Blue Diamond is buying two of West Country company Trelawney's garden centre businesses, and diyweek.net understands that Wyevale is taking over the third.
Blue Diamond, which currently has 15 garden centres, has taken on a 30-year lease of the Wadebridge centre in Cornwall, and has signed a similar deal on the new garden centre still at the planning stage at Probus, also in Cornwall. Unconfirmed reports are that Wyevale has acquired the centre at Barnstaple, north Devon.

The Trelawney business was set up at Wadebridge in 1970 by Frank and Marion Danning, whose son David now owns it along with David Symons. The centre now has a turnover of some £4.2m.

The proposed new centre at Probus will be on an 11-acre greenfield site and had received planning permission but that has lapsed. Trelawney told diyweek.net in January that it hoped the centre would be open by this autumn. Blue Diamond will now be working with Trelawney to reapply for planning permission and the two will work jointly on the development.

Blue Diamond chief executive Alan Roper told diyweek.net that the acquisitions fitted well with his business model.

"What I like about Wadebridge is it's a good business, well grounded and with a good team," he said. "The demographics around it have shifted over the years and what I want to do is take the business more in an AB1 direction. It's a good opportunity to raise its appeal to that demographic. If I don't feel I have an AB1 audience I wouldn't consider it."

Neither Mr Danning nor Mr Symons was available for comment today but Mr Roper said he believed their reason for selling the businesses was personal.

"What they've told me is they feel that they are at an age where they'd like to pull back, and the businesses - particularly Wadebridge - they've taken as far as they feel able. One of the key things was finding the right person, the right company to take that business forward. Wadebridge was [David Danning's] father's business, and he thinks we'll look after it. We'll carry on the Trelawney name. He believed Blue Diamond was a better fit, whereas Barnstaple is a different proposition."

He added: "We bid for Barnstaple but we were outbid."

Diyweek.net understands the successful bidder for the £1.9m turnover Barnstaple centre to be Wyevale, but Wyevale said: "Wyevale is not commenting on rumours or speculation."

Mr Roper said there would be no redundancies as a result of the acquisition and that Mr Danning and Mr Symons would both work with Blue Diamond on the new development at Probus.

Blue Diamond is in the process of putting in a bid on another garden centre, though Mr Roper would divulge only that "it's in the south".