Rosebourne completes purchase of Wyevale centre
Published: 5 November 2018 - Fiona Garcia
Rosebourne opened its second centre in Adlermaston last month. The new addition, takes its estate to three.
The Rosebourne team has announced the purchase of Wyevale at Hampton-in-Arden, near Solihull, with plans to run the site as a standalone centre before looking at potential of incorporating it into the Rosebourne family.
The sale, which completed on Friday, November 2, includes seven acres of leasehold and two acres of freehold with the potential to develop. It will take Rosebourne’s estate to three centres.
The Hampton-in-Arden site is well known to the management team, having been run by Rosebourne executive director Jon Kitching, as Blooms of Bressingham, before it was taken over by Wyevale.
Rosebourne managing director of Rosebourne, Neville Prest, is delighted with the acquisition. He said: “This is a fantastic site for us to develop – it certainly has a lot of potential. It will initially be run as a unique, stand-alone garden centre before we can examine the prospect of incorporating it into the Rosebourne family brand.
“We’re pleased to inherit a good team of staff and are looking forward to investigating the exciting possibilities for our third Rosebourne base.”
Rosebourne currently operates two branches in the UK. Its first store in Weyhill, Hampshire opened two years ago, followed more recently by the launch of Rosebourne in Aldermaston, Berkshire, last month.
The brand puts a strong emphasis on its food and catering offer and champions quality, fresh, locally-sourced produce in its restaurant and food hall, alongside a select range of plants, garden essentials, homewares and gifts.
Taking inspiration from the model of Jon Kitching’s Beckworth Emporium, Rosebourne’s aim is to give visitors “a relaxed and pleasurable shopping experience in a light, airy and upmarket setting” and the team has created a unique environment that combines the freshness of a garden centre along with the charm of a farm shop and uplifting appeal of a buzzing restaurant.
The Rosebourne venture is headed up by a highly-experienced team of directors, including industry veterans Neville Prest and Val Kempster who draw on their time at Garden & Leisure Group, Jon Kitching and Salim Sajid from Blooms of Bressingham and non-executive director David Brown. They are supported by chairman Charles Good and financial director Hugh Jackson.