Gardman ceo Stewart Hainsworth has announced he will leave the company to pursue a career outside of the garden sector.
Mr Hainsworth, who joined the business in 2013, will step out to pursue an international opportunity within the drinks sector, where the larger part of his career has previously been focussed.

Jonathan Halford, who has held the role of Gardman executive chairman of Gardman since 2012, will immediately assume daily control of the business to transition to a new ceo in due course.

Alongside Jonathan, the senior management team will remain in place and is tasked with continuing the development of the company's competitive trading strategy.

Commenting on these developments, Mr Halford said: "The senior management team has worked tirelessly over the last 18 months and made significant contributions to the growth of our business, proven by our Jan-Feb sales which confirm a 21% increase on 2014.

"Leading this approach, Stewart enabled us to create a more dynamic and flexible business and successfully introduced new initiatives to bring us closer to our customers. I'd like to thank him for his efforts during a key period for Gardman and to wish him success in his future career. I am dedicated to taking the company through the next steps in its strategy, focusing on trading our core categories harder for the benefit of our customers and their consumers."

Mr Halford continued: "The developments recently undertaken have provided Gardman with an even stronger retail foothold... We have a very clear vision for the future, with a strong and committed management team and supportive Investors which will allow us to invest further in growth both here in the UK and internationally."