Grosvenor Garden Centre saw sales decline by 4% from £6.53m to £6.24m in the year to April 1 2012, according to new accounts filed at Companies House. But the company also achieved a rise in gross margin in the period - its final year of trading as an independent business before being bought by Blue Diamond.
The company blamed the sales decline on "uncertain economic conditions and unpredictable weather patterns" but said that customer footfall was on a par with the previous year. The decline in gross profit was slightly less that that in sales, with the result that the gross margin rose from 49.6% to 50.1% - one of the highest gross margins in the garden centre industry, according to DIY Week analysis.

At pre-tax level, the business declined from a profit of £74,000 to a loss of £78,000, and stockturn slowed from 2.5 times to 2.3 times. Staff numbers actually increased slightly, up from a headcount of 80 to 82, with the result that staff costs rose from 25.2% of turnover to 26.8%.

While Grosvenor's sales and profits fell compared to the year to April 2011, they remained higher than in the year to April 2010. In that period sales were £6.1m, gross profit was £2.96m, and net loss was £295,000.