The
Thompson Group started as a partnership between Mr and Mrs Thompson in 1976.
They bought a three acre derelict orchard near Canterbury and set about
converting it into a small nursery where they grew and sold plants, fruit and
vegetables, and little else. At the time, Mr & Mrs Thompson had other
jobs and they were able to give these up as the business grew. The
founding Principle of the business was to grow the best quality plants and offer
them direct to the public at reasonable prices. This strategy provided
growth and it was not long before some land was rented to grow Hardy Nursery
Stock. This was opposite the retail site and was eventually named after
the farmer Bill Wood who gave the land to Mr & Mrs Thompson, this site is
known as Woodlands.
During
the 1980's both the site at Chislehurst and Welling were brought and became the
leading retail sites for the company, the retail site at Petham was converted
over for production.
In 1992 the company acquired a nursery at Motspur Park, Surrey and the Petham Site was converted back over to Retail. Also in 1992 we bought a retail site on the Isle of Wight and started to trade from there too. A further three production sites were purchased on the Isle of Wight and these specialised in other areas of production. In 1999 we took over the lease on another retail site at Shepperton in Middlesex.
We
currently operate 5 Garden Centre retail sites (Where
We Are), 5 Nursery
sites (Pictured Below) and a Christmas Tree farm. The size of the retail
site varies with some operating cafes and some having franchises on site
offering related products.
The growing sites all specialise in particular areas, helping to make sure we
supply our own garden centres with our very own plants. We think it is
very important to produce our own plants and not have to rely on importing plants
from other countries. Our plants, all grown in the south east, are fresher and
a better quality as they have less miles to travel to their destinations.
The Woodlands site specialises in Hardy Nursery Stock It is situated only a
couple of hundred yards away from our Petham Garden Centre.
The site at Motspur Park grows both our seasonal bedding and also houseplants
at Christmas. Greentiles grows a wide range of Herbs, perennials and other
garden plants. Situated on the Isle of Wight within a mile of the Garden Centre.
Longlands is out propagation facility for hardy nursery stock for early spring
sales as well as architectural plants.
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| Greentiles Nursery
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Longlands Nursery
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Motspur Park Nursery
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Woodlands Nursery
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| Bathingbourne | Longlands | Motspur Park | Woodlands |