Gardman Group, the garden products provider which suffered a catastrophic warehouse fire in March, has been sold to Westland Horticulture.
The Gardman business was bought by Rutland Partners in 2015 and had only recently opened the warehouse in Daventry – a significant investment designed to enable future expansion.
In a statement, Rutland said: “The timing of the fire was especially difficult with most of the Spring 2018 seasonal stock in the warehouse waiting for delivery. Additional resource and financial support were quickly provided and the team has been working tirelessly for the last six months to rebuild the business.
“Despite significant progress in rebuilding the sales base, it became clear that the business would need additional resource and time to fully recover and accordingly the business has recently sought new investment. Westland, recognising the strengths and qualities of the business, has invested to facilitate the continued recovery.”
Jonathan Halford, chairman of Gardman said: “I would like to thank the management and staff of Gardman for their absolute commitment to rebuilding the business in the aftermath of the fire. We were all fortunate to have Rutland as an investor who reacted quickly to stabilise the business and provided valuable support and advice as we recovered. Westland will be an excellent owner for Gardman and I wish them every success.”
