Podington Garden Centre could be fertile ground for new owner

Podington Garden Centre, near Wellingborough, founded in 1976 by the Read family, had been under the management of Wyevale Garden Centres (WGC).

Now WGC has announced that the garden outlet in the heart of Podington has been sold to Cherry Lane, part of the QD Group, owners of QD stores.

The sale is expected to complete by the middle of August, with WGC continuing to operate the centre until this date.

The centre, which currently employs 40 members of staff, will be known as Podington by Cherry Lane and all staff will be retained, in their existing roles.

Anthony Jones, chief operating officer at WGC, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of Podington Garden Centre to a well-established garden centre operator.

“Our colleagues have played a key role in the success of Podington and I would like to thank them for their commitment and contribution and wish them well for the future.”

Nick Rubins, chief executive of QD Group, said: “Podington is in a great location which is situated in the heart of our region and we are very pleased to welcome the team from Wyevale Garden Centres.

“As a family run business we look forward to continuing the centre’s rich history of serving the local community and to introducing our great value, excellent quality and ever-changing spectacular new deals.”

Cherry Lane Garden Centres are ‘value’ garden centres, with 13 other outlets throughout East Anglia, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

The group will be working to introduce a number of key improvements and developments to the garden centre and café over the next few months.

They are aiming to ‘enhance customer enjoyment and experience of the great value and quality of products from garden furniture, comprehensive pet department and wild bird care, seasonal special offers and the wonderful array of plants.

The centre will remain open to customers throughout the improvement works.

Colin and Norma Read started the Centre as a small plant nursery in 1976 and grew the centre into a 25,000sq ft shop with 3.4 acres of grounds, at one time stocking more than 9,000 varieties of plants.