Hunter company off to a flying start

FLYING Brands, the home shopping group 29 per cent owned by Scots entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, yesterday hailed a strong performance for its gardening division – a trend it expected to continue.

Its plant mail order business Gardening Direct and bird food firm Garden Bird Supplies have traded ahead of last year since the group unveiled its interim management statement on 20 April.

The division has taken orders of 10.3 million to date in 2010, close to the 10.5m made in the same period last year, with web orders up to 2.6m from 2.1m.