KLONDYKE Group, the family-owned Scottish garden centre operator, has recruited the former chief executive of publicly-quoted sector stablemate Wyevale to assist with its rapid expansion.

Wyevale announced on July 13 last year that Bob Hewitt was stepping down as its chief executive "to pursue new challenges", at a time when it was under siege from hedge fund Laxey Partners.

This was well before it emerged last month that Ayrshire entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunterwas planning a takeover of Wyevale.

Hunter's West Coast Capital vehicle, which has been buying up Laxey's stake in Wyevale, announced last night that it had bought a further 2.07 million shares at 555p each to take its stake in the Hereford-based chain to 16.06 million shares or 28.68per cent. This is the last of the Laxey stake and, subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence work on his target's books, Hunter is expected to launch a full takeover bid for Wyevale within a month.

Hewitt has been appointed chief executive of his new employer's two main trading subsidiaries, Klondyke Garden Centres and William Strike.

Douglas McGhee, the former Scottish managing partner of accountancy firm Kidsons Impey who joined Klondyke seven-and-a-half years ago, remains group chief executive. Klondyke's turnover has climbed from GBP7.5m to GBP25m during McGhee's term as chief executive, and the group predicts it will rise to more than GBP30m next year.

Asked if the business was profitable, McGhee made it clear that it was. "Our pre-tax (profit), after directors' remuneration, was just under GBP2m, " he replied.

In addition to remaining group chief executive, McGhee has been appointed vice-chairman of Klondyke Group.

The garden centre chain is chaired by founder Bob Gault. It remains 100per cent-owned by the Gault family.

Hewitt, who was with Wyevale for 16 years, takes up his new post at Klondyke today.

McGhee said Hewitt had been on "gardening leave" for six months after leaving Wyevale, and this had come to an end yesterday.

On Hewitt's reasons for resigning from Wyevale, McGhee said: "I think it is fair to say it was directly related to Laxey."

Gault said he believed the former Wyevale chief executive would "make a very strong contribution to the operational effectiveness of our business".

In spite of his new dual role as vice-chairman of Klondyke and the arrival of Hewitt, McGhee showed absolutely no appetite yesterday to follow Scottish rival Dobbies to the stock market.

McGhee, who will focus on strategic and financial planning while Hewitt looks after day-today operation of the garden centres, declared: "I don't see us looking at f lotation in the foreseeable future."

Klondyke, which describes itself as the largest familyowned independent garden centre chain in the UK with 18 sites, was established in 1980 by Bob and Dorothy Gault with their first garden centre at Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.

The chain, which is headquartered at Polmont in Stirlingshire and acquired the fellow family-owned William Strike in 1996 in a deal backed by Bank of Scotland, has centres in Scotland, northern England, and Wales. It employs 471 people.

In April, it is scheduled to open its flagship, GBP6m Houghton Hall garden centre at Carlisle, and has planning permission to develop a greenfield site at Stockton on Teesside.

It also has planning permission for an extension to its garden centre at Knutsford in Cheshire, and hopes to receive planning permission soon for a complete redevelopment of a site in Leeds which it bought about two years ago.

Sharon Allan has been promoted to financial director of Klondyke Garden Centres and William Strike. She was financial controller, and followed McGhee from Kidsons Impey.