Stratton garden centre will reopen under new management

The Dobbies Garden Centre group snapped up the Swindon Garden Centre in Upper Stratton along with 30 other Wyevale stores around the country to become Europe's largest garden centre chain.

The Hyde Road garden centre's manager Andy Emery said: “The Swindon Garden Centre is very successful and has been on this site for a long time. Now part of Dobbies, we are looking at ways to improve on what we currently offer whilst still maintaining our position as part of the community.”

The Wyevale brand that currently owns the centre has been selling off it’s stores over the past year, including the one in Swindon, as it looks to become more profitable, so the Swindon branch has become the latest to be taken over by Dobbies.

The store will remain open during the entire transition but will officially reopen on June 10 as a Dobbies Garden Centre.

Dobbies CEO Graeme Jenkins said: “We are very pleased to have agreed this acquisition from Wyevale and we look forward to welcoming our new customers as well as our new team members to Dobbies as we drive the growth of the business”

When asked about how this purchase would affect the current customers of the Wyevale Garden Centre and their club card holders, Mr Emery replied: “Garden Club members will still receive all the benefits of the scheme until the centre reopens as a Dobbies garden centre - and the great news is that any current or future club reward vouchers will still be honoured by Dobbies."

Dobbies also offers a membership card which includes similar benefits to Wyevale’s current Gardeners Club.

During this change of management, concerns were raised about how the transition will affect the staff currently employed at the garden centre and in its franchised stores such as Costa and BonMarché. Mr Emery was quick to offer reassurance.

He added: “All the staff have been transferred over to Dobbies. The staff are all very excited with these changes and are looking forward to working for Dobbies.”