Wynnstay acquires 8 Countrywide stores

Welsh agricultural supplies group Wynnstay has acquired eight stores from the administrators of Countrywide Farmers to expand its presence into the south-west of England.

The move will cost the Llansantffraid-based company about £800,000 for the business and assets of the stores, and bring its total number of retail outlets to 60.

Four of the stores are located in Cornwall – at Helston, Wadebridge, Otterham and Dartington.

See also: Strong interest in Countrywide store portfolio

The remaining four are in Crewkerne, Somerset; Thame, Oxfordshire; Raglen, Monmouthshire; and Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Former co-operative Wynnstay, which has a market valuation of £92m, is pursuing a strategy of expansion via acquisition, with two other stores already purchased this year.

A fertiliser blending facility in Montrose was also purchased in November 2017, with a view to expanding the company’s fertiliser sales in Scotland.

Its most recent financial update, for the year ending 31 October 2017, saw profits in the agricultural division of £3.34m, from a revenue of £280.87m.

However, it incurred losses of £6.5m from placing pet shop chain Just for Pets into administration, which caused total pre-tax profits to fall from £7.2m to £1.1m.

Countrywide, which went into administration in March, has a total of 48 stores, many of which are still in operation while administrators at KPMG search for buyers.