Tesco is reportedly planning to dig a bigger share of the garden centre market by buying the Garden Centre Group, owner of Wyevale and Blooms chains.
The retailer is understood to be eyeing between 15 and 20 of the company’s biggest outlets and has already registered an interest in the £300m auction of the group, being handled by Rothschild.
“Cherry-picked” stores could fit neatly into Tesco’s Dobbies Garden Centre chain, which the retailer paid £155m for in 2007.
At the time, Tesco was keen to emphasis the “green” rationale behind the deal, which it said would appeal to customers who were concerned about the environment.
Commenting on the deal, the then chief executive of Tesco Sir Terry Leahy said that for many people “gardening is the way they express their desire to be green”.
The Garden Centre Group operates 131 outlets in England and Wales and employs 4,500 staff. It is currently controlled by Lloyds Banking Group after Scottish businessman Sir Tom Hunter relinquished his majority stake in 2009.
