James Dobbie, the founder of Dobbies Garden Centres, was born in 1817 – a time when the industrial revolution in Britain had put gardening in reach of ordinary people, giving them a wonderful new hobby.
This was the ‘hot bed’ of interest in which the young James Dobbie grew up in Berwickshire and by the age of 23 James was exhibiting flowers in local shows and ten years later, he was winning prizes at the Highland Agricultural Show.
A career move at 38 saw him become Chief Constable at Renfrew in the West of Scotland, but far from curtailing his hobby, James carried on winning prizes with his beautiful pansies, phloxes and marigolds, as well as leeks and onions.
In 1865, he packeted seeds from a leek which yielded an incredible 16oz of seeds which sold out in two days. James resigned his post as Chief Constable in 1866 and devoted himself entirely to J. Dobbie ‘Choice Seeds & Flowers’ of Renfrew.
The business thrived and James Dobbie elected to sell on the business in 1887 to his chief assistant of many years, William Cuthbertson, who took on a partner, Robert Fife, a well-known horticulturalist, now to be run under the name of Dobbie & Co.
In 1894, land was bought at Orpington in Kent for seed growing and the company was granted a royal warrant.
In 1900, Dobbie & Co launched their mail order catalogue, sending seeds across the country - so by 1905, when the grand old seedsman died, James Dobbie’s name was known by gardeners all across Scotland and into England.
Sales from Dobbies’ impressive catalogue continued to grow and by 1910, demand for seed prompted the firm to move to much larger premises in Portobello, Edinburgh.
The move to the 70-acre site at Melville, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, happened in 1934 – where the company is still headquartered today.
Dobbies was acquired in 1969 by Waterers – another distinguished horticultural business based in Surrey – and the amalgamation allowed business to flourish both north and south.
David Barnes, the managing director of Waterers, then acquired Dobbies in 1984 and the business continued to develop, when David Barnes’ son, James, joined the Board.
By 1992 Dobbies was focused on expanding its garden centre operations, and with the addition of visitor attractions it quickly became known as a leisure destination for all the family. In 1994 James Barnes led a management buyout of the company. James’ passion and drive led to the decision, in 1997, to float the business on the Stock Exchange allowing additional capital to be raised. Since this time, James has been instrumental in growing Dobbies into one of the UK’s leading garden centre chains.
Dobbies steadily opened new centres throughout Scotland and England and acquisitions continued both north and south to give Dobbies coverage from Aberdeen to Reading.
Other more recent and exciting developments saw Dobbies join the Tesco group in 2008. With the new parent company providing backing and support, Dobbies continues to thrive and expand within the UK.
Dobbies remains headquartered in Edinburgh as an independently run company and Dobbies Garden Centres operate with their own local identity, building and developing strong links with the local communities around each centre.
Dobbies has today grown to become one of the UK’s leading garden centre businesses with 28 stores throughout the UK and online at www.dobbies.com.
From humble beginnings in 1865, Dobbies is working towards creating the UK’s first national garden centre brand and continues to grow through strategic acquisition and new site development.
Dobbies has ambitious growth plans to be a £1bn business with 100 stores within the next 10 years – bringing ideas for life inspired by nature to customers throughout the UK.
