UK: Glendale Horticulture buys RA Meredith

RA Meredith & Son, a supplier of plants to major DIY and garden centre retailers, has been rescued via a pre-pack administration. Glendale Horticulture has acquired the trade and assets of the nursery business, which has supplied plants for over 40 years to the likes of Homebase, Tesco and The Garden Centre Group.

Based in Saul, Gloucestershire, Merediths occupies seven sites throughout the Vale of Evesham and Gloucestershire and is one of the UK's leading growers of bedding plants, herbs and fruit and vegetable plants - production totals 13m plants a year. The acquisition secures the jobs of 106 employees at Merediths, which will continue to operate under its own name.

A subsidiary of Parkwood Holdings, Glendale Horticulture has owned Coblands Nurseries in Kent since 2005 and is part of the wider Glendale family of green services businesses, including Glendale Grounds Management, Glendale Countryside, Glendale Golf and Glendale Recycling.

Glendale Horticulture will acquire two freehold nursery sites with the stock and assets for an undisclosed sum, and a new board of directors will take responsibility for both Merediths' and Coblands' businesses.

The company says the deal will allow Glendale Horticulture to become a major force in the horticultural market, with forecast annual sales of £10m.

Andrew Bennett, the newly-appointed director of Glendale Horticulture and general manager of Merediths said: "We are extremely excited and positive about the future and the opportunities that Merediths Nurseries have going forward".