Dobbies garden centre chain strikes deal with Ocado

The UK's second biggest garden centre chain plans to launch the service early next year to serve the whole of the UK. Dobbies chief executive Nicolas Marshall called the tie-up a "Huge opportunity". Garden centres currently do a "Pathetically small" amount of business online compared to other retailers, Mr Marshall told the BBC. About 40% of UK retail sales are online, but for gardening it is only a few percent, he said. Garden centres make about £4bn in annual sales, estimated Mr Marshall, a former boss of the UK's biggest gardening retailer Wyevale. Dobbies was sold by Tesco to a group of private investors, including retail specialists Midlothian Capital Partners, last year for £217m. Dobbies' new chairman, Andrew Bracey, a co-founder of Midlothian Capital, has links to Ocado. Dobbies - which has its headquarters near Edinburgh - operates 34 garden centres in the UK..

Read the full story

 Related companies

Make a complaint about Ocado by viewing their customer service contacts.

•