The Kidd family announced they would be stepping down from Giants Seat Nursery and Garden Centre in April after decades of running the business.
Leo Yaffe, 31, took over the garden centre this week and marked the occasion with an event on Sunday (November 16) to celebrate the Kidds’ long ownership.
Leo, from Prestwich, said: “It’s really exciting – the past few months have been strange, and a little bit overwhelming and stressful.
“But I feel really privileged, it doesn’t feel like you’re taking on just the business – you’re taking on the history, the stories, the memories…
“This land, this environment, everything around us – I don’t know, it feels really significant, it feels like it’s built into the woods.
“I feel really lucky that they’ve chosen me and are happy to work with me.”
Leo Yaffe (Image: Newsquest)
The Kidd family will be staying on at the Stoneclough business for a while to help Leo – who has five years’ experience in horticulture – with the handover.
Leo said: “I feel the business is only as valuable as the knowledge that the Kidd family have.
“Anyone can come in and start growing plants – but the way they’ve done it, and how they’ve done it so successfully – it really takes a lot of effort, a lot of knowledge and hands on the ground to make it successful.
“That’s why I’ve been really adamant that I get as much help from them as possible, and they’ve been really, really willing to stay on.
“This has been their life – it’s been everything, it’s not just been a business for them.
“Today is not just about me – it’s to celebrate them – they’ve been here all their lives.
“I really want to celebrate them today as well because it’s an emotional time.”
The Red Rock Lane business was started in 1964 by James Kidd – initially as a nursery growing tomatoes and chrysanthemums for the wholesale market.
Giants Seat Nursery and Garden Centre (Image: Newsquest)
But the family decided to shift to retail in 1978, and they haven’t looked back since.
Steven Kidd, 69, started working at the business when he was just 16, and said the death of their father 15 months ago at the age of 91 influenced their decision to put it up for sale.
He said: “That sort of brought things to a head, and then some of my younger siblings decided it was time to move on.
“I started working with dad when I was 16, so I’d been working with dad for nearly 53 years.
“To work with your dad for so long in something you have a passion for has been brilliant.”
Steven and his wife Carol are in the process of moving out of their house in the garden centre, but Steven will continue working there to help Leo with the handover.
Before the sale, the family business was under the control of Steven and his siblings Alan, 64, John, 61, and Diane, 59.
(left to right) Diane Welsby, John Kidd, Leo Yaffe, Alan Kidd and Steven Kidd (Image: Newsquest)
John said: “It feels really odd because this is the house that we all grew up in – it’s not just retiring and leaving the job.
“We’re so pleased that we’ve sold it – we’ve got a massive customer base because we’ve been here for so long.
“We really wanted to sell it to someone who would keep it going, and we wish Leo and his family all the best.”
He said he wants to travel after his retirement – and see more of the UK as well as places abroad.
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Curtis Kelly, 21, from Bury, is a supervisor at the garden centre and has worked there for the last six years.
He said: “I just learned more and more from Steven – he’s my uncle and he’s been my mentor this whole time, I’ve learned loads from him.
“It feels weird now that I’ve been given more responsibilities, which I like, because I like doing this and it’s the only thing I’ve known.
Curtis Kelly (Image: Newsquest)
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“It’s just so relaxing sometimes – it can be a bit full on during the busy times, but even that’s just so rewarding.
“Seeing people take your own products just puts a smile on your face.
“I want to go as far as I can with this and just see where it takes me – I want to be Leo’s main man.”
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