Dobbies gears up for festive boost amid growth plans

Dobbies Garden Centres, which is headquartered in Midlothian and runs 40 sites throughout the UK, has highlighted the opportunity for further growth both organically and through acquisitions.

Staff at Dobbies are getting ready for a bumper weekend for Christmas tree sales. Picture: Contributed

The firm said it had notched up a strong trading performance so far this financial year as it confirmed sales for the 12 months to 25 February 2018 totalled £148.3 million, a dip of 1.5 per cent on a year earlier.

Profits before tax of £5.1m were £3.3m lower year-on-year, principally due to one-off items in the prior period.

A new leadership team was appointed in January of this year and a strategic review was undertaken at the business, which in June 2016 was acquired by a group of investors led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital.

Boss Graeme Jenkins said: “[We have] delivered a strong trading performance so far this year. This gives us a solid foundation for growing the business, organically and through further acquisitions.”

Meanwhile, staff at Dobbies are getting ready to pack up vehicles on what is predicted to be the biggest weekend for sales with a quarter of real Christmas tree sales expected to take place this coming Saturday and Sunday.

Car-maker Mini has partnered with Dobbies to help shoppers safely transport their trees home this weekend.