Thompson and Morgan

Thompson & Morgan
Privately held
Founded 1855 Ipswich, England
Headquarters Ipswich, England
Products Seeds, young plants (UK), and garden sundries
Website www.thompson-morgan.com

Thompson & Morgan is an independently-owned company based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Founded in 1855,[1] Thompson and Morgan offer English plants, seeds and sundries worldwide through their websites. The U.S. division of the company was sold to Gardens Alive in 2009.[2]

Overview

The company distributes their products through its mail order catalogues, the Internet and retail outlets. Their various websites feature over 8,000 products, showcasing the entire Thompson and Morgan range.

Seed catalogues are distributed to 163 countries worldwide. Thompson and Morgan seeds are stocked in the following countries: Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, USA, Canada, Korea, and Japan.

History

Thompson and Morgan had its origins in a small garden behind a baker's shop in Ipswich, where a young William Thompson's passion for botany grew. His specialty was growing rare and unusual plants whose seeds were sent from countries all over the world. Not only did it provide a sense of adventure for Thompson, it also established friendships with such scientists as Charles Darwin, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and Sir Michael Foster.

From the back garden he moved to a nursery at the edge of Ipswich and then to an even larger one. Eventually there were three of Thompson’s nurseries in the town. At this time, Thompson began to publish a magazine called The English Flower Garden.[3][4]

In 1855, after moving from that small 'starter' garden, Thompson issued his first catalogue. He specialised in growing rare and unusual plants, seeds of which were sent to him from many overseas countries. His efforts made him one of the most distinguished plantsmen of his day and he was honored by the Royal Horticultural Society with the Victorian Medal of Honor in 1896.

With the seed-raising firm expanding, William Thompson started his partnership with John Morgan. John provided the business acumen that enabled Thompson & Morgan's continued solid growth. Thompson died in July 1903 at the age of 80, having lived to see Thompson & Morgan become one of the country's greatest seed firms with a reputation for introducing more species and varieties to the British gardening public than any other company.

John Morgan spent the next ten years as sole owner until he partnered with Joseph Sangster in 1913. Sangster was a brilliant horticulturalist who was to add 4,000 plant names to the 2,000 already offered in the T&M catalogue. He took full control of the company upon John's death in 1921.

Joseph's son Murray joined the company in 1933 and the following year Morgan was elected President of the Horticultural Trades Association of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1939, T&M became a limited company and when Morgan died in 1952, Murray Sangster took control. His two sons, Keith and Bruce, joined Murray later. In 1973, they decided to expand their distribution centre in Poplar Lane, Ipswich from where the company still operates. In 1982, Bruce Morgan headed the company's expansion in the US after previously having a distribution base in Jackson, New Jersey.

In May 2002, Thompson & Morgan returned to independent private ownership by Primary Capital Partners. The company was sold to BVG Group in March 2017 through the acquisition of their parent company, Branded Garden Products for an undisclosed amount, however the sale price was estimated at £10m.[5] The new group will have a combined turnover of £140m, with an EBITDA in the region of £13.5m.[5][6][7]

Awards

In the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018's 'Plant of the year' competition, Thompson & Morgan plants were awarded 1st and 3rd place.[8]

  • 1st place: 'Hydrangea Runaway Bride Snow White'
  • 3rd place: 'Helianthus Sunbelievable Brown Eyed Girl'

Catalogue

The first Thompson and Morgan catalogue was created in 1855. They now produce over 20 different catalogues that are distributed in the UK, US, French and German markets. Catalogues are distributed by mail and can be requested directly from the company by telephone or via their websites.

References

  1. Bloomberg Company Overview
  2. Total Retail (25 September 2009). "Gardens Alive! Acquires England-Based Seed Company's U.S. Operations". Total Retail. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  3. English Flower Garden : a monthly magazine of hardy and half-hardy plants by W. Thompson. on Archive.org
  4. English flower garden of hardy and half-hardy plants by W. Thompson on Hatitrust.
  5. 1 2 "T&M sale brings welcome stability for horticulture". Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  6. Ducan Brodie (25 March 2017). "Seed firm Thompson & Morgan to remain in Ipswich following acquisition by BVG Group". Ipswichstar. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  7. Muhammad Aldalou (9 March 2017). "Historic horticultural company sold by PE owner". Ipswichstar. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  8. Rice, Graham (2018-05-22). "Chelsea Flower Show 2018: Plant of the year revealed - but is it a winner?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  • Lacy, Allen (Mar 1, 1988). Farther Afield: A Gardener's Excursions. Macmillan. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0374520632.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.