With the dust still settling from this week's announcement of a plan to shut 17 of its stores before Christmas, Dobbies' doomed Gloucester Garden Centre - now set to close on December 15 – is reported to be poised to be rescued by a fast-rising name in horticultural retailing.

Guernsey-based Blue Diamond Group is now tipped as the likely new occupant of the 74,200 sq foot flagship site at J12 of the M5; Punchline-Gloucester.com understand from sources in the sector that the group, which has already acquired three locations in the county, is likely to unveil the Haresfield location as its 47th pin on the UK map.

The company, with latest turnover for 2023 posted as £310m, recently celebrated becoming the largest garden centre group in the UK and Channel Islands and already owns and operates Nailsworth Garden Centre, Three Shires, in Newent, and Fosseway Garden Centre, in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Alan Roper, Blue Diamond's managing director, told Horticulture Week in October that the Group was planning to buy stores belonging to Dobbies and said that garden centres were in the "most economic choppy waters they've ever been in".

Established in 1904, Blue Diamond employs more than 4,100 people at the latest count and acquired its 46th garden centre late last month, with Frosts in Bedfordshire.

A source, who works in the sector, told Punchline: "Blue Diamond is the natural fit and it looks like a done deal. If so, this is a great result for Gloucester; the group has a good reputation for quality and customer service and, looking at the site's advantages in terms of M5 proximity and population centres, it ticks all the right boxes for the kind of location they are keen to acquire."

Punchline has also spoken to a key business with allied interest in ensuring the Haresfield site remains open around Christmas and the New Year.

They said: "The initial news of the closure was panic stations for us in terms of customer concern, but it's our understanding that a buyer has been secured and that they will be stepping in immediately in terms of the crucial Christmas period from December 15."

In a statement on its decision to close 17 stores, Dobbies said: "The restructuring plan, and other strategic initiatives, are expected to return Dobbies to sustainable profitability through site rationalisations, rent reductions and other tangible cost savings — securing its long-term future and allowing access to future investment."

Blue Diamond bought the Nailsworth centre, formerly Wyevale, in 2018 and it became its thirtieth site. In 2023, a safecracker struck at the centre – and got away with £10,000 in cash.

The Nailsworth site also has special links to Blue Diamond: originally known as Waterside Garden Centre, the outlet was designed and built by Mr Roper in the 1990s, before he joined Blue Diamond. It was subsequently sold to Kennedys (and later to Wyevale) after the group was sold on in 1998.

● Punchline has approached Blue Diamond for comment.