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Hodkinson leaves Wyevale Garden Centres

Published: 2 September 2008
Nicholas Marshall, owner of Country Homes & Gardens, takes on chief executive post to drive next phase of development and expansion.
Hodkinson leaves Wyevale Garden Centres
Wyevale Garden Centres has announced the appointment of Nicholas Marshall as chief executive officer with immediate effect.

He replaces Jim Hodkinson who was chairman. Sir Tom Hunter will assume the chairman's post following the departure.

Wyevale's owners West Coast Capital (WCC) said Jim Hodkinson left 'to pursue a variety of other business opportunities' while thanking him for his contribution to the garden centre chain.

“Jim steered the business through its initial restructuring and we thank him for his commitment to that process and wish him well in the future,” added a spokesperson from WCC.

Mr Hodkinson said: "While I am naturally sorry to be leaving Wyevale before the task is fully completed, I am proud of what we have achieved throughout an exciting period of major change."

Mr Marshall – a well known figure in the garden centre trade – is familiar with the Wyevale operation, having sold his Country Gardens to Wyevale in 2000.

He successfully took the 38-strong chain from incorporation to a £120m quoted company and a major industry brand in ten years.

After the sale he founded Country Homes and Gardens plc, which he will continue to run, said WCC, which led the acquisition of Wyevale in 2006.

A spokesman for WCC said of Mr Marshall: "We believe that Nicholas's leadership, experience and market knowledge, in conjunction with Wyevale's current management team led by Andrew Livingstone (COO) makes for a formidable combination in steering Wyevale forward at renewed pace and with a new sense of purpose."

Mr Marshall is believed to favour garden centres focusing on gardening rather than non-horticultural lines.

Comments

Published prior to March 2014
By Mary Thornhill
Please bring back proper garden centres where at least some of the plants are grown in the UK and where at least some of the staff have some knowledge and (If possile) have done some practical gardening themselves so they can help customers. These days garden centres all look the same, the plants they stock are all the same and one suspects are just delivered in bulk from Holland. The plants are also just too expensive - so many plants can be divided (or seed freely in a garden) and there is no justification for selling these for prices starting from
5.99. Inflation is going to romp in the near future and what an opportunity to give home-produced value to customers. Gardening and being surrounded by nature is a life-enhancing
experience and much to be encouraged but not along supermarket lines. What about bringing back the word Nursery ?
Published prior to March 2014
By jane corbett ( Wyevale employee)
I hope you bring Wyevale out of the 19th century and into the 21st Regarding the shop and the very victorian way the staff are treated. Still like my job just not all the ways its run.

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