Spalding’s Butters Group bought out by Flamingo Horiculture Group

Spalding flower, plant and nursery business, The Butters Group, has been bought out - but the new owner has no plans to close local sites.

More than 300 workers at the company, in Kellett Gate, were told the news when the deal was agreed on Monday.

“We have absolutely no plans to move from the current site,” said group HR director, Zeri James. “We have quite a foothold in the local area and have been working hard this week speaking to the workforce.”

The company has been purchased by Stevenage-based Flamingo Horticulture Group, which has a number of business in the UK, Europe and Africa.

The company has an existing site in Spalding at Rangell Gate, Lower Fulney - diagonally opposite the Butters site in Kellett Gate - which employs 290 people and has been part of the Flamingo group since 2000, having previously been Flower Plus. In addition, the Weston site employs more than 130 people and has been part of the Flamingo group since 2005 (previously Lingarden).

Elsewhere in the UK, Flamingo has sites in Stevenage In Hertfordshire and Sandy in Bedfordshire and is a major supplier of fresh cut flowers tand produce to the UK and Europe.

Founded in 1973 as a family-run business, Keith Butters Limited originally traded mainly as a supplier of indoor and outdoor plants to UK garden centres. The business developed by focusing on the supply of plants to the major high street supermarkets and DIY outlets such as Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury, Waitrose, ASDA and B&Q.

As e-commerce expanded with the growth of the internet, Butters’ range continued to develop and they now supply many of the leading online retailers with their plant and floral arrangements.

In 2006, the company further extended its offer to include a range of bulbs and seeds. Recent heavy investment in new glasshouse and pack facilities has effectively added two whole new divisions to the business, becoming Butters Flowers and Butters Nurseries.