It's just over two years since Wyevale Garden Centres announced it had decided to abandon the Wyevale name. Instead of trading under a single corporate identity, all the centres in the chain were to adopt - or revert to - local identities. At the time, it looked like a nod to the concept of 'localism'. That, plus the fact that the substantial differences between Wyevale sites must have been a continuing challenge when trying to promote consistent levels of service and product availability across the chain.

That was then. Now, with the news that Lloyds Banking Group is apparently planning to sell the business, another possible factor emerges. Will Lloyds want to sell it as a single concern? Or is a break-up in the offing?

It's worth asking, because it's not easy to spot an obvious potential buyer for the business as a whole, at least within the retail community. But there's no shortage of strong regional garden centre businesses (Squires, Klondyke, Dobbies, Blue Diamond, Garden & Leisure etc) who would probably welcome the opportunity to pick over the GCG sites looking for good fits with their existing operations.

So two years on, the question arises: was a potential sale on the cards when Wyevale became GCG two years ago?