Ramsgate’s Wyevale Garden Centre is on the market for offers in the region of £1.3 million.
The store is one of 145 being marketed through Christie and Co after owner, private equity firm Terra Firma put the entire chain up for sale.
The group has owned the chain since 2012.
Wyevale managing director Roger McLaughlan said it will be business as usual while the properties are sold, either individually or as a package.
Christie and Co auctioneers say: “This is a unique opportunity for independent business people and entrepreneurs to buy well invested local garden centres.
“Entrepreneurs will be attracted to a market with the prospect of enhancing an already resilient income and the potential to add their own profitable activities. These will also be of particular interest to creative buyers.
“Current garden centre operators seeking to complement or improve their existing business will also be attracted to the disposal, as break up opportunities of this quality rarely come to the market.
“The garden centre market is on an upwards trajectory largely due to demand from families with young children and the baby boomer demographic. In recent years garden centres have become much more than places just to buy plants, evolving to become wider leisure and retail destinations with play centres for children, restaurants and other activities designed to improve the shopping experience.”
Justin King, Vice-Chairman of Terra Firma and Chairman of WGC, said: “The improvements made by the new leadership team at Wyevale Garden Centres supported by 6,000 dedicated colleagues, means that now is the right time to seek new, long term ownership for the business.”
Ramsgate’s 4.62 acre store in Montefiore Avenue/Hereson Road is a leasehold offering. Christies’ say most of the leasehold store have an average remaining term of 21 years.
A spokesman for Wyevale said: “Great people are at the heart of our business. As part of our turnaround strategy, we’ve invested in our colleagues and our customers are already seeing the difference. We believe that any future owner would see the value in our colleagues.
“For The Works, it is business as usual, we will meet all obligations to our concession partners and none of our concession partner relationships will change in the short term. We envisage that any new owner will likely continue with concession arrangements as we know they are something our customers appreciate and expect, but any future relationship will be for the new owners and the concession partners to agree.”