Marstons and Wyevale

From: loyd.wix@talk21.com
Date: Wed Apr 26 2000 - 14:36:08 PDT


Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 22:36:08 BST
From: loyd.wix@talk21.com
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg1287$foo@default>
Subject: Marstons and Wyevale

Dear List,

There are perhaps a few details to add to the Marstons/ Wyevale saga as
outlined by NigelH and Mike a few weeks back. As Mike has already
stated one of Wyevale\222s Directors had an interest in Marstons which
as well as the CP side also has an interest in bamboos. As a side note
I believe Paul Gardner was originally concerned in a Heather nursery
(Landsdown I think) and branched into CPs buying Adrian Slack\222s
Martons Exotics to augment that business. At some stage along the way
Wyevale also became involved. It was last year that that an
announcement was made by Wyevale that the Marstons name, plants etc were
up for sale. I think Phil Wilson sent the list details of this
announcement. I understand that the Marstons busin!
!
!
ess was up for sale for 30K GBP Sterling.

So what\222s the cause of the demise of this old Great British CP
institution? I suspect it may have become a casualty of the current
British television phenomenon of the gardening \221make over\222
programme. I am sure that the UK Cpers are painfully aware that it is
hard to switch on the TV without finding some front garden, back garden,
neighbourhood garden, garden design programme etc, etc, on. And this
has greatly benefited the horticultural industry particularly the retail
chains such as Wyevale. Wyevale is quite a large company now especially
after swallowing up the Kennedys chain of 13 shops in late 1998, and
currently totals approx. 78 stores across the UK. In this age of
.coms, ecommerce and the new economy, it is quite re!
!
!
assuring to see an old economy retailer whose shares have doubled over
the past 18months. In 1999 the group enjoyed Pre-tax profits of
14.45Million GBP Sterling on a turnover of 95.3Million. Against these
figures, the asking price for Marstons is small beer indeed.

As I understand the current situation, Marstons is continuing to trade
though no buyer has been found. I also hear that part of the site has
already been bulldozed to make way for other activities. Certainly
given the current tastes of the British public, there is a much greater
demand for bamboo for designer gardens than for CP, so in this respect I
suppose we could consider Marston in some ways of being a victim of
Wyevales success.

Cheers

Loyd

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