A British garden centre has plunged into administration after 29 years in business. Opperman Plants Ltd, which supplied ornamental plants to retailers and wholesalers across the UK, appointed administrators on April 13, as filed on the public record, The Gazette.
The family run nursery based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, was one of the biggest producers of tropical plants in the UK and had supplied some of Britain’s major supermarket brands after being founded in 1997, according to the retailer. It had used “innovative growing techniques” to produce 8 million plants per year, including tropical indoor house plants and outdoor ornamentals.
Mike and Jenny Opperman were at the helm as founders and managing directions, with family members working across their sales, customer service and operation teams.
Now, Nathan Jones and John Lowe of insolvency firm FRP Advisory Trading Limited are acting on behalf of the business.
It is currently unclear why the garden centre collapsed into administration, but firms usually do this when they are experiencing cash flow pressures.
It is far from the only retailer to have appointed administrators this year. The British high street has been hit hard, with the likes of Quiz having collapsed into administration after a challenging trading period over Christmas.
Several retailers have criticised high business rates, soaring energy bills and the increasing costs associated with employees, after the minimum wage increase coincided with a rise in National Insurance contributions, which was introduced by Rachel Reeves.
Smaller business have also appointed administrators. Just last week, a major pet retailer went into administration. Pet Planet appointed a firm to act on its behalf on April 10, having been in business for 25 years.
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