A BRADFORD-BASED company has taken over a family-run garden centre business.

Yorkshire Garden Centres has acquired Dean's Garden Centres, which it will add to its sites at Tong, Bingley, Otley and Tingley.

Mark Farnsworth, managing director of Yorkshire Garden Centres, said he was "delighted" to welcome the Dean's sites into the Yorkshire Garden Centres group in partnership with Altia Estates, a York-registered property company.

The acquisition comes after Dean's family members announced their retirement. 

Mr Farnsworth said: "We are grateful to the Dean family for letting us take the business forward, and we intend to continue to use the Dean's name, which has become so well respected over the years. 

"While several members of the family retire, we are also really pleased that others have agreed to stay on and continue to work in the business."

Mr Farnsworth added: "We set out our ambitions five years ago to grow the group and our four current centres employ nearly 450 people. 

"Planning was approved for a new site at Thorp Arch (near Wetherby) in the middle of last year but, very sadly, the delays due to the Covid pandemic and gaining planning permission meant that the scheme was no longer viable which was a real blow as we felt Thorp Arch was a great site. 

"Having established a strong management team, when the Dean's opportunity came up we recognised it was a great way to continue our growth journey."

Richard Dean, a partner at Dean's Garden Centre, said: "We are pleased our centres are joining the Yorkshire Garden Centre group.

"We have followed their progress with interest and feel that we have many shared values.

"Having grown up living on the York site, we've been involved in the business in some capacity or other from a very young age.

"Now, though, is the right time for my sisters and I to retire, something that I personally was aiming to do in 2021 before Covid hit.

"The business can now move forward and provide what will no doubt be an enhanced shopping experience for our customers.

"We wish the group the very best of luck as they move forward."  

Yorkshire Garden Centres began with the acquisition of Tong Garden Centre by Mark Farnsworth and Tom Megginson in 2015.

They invested £9million to turn Tong from an ailing centre with a disenfranchised team to one of Yorkshire's leading garden centres.