News

Buy-out of Butters Group

Advantage Capital has just completed a major investment in Butters Group, the UK’s market leader in the supply of house and garden plants to the main multiple retailers.

Lincolnshire based Butters Group was founded in the 1970s. Today, it employs up to 600 people, depending upon the season, and has revenues of £40 million. The new investment capital has been raised in order to continue the rapid development of the business, having won important new customers in recent months, and to expand the product range.

Butters Group is a high service level, innovative creator of house and garden plant ranges. The company is not directly involved in the cultivation and growing of plants. Rather, it sources live products, packaging and accessories from all over the world and then assembles them into potted plant arrangements before delivering them to its customers, which include M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose, B&Q, Next and Interflora. It is an all year round business with peaks around Christmas and Mother’s Day. This ability to source products from around the world means that the group can react to changing customer requirements in a rapid fashion.

Graham Dunn, executive chairman of Butters Group, said: “We are delighted to have raised this new round of capital as it will help us achieve our ambitious growth plans for the business. We decided to work with Advantage Capital as they shared our strategic vision for the group and are keen to help us achieve it.”

Advantage Capital’s two founders, Martin Bodenham and Trevor Jones added: “Butters Group has an exceptionally strong management team with a proven record of success. The business has doubled in size over the last five years and we believe that this management team can achieve at least the same again over the next five.”

Advantage Capital was advised by DLA Piper and Butters Group by Browne Jacobson.