked a 16m sq ft 'big shed' development boom in the first half of 2015, including 7.6m sq ft of speculative development - the highest total since since 2007.
Industry breaks Garden Re-Leaf Day fundraising record
20 July 2015
The fourth annual Greenfingers Garden Re-Leaf Day on March 27 was the most successful ever, raising in excess of £95,000.
Lords opens in affluent NW8
20 July 2015
Housewares retailer Lords - which has rebranded from Lords of Notting Hill - has opened its latest store in London's affluent NW8 postcode, St Johns Wood.
Jail for garden centre director's £65,000 fraud
20 July 2015
A garden centre director has been put behind bars after she was found to have stolen thousands of pounds from the business.
Living Wage presages job cuts at independents
20 July 2015
Small shops will have to cut jobs or hours or both as a result of the new National Living Wage announced in this month's Budget.
Matalan enters home improvement market
20 July 2015
Fashion and homewares retailer Matalan is going head on with B&Q and Homebase with a launch into the home improvement market.
BHETA wins TAF award
17 July 2015
The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) has won the Commercial Initiative of the Year accolade in the TAF Best Practice Awards for its Innovation Zone at the Totally DIY Exhibition, supporting new product development.
GIMA Award winners revealed
17 July 2015
Representatives from across the garden retail industry came together for the GIMA Awards at the Celtic Manor resort last night, with winners crowned in 16 categories.
June finishes on a high with highest growth in 18 months
16 July 2015
The latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor revealed that UK retail sales in June showed the strongest growth since January 2014, with furniture and outdoor ranges seeing a boost.
Travis Perkins secures sponsorship of America's Cup World Series Portsmouth
16 July 2015
Travis Perkins plc has been named as an official partner of the event, along with a number of other major brands.
Outdoor plants grew in June
14 July 2015
Sunny days in June delivered great results for outdoor plant sales - up 15.4% over the same time last year.
Ex-B&Q boss to lead Welsh rugby
14 July 2015
Former B&Q boss Martyn Phillips has been named as Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) new chief executive.
The BCF receives CSR Award
14 July 2015
The British Coatings Federation (BCF) was awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the 2015 Trade Association Forum Excellence Awards (TAF) in London on July 9.
Garden as 'extra room' helps drive market growth
14 July 2015
The garden products market increased by around 8% last year to £5bn and is poised for further steady growth up until 2019.
Hot tub deaths DIY chain must pay £200,000 compensation
13 July 2015
Whitehall Garden Centre plans huge expansion
13 July 2015
A Wiltshire garden centre has set out plans to triple in size and double its number of employees to over 300.
£3.5m crowd fund for Sugru is a record breaker
13 July 2015
Mouldable glue Sugru has smashed two equity crowd-funding records, achieving the largest single investment of £1m and having the widest reach, with stakeholders in 68 countries.
Free HTA event looks at future plant retail
8 July 2015
Neil Grant of Ferndale Garden Centre and Graham Spencer of Plants for Europe are the latest speakers to join the line-up for a free Horticultural Trades Association (HTA)/Ball Colegrave workshop event.
Chancellor ramps up Sunday competition for independents
8 July 2015
Unveiling his Budget today, Chancellor George Osborne delivered what could turn out to be a damaging blow to independent retailers.
Fairways Garden Centre adds new-build outlet
7 July 2015
Fairways Garden Centre is adding to its existing two outlets by building a third just outside Coventry, at Brandon, on a 26-acre site.
Full-year sales and profit up at Wyevale GC
6 July 2015
Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC) said 2014 had been a "transformational" year, as it released annual figures showing growth in both sales and profits.
Abus is Most Innovative Brand of the Year
6 July 2015
Security specialist Abus has been named Most Innovative Brand of the Year at Germany's Plus X Award - the highest accolade the award jury can give.
Support for new two-day Totally gains momentum
6 July 2015
The Totally DIY:Totally Tools organiser Brintex is reporting strong support for the new format and timing of the event taking place next year.
Roundup Gel gets green light in Germany
6 July 2015
Regulatory authorities in Germany have approved the newest addition to the Roundup weedkiller brand - Roundup Gel.
Greenfingers calls for last donations from Garden Re-Leaf Day
6 July 2015
Greenfingers is calling for any remaining monies raised from Garden Re-Leaf Day in March to be sent in to allow the final tally of this year's activities to be calculated.
Glee has Best Organising Team of the Year
6 July 2015
The team at Glee are celebrating winning a prestigious accolade by the event organisers' leading trade body, the Association of Event Organisers.
Wyevale Nurseries picks up on garden do-it-for-me trend
6 July 2015
The do-it-for-me (DIFM) trend is emerging not only alongside DIY but in the garden industry too, says Wyevale Nurseries, which believes the move will see a bigger demand for garden designers and landscapers.
Norcros acquires Croydex for £21.9m
1 July 2015
Tile and bathroom products supplier Norcros has bought out Croydex Group in a deal worth £21.9m.
Like-for-likes up again at Topps
1 July 2015
Topps Tiles grew like-for-like revenues by 5.9% in its third quarter, reflecting continued growth in market share, the company said today.
Squire's scoops Silver Gilt at Hampton Court show
1 July 2015
Squire's Garden Centres is celebrating a Silver Gilt win at this week's RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which opened yesterday and runs until Sunday.