Garden centre to close 17 stores across UK including one in Greater Manchester - full list
by Simon Coyle · Manchester Evening NewsA garden centre group is set to shut 7 stores across the UK - including one in Greater Manchester - in a move to reduce costs.
A total of 465 jobs are set to be lost as part of the restructuring plan which was announced by Dobbies Garden Centres on Tuesday.
which will hit 465 jobs.
The plan, which will need approval by creditors, will see the firm shut 11 larger Dobbies sites and six Little Dobbies by the end of 2025.
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The garden centres will remain open until the restructuring process is approved. The company employs around 3,600 people and among the 465 members of staff who will lose their jobs 82 are full-time.
Among the stores earmarked for closures is Dobbie Garden Centre Altrincham on Green Lane in Timperley. Dobbies will also work with landlords in order to secure temporary rent reductions at nine further stores.
The garden centre chain, which was bought by investment firm Ares Management last year, fell to a £105.2 million pre-tax loss in the year to March 2023, against a £7 million loss a year earlier, according to its most-recently filed company accounts.
The company said: “The restructuring plan, and other strategic initiatives, are expected to return Dobbies to sustainable profitability through site rationalisations, rent reductions and other tangible cost savings, securing its long-term future and allowing access to future investment.
“Thereafter, Dobbies will operate 60 stores and continue to play a key role in the market, working constructively with stakeholders and suppliers, and having an active and committed role in the communities in which it’s based.”
Here is a full list of stores set for closure:
- Altrincham
- Antrim
- Gloucester
- Gosforth
- Harlestone Heath
- Huntingdon
- Inverness
- King’s Lynn
- Pennine
- Reading
- Stratford-upon-Avon
Little Dobbies
- Cheltenham
- Chiswick
- Clifton
- Richmond
- Stockbridge
- Westbourne Grove