Blue Diamond Garden Centres has reported a 12.5 per cent increase in sales to £216m, as its diversified retail and hospitality offer helped it outperform industry benchmarks.
In its latest results for the six months to 30 June 2026, the UK’s largest garden centre group saw pre-tax profit rise 16 per cent to £24m. It stressed this was despite challenging weather conditions and wider pressure on consumer spending.
Like-for-like sales increased 1.6 per cent, putting Blue Diamond 0.8 percentage points ahead of the Garden Centre Association (GCA) benchmark and 3.4 percentage points above the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) benchmark.
Its restaurant division was a particular bright spot, with like-for-like sales up 6.2 per cent. Garden furniture and fashion also delivered strong performances, highlighting the contribution of non-horticultural categories to the group’s overall trading performance.
The results come after a period of continued expansion for Blue Diamond, which announced a three-year exclusive partnership with Diddly Squat Farm in June.
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The partnership will see the businesses develop a co-branded range of gardening products, adding another branded proposition to Blue Diamond’s portfolio.
The group also completed two new leasehold acquisitions – Leaf Creative and Holt – alongside the freehold acquisition of Highfield Garden World.
Blue Diamond said its focus on partnerships and diversification had helped it navigate disruption across the wider garden centre sector.
The group also secured its second consecutive Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, this year for a drought-resistant immersive display, while its Step by Step Gardening with David Domoney YouTube series has surpassed 500,000 viewers per episode.
Blue Diamond said the performance demonstrated the resilience of its business model against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions and fluctuating consumer sentiment.
It added that it remained confident about the outlook for the remainder of the year, with continued growth across furniture, fashion and restaurants expected to complement its core gardening offer.
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