Slow start to gardening season as cold weather bites
Garden centre group Dobbies reported a 3.7 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the year to date at its AGM today.

The retailer blamed the slump on a late start to the gardening season because of unseasonably cold weather.

However, Dobbies said like-for-like sales over Easter were up 15.2 per cent and have continued their upward momentum since then.

The group's 53,000 sq ft (4,920 sq m) store at Cirencester in Gloucestershire, which opened on April 8, is trading ahead of expectations. A second new store is set to open in Milton Keynes in October.

Dobbies director David Barnes retired at the AGM today after more than 30 years at the retailer. In 1994, he handed over the role of chief executive to his son James and set up a new board of directors to govern the company.

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