17 Oct 2018 Rutland Exits Gardman
Rutland Partners LLP reports that on 16 October 2018 the business and assets of the Gardman Group were sold to Westland Horticulture Ltd.
Gardman is the leading supplier of wild bird care products, tooling, lighting and gardening sundries to the garden sector and was acquired in 2015. For the last three years the business has successfully grown and developed in line with its original strategy.
In March 2018, the business suffered a catastrophic fire which destroyed its recently opened warehouse in Daventry, which had been a significant investment to enable future expansion. 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.
Ben Slatter, Partner at Rutland, said: “As the market leading distributor to independent garden centres we are pleased that we have managed to secure the investment of a strong trade player for Gardman and, with it, ensure the transfer of all jobs. We wish the business well in the future.”
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.”