The pair have joined forces to make the purchase from venture capital company the 3i Group.
Despite experiencing particularly difficult trading conditions in the home and garden market, Forest Garden plc has in the past year won new customers to the value of more than £12m, expanded its product range and acquired the assets of one of its competitors, dandf.
Mr Halford also recently announced a new management structure, integrating a number of operational processes to ensure a fast and efficient response to market needs.
“This is a tremendously positive and exciting opportunity for the company and the new owners,” said Mr Halford. “It is also the latest in a series of logical steps which will secure Forest Garden’s market leading and market driving role in the outdoor living sector.”
Mr Halford said that over the past three years Forest Garden has streamlined and become a more efficient supplier of the kind of products that the market now demands.
“With Michael Timmis’s return as chairman, we will restore the uniquely family feel of a privately owned company and be able to do so on the basis of a thoroughly sound infrastructure and solid financing,” he added.
Mr Halford said that in going forward, the company would maintain commitment to its brands, increase its focus on new product development for today’s market and drive customer sales by providing marketing and operational support.
“With this team in place, we see the reinvigoration of the garden market as the role and the responsibility of the new business,” he added.
