A restructure within the international Scotts business means the UK division will report directly to the US but results in the departure of vice president Martin Breddy.
The Scotts International Business Unit has restructured and, as a result, all European and Asia-Pacific countries, including The Scotts Company (UK) Ltd, will now report directly to the company's USA headquarters, rather than the previous system - via the International head office in Lyon, France.

According to the company, the move means that the UK division will now make its own trading decisions independently, which ensures that all decision-making will be faster.

The company stressed that there will be no change for its trade customers and that it will be "business as usual", if not a change for the better, adding "the changes will enable us to better meet the needs of our customers and the consumer."

However, the changes do mean that Martin Breddy has left the company. Mr Breddy's role as Scotts Miracle-Gro's vice president and general manager of the UK and Asia Pacific spanned two worldwide regions.

Scotts said of his departure: "Martin leaves us on a high in his personal career, having been pivotal to the thriving position of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the UK, culminating in the highly successful acquisition of the Solus business last year. We wish Martin every success in his new ventures."

Mr Breddy's departure follows that of Solus' Mark Pearson, who joined Scotts when it bought Solus out of administration in July, and Scotts Solus Brands sales director May Philpott, who both left on November 30 last year.

Sheila Hill has replaced Mr Breddy as UK general manager. Ms Hill has worked for Scotts Miracle-Gro for a number of years, joining 18 years ago as lawns brand manager. More recently, her role was vice president and international marketing lead, working on new product development, strategy and marketing plans across all the European countries.

There will be no changes to supply chain or to Scotts local sales and marketing teams, which continue to be led by Rainer Schubert and Paula Parker respectively.

Ms Hill said: "I am delighted to take the baton from Martin and lead the UK business. I have been fortunate to stay close to the UK business in my international marketing roles, and know it and many of our key customers very well. I look forward to immersing myself in the UK business and am lucky to have the support of the existing UK Management Team to continue to drive the business forward. The UK is already the star performer in the Scotts' portfolio and with these changes we will drive even more value for the consumer as well as greater growth for our customers as well as for Scotts."