Dobbies closing: Full list of 17 garden centres closing across the UK

1 October 2024, 15:55

By Alice Dear

Which Dobbies Garden Centres are closing? When will they close? Who owns Dobbies and who founded the company? Everything you need to know.

Dobbies Garden Centres, the biggest garden centre operator in the UK, will be closing 17 stores across the UK as part of a newly launched restructuring plan.

The brand, which has a total of 77 garden centres and six smaller shops, called Little Dobbies, said the closures are being made in a bid to "address historically uneconomical rent costs and ensure a return to sustainable profitability".

First founded by James Dobbie in 1865, the company is now owned by Midlothian Capital and Hattington Capital Holding Company, having been bought in 2016 from Tesco.

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Here's everything you need to know about the Dobbies Garden Centres closures, which stores are being affected and when they will close.

Full list of Dobbies Garden Centres closing

There will be a total of 17 Dobbies Garden Centres sites closing due to the restructuring plan, including 11 of the bigger sites and six smaller stores, called Little Dobbies.

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Here is a full list of the 17 Dobbies closing:

Dobbies

• Altrincham
• Antrim
• Gloucester
• Gosforth
• Harlestone Heath
• Huntingdon
• Inverness
• King’s Lynn
• Pennine
• Reading
• Stratford-upon-Avon

Little Dobbies

• Cheltenham
• Chiswick
• Clifton
• Richmond
• Stockbridge
• Westbourne Grove

When will Dobbies Garden Centres close?

There is currently no date in place for the closure of these 17 Dobbies Garden Centres sites.

They will, however, open and continue trading as usual for now.

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Who owns Dobbies Garden Centres?

Dobbies Garden Centres is owned by Midlothian Capital and Hattington Capital Holding Company who purchased the company for £217million in 2016.

The company was previously owned by Tesco, who initially bought the brand for £155.6million in 2007.

Dobbies was originally founded by James Dobbie in 1865 who created a seeds business called Dobbie & Co based in Renfrew, Scotland.

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How many Dobbies Garden Centres are there in the UK?

There are currently 77 Dobbies Garden Centres located across the UK, alongside six Little Dobbies with a total of 3,700 workers employed by the company.

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