DIYWEEK.net

A Cambridgeshire garden centre that closed down - despite help from TV business guru Alex Polizzi - is now in new hands.
Oak Garden Centre in Chatteris has been bought by a private investor who will now re-launch the business.

In early 2013 the family-run outlet was featured in the BBC2 series The Fixer, in which Ms Polizzi helps businesses that are in trouble. At the time, co-owner David White told diyweek.net that the TV crew had spent two and a half months filming at the centre.

He said: "We thought we'd have to spend a lot of money to get things turned around but we've just had different ideas, with changing round the layout of our shop, the products we stock, with the houseplants - we've put a small greenhouse inside the shop so now it's an indoor houseplants display and not costing us anything to heat.

"We've also had new marketing and signage - we've put lots of chalk boards around the place. It's all been done as economically as possible."

He described the result as "fantastic" but said it was too soon to tell if the improvements would help business. "It's early days: this spring will tell us," he said.

However, just months later Mr White closed the 1.4 hectare garden centre and put it up for sale. A buyer has now reportedly paid £545,000 for the business in a deal transacted by Quinton Edwards.

A spokesman said: "Quinton Edwards are delighted to announce the sale of Oak Garden Centre located in Chatteris.

"Quinton Edwards acted on behalf of David White who has retired from the garden centre industry but will continue to run his two other businesses.

"The site has been sold to a private individual who has plans to open a new garden centre in the future."