Popular garden centre in Cumbria, near Penrith, on the market

Plumpton's The Pot Place Garden Centre, started by Paul Thomas and Kevin Roper, has been placed on the market by property agents, Christie & Co.

Sitting on a roughly 2.75-acre plot, on the site of a former railway, it boasts a specialist pot and garden building centre with a charming tea room, furniture centre, plants, and gift shop.

Birds-eye view of Plumpton's The Pot Place (Image: Christie & Co.)

With Paul and Kevin now looking to retire and spend more time on their charity work, they have decided to market the business by way of a share sale for 100 per cent shares of the limited company. 

The site's owners have made headlines over recent years with their continued effort to hand-deliver medical vehicles to support the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, making their most recent trip last month. 

The Pot Place team deliver ambulance to Lviv back in October 2023 (Image: PThomas)

Despite retirement plans, Paul assured us the team aims to continue to deliver vehicles to the frontline, with hopes of bringing their tenth ambulance, sixteenth medical vehicle, across European borders in September.

“From our humble beginnings as a pot and planter centre, we’re very proud of the garden centre business that we’ve been able to build over the past 20 years, with the support of our wonderful team of staff," Paul said.

"We have thoroughly enjoyed our time developing the business so the decision to sell has not been as easy one to make, however the time has come for us to take a step back and look to retire.

Plumpton's The Pot Place comes with charming tearoom (Image: Christie & Co.)

“Having put our heart and soul into The Pot Place, we are looking for an enthusiastic new owner who is willing to invest in the business to take it forward and look after our fantastic staff who have been instrumental in our success.

"We will wait for the right buyer and our many loyal customers should be reassured that it will be business as usual during the transition to new ownership," he said. 

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Andrew Birnie, director of Christie & Co’s Retail & Garden Centre team, who is managing the sales process, said: “We’re very pleased to be instructed to market this attractive garden centre and specialist pots and planters’ business on behalf of Paul and Kevin.

Plant area at The Pot Place (Image: Christie & Co.)

"The Pot Place attracts customers from across Cumbria and beyond due to its range of specialist products, including the garden building business which serves as a strong income driver.

"This is a special place to work, and I can’t think of many places that would be better to spend your working life, running a profitable business in the beautiful countryside, so close to the M6 for access and only a short drive to the Lakes.

"We look forward to finding the right buyer to take the business forward, building on the wonderful work of Paul, Kevin and their team," he said.