Liquidator appointed after snowy March finishes off Badger Nurseries

Badger Nurseries, owned by John Alldrick, had liquidator KJ Watkin (Chris Moore and Simon Wall) appointed on 29 August. The business sold its garden centre to Golden Acres Nurseries in 2011 and that operation is not affected by the closure. The nursery spent £200,000 developing the site.

Alldrick said: "We kept the wholesale side but we didn't own the land the nursery was on. We invested heavily in the nursery to build it up but had a terrible season in 2012 and didn't get any money back, and this year was not particularly good either. Also, the landlord changed at the nursery site and we didn't enjoy the same relationship."

Badger grew herbaceous, alpines and herbs speculatively and had a turnover of around £100,000 a year. Alldrick said the snowy March this year was the "killer" as cash flow stopped.

He added: "There's still plenty of hope for the industry but it got to a size two years ago where it was too big and reached a point where it couldn't sustain any more."

Alldrick said speculative growing is much rarer now. The company is currently selling its assets and creditors will get a return.

Merediths (HW, 22 July) and Orchard Nurseries (HW, 27 September) have also gone into administration in recent months.