Like-for-likes up 6.2 per cent in second half
Dobbies Garden Centres has revealed improved trading conditions in the second half of its financial year.

Like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to October 29 were up 6.2 per cent, giving rise to a 1.9 per cent like-for-like increase for the year.

The garden company's expansion continued in the second half, with Grovelands, near Reading, purchased in June. An outlet in Milton Keynes also opened last month, exceeding trading expectations. Further launches in Dunfermline and Sheffield are planned for autumn next year.

Analyst Richard Ratner said: 'Dobbies has done well, helped by the fact that, apart from Chichester and Reading, all of its centres are in the Midlands, the North and Scotland. It will have avoided the worst effects of the very hot summer.'