Pictured: (l-r) Nic Hanlon (NatWest), Gerald Ingram
(Planters Garden Centre), Christine Ingram (Planters Garden
Centre), Sukhvinder Bhogal (NatWest)
Tamworth's popular Planters Garden Centre has completed the
purchase of Stafford's Bradley Nursery and Garden Centre in a deal
funded by NatWest.
Planters is a large garden centre located two miles from
junction 10 of the M42. This is their 21st year of operation and
they have been designated as a "Garden Centre of Excellence" by the
Garden Centre Association. On site at Tamworth their facilities
include an aquatic centre, a recently extended pet centre and a
restaurant which seats up to 180 serving traditional good quality
local produce. Alongside their physical presence, since 2006 they
have operated a successful "Seeds by Post" online business which
delivers seeds direct from the centre to customer's homes.
Bradley Nursery and Garden Centre is a retailer of plants,
garden furniture and barbecues. It began life as a nursery selling
plants grown on site and today also houses a pet shop and an onsite
restaurant. Following the acquisition the centre will be renamed as
Garden King Bradley. It will be the fourth garden centre in the
Planters portfolio. They have a centre in Swadlincote operating
under the Garden King brand, as well as a centre at Bretby in
Staffordshire which is also a Planters unit.
The Midlands structured finance team at NatWest have advanced
£1.6m to effect the acquisition and support investment going
into the Bradley operation.
Speaking about the ambition of the family run firm, Gerald
Ingram, director at Planters Garden Centre said: "We like the
strategical fit of Bradleys. Over 21 years we have constantly
developed and invested in Tamworth and today we run one of the West
Midlands largest independent garden centres. Bradleys is also a
family operation so we share a similar ethos to gardening and
customer service. The acquisition extends our footprint and allows
us to develop further for the future from a stronger operational
base."
Nic Hanlon, director, structured finance at NatWest added: "The
management team at Planters have a proven track record of running a
successful garden centre. They will now benefit from the resulting
economies of scale and additional revenue lines, as they seek to
grow the business."