Plant World, Milton on Stour, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 5QA

Plant World is a charming garden centre located on the outskirts of Gillingham in Dorset. The site has been owned and run for many years by the current owners and has a strong local reputation for the excellent range of plants on offer. The business is being offered to the market on the basis of a new lease (as it is a new lease the exact terms can be negotiated).
The Garden centre has strong trading history and a strong financial performance with turnover of approaching £1,000,000 per annum. The owners also have planning permission for the erection of a new café building on site which offers potential for the incoming buyer to develop and grow the business.

Milton on Stour is village on the northern outskirts of the Dorset Town of Gillingham. It is just a few miles from the famous National trust garden at Stourhead and roughly equidistant between the larger regional centres of Warminster, Yeovil and Blandford Forum.
The centre serves a large number of small affluent villages and hamlets with the latest census data showing there to be over 213,000 people living within a 25km radius of the site. The demographic data also highlights that the local population demographics are highly favourable for garden centres with higher than average home ownership and typical house values higher considerably than the UK Average and the percentage of the population of pensionable age also far above national averages.
The site enjoys strong connections to key regional hubs and is close to the A303, A36 and A37. The site is also close to the Cranbourne Chase area of outstanding natural beauty and many other tourist attractions.

The Garden Centre occupies a site of around 3 acres, which include a customer car park, large internal retail area and substantial plant and outdoor retail area. There are also offices, staff room, kitchen, toilets.
The garden centre also has planning permission for the construction of a timber café building. Full details can be found on Dorset planning portal under the planning reference P/FUL/2024/01782
The site has a number of poly tunnels and an external area that has historically been used for growing, though in recent years an increasing proportion of the sales have been from stock bought in.

Plant World is a fantastic opportunity for an existing operator to take on an additional garden centre with strong trading history and scope for further expansion including adding new product lines, concessions and a café.
With a reasonably low premium the business also offers an ideal opportunity for a first time buyer or somebody employed in the garden centre or horticultural or other retail business to enjoy the benefits of self employment and running their own business.
The business has a strong and experienced staff team who will transfer across under TUPE.
The site offers a number of potential expansion opportunities and currently has no income from concessions, therefore we see considerable scope for the incoming owner to bring in concession partners such as dog groomers, sheds and outdoor buildings, other pet care, garden design and other retail partnerships within the store to bring a wider range of products and services.

The business is run by the owners with the assistance of a small team of experienced staff who will transfer under TUPE.

Monday – Saturday
9.00am – 5.30pm
Sunday
10.00 am – 4.00pm

The rateable value is presently £34,500. The Amount payable for the year 2025/2026 is £12,396