Clifton Nurseries

What Clifton Nurseries does

Clifton Nurseries Ltd is a privately held horticultural business established in 1851 and headquartered at 5A Clifton Villas, Maida Vale, London W9 2PH. The company operates London's oldest garden centre from a flagship site that includes a Victorian glasshouse, a retail nursery stocking an extensive range of outdoor and indoor plants, garden accessories and gifts, and an on-site café serving brunch, lunch and beverages. The business is privately owned by Martyn Mogford and Will Clark (since 2017), with Will Clark serving as Managing Director. Headcount is in the 11-50 band.

The company generates revenue from six primary streams: (1) retail plant and accessory sales at the Maida Vale garden centre (one-time purchase), (2) garden design, construction, planting and maintenance services delivered by field teams across London and Surrey (project-based professional services), (3) café and hospitality inside the Victorian glasshouse, (4) venue hire for weddings (registered with the City of Westminster), private parties and corporate meetings up to 80 guests, (5) a trade scheme providing dedicated pricing and accounts for professional landscapers and designers, and (6) gift vouchers plus a free 'Friends of Clifton' loyalty club. A second garden centre at Woburn Hill, Surrey, opened in 2017, was closed in Spring 2025 as the company consolidated retail focus on the Maida Vale flagship while retaining services operations across London and Surrey.

Clifton Nurseries holds BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) accreditation, has won multiple RHS Chelsea Gold Medals under prior management, and is actively investing in its 175th anniversary marketing campaign and RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 participation. There is no proprietary technology platform; the business operates primarily through physical retail, field service delivery, direct event enquiries and a content-rich website with extensive horticultural guides and SEO-optimised location pages targeting West London postcodes.

Name

Clifton Nurseries

Legal name

Clifton Nurseries Ltd

Website

https://clifton.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1851

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clifton Nurseries is a privately held, 175-year-old London garden centre and horticultural services business based in Maida Vale, retailing plants and gifts, running a glasshouse café, and offering garden design, landscaping and maintenance across London and Surrey, plus venue hire for weddings and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Garden Centre & Horticultural Services

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (444240), Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (44424)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Landscape Plant & Nursery Stock Wholesalers (Grower-Wholesalers) (AFAGAHAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Container Gardening Design, Planting & Maintenance (HSAIAFAN)

Keywords

• Garden centre retail
• Garden design services
• Landscape construction
• Horticultural supplies
• Garden maintenance

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Garden Centre Retail: Retail sales of outdoor and indoor plants, garden accessories, and gifts at the Maida Vale garden centre. Product range includes perennials, shrubs, hedging plants, houseplants, cacti, succulents, orchids, tools, and decorative items.
2. Garden Design, Landscaping and Maintenance Services: Professional garden design, construction, planting, and maintenance services delivered by a team of horticulturists and landscapers operating in London and Surrey. Services are priced project-by-project and billed accordingly.
3. Café and Hospitality: The Café at Clifton Nurseries serves brunch, lunch, hot and cold drinks, and artisan baked goods in a Victorian glasshouse setting. Open 7 days a week. Café is excluded from gift voucher redemption.
4. Venue Hire and Event Services: Private room hire, dry-hire, and full-service event hosting for weddings, parties, and business meetings. Catering options include on-site commercial kitchen catering and outside catering arrangements. Fees are quoted per booking.
5. Trade Scheme: Dedicated trade pricing and account services for professional landscapers, garden designers, and commercial horticulture businesses operating in London and Surrey.
6. Gift Vouchers: Clifton Nurseries gift vouchers sold in-store and by phone, redeemable against garden centre purchases and garden services. Not redeemable in The Café. Vouchers from the closed Surrey branch remain valid at the London nursery.
7. Friends of Clifton Reward Club: Loyalty programme offering members exclusive events, discounts, gifts, newsletter, and 10% off food and drink in The Café. Free to join. Generates customer data and repeat purchase incentives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Clifton Nurseries operates a flagship garden centre in Maida Vale, London, retailing an extensive range of outdoor and indoor plants, garden accessories and gifts alongside a café housed in a Victorian glasshouse. It also delivers professional garden design, construction, planting and maintenance services across London and Surrey. Additional offerings include venue hire for weddings, private parties and corporate events, a loyalty programme, gift vouchers, and a trade scheme for horticulture professionals.

Product overview

Clifton Nurseries is a traditional garden centre business operating since 1851, offering a portfolio of integrated products and services. The core offering consists of the London Nursery/Garden Centre in Maida Vale (retailing plants, garden accessories, and gifts), The Café at Clifton Nurseries (hospitality in a glasshouse setting), and Garden Services (design, construction, planting, and maintenance services across London and Surrey). Additional offerings include Venue Hire for events including weddings and private parties, the Friends of Clifton Reward Club loyalty program, Clifton Gift Vouchers, and a Trade Scheme for professional customers. The company also retails an extensive range of houseplants and garden plants. The business closed its Surrey garden centre in Spring 2025 to focus on the flagship Maida Vale location while continuing garden services in both London and Surrey areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• London Nursery (Garden Centre) A tranquil garden centre in Maida Vale retailing an extensive range of outdoor and indoor plants, stylish garden accessories and gifts. London's oldest garden centre operating since 1851, open to general public and trade customers.
• The Café at Clifton Nurseries

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The Floating Classroom (Educational Charity)minorOthers · 1 April 2025Clifton Nurseries donated plants (seasonal flowering plants and herbs including rosemary, mint, and chives) to The Floating Classroom, an educational charity operating on The Electric Barge in the Grand Union Canal. Plants were used to create a mini sensory garden for SENsing the way trips, enabling children to explore their senses through touch and smell.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Notcutts Garden Centres: Regional UK garden centre operator combining retail, restaurant/café, and gift shop concepts; directly comparable to Clifton on the integrated retail-plus-hospitality site model but with a regional multi-site footprint.
• Petersham Nurseries: London-based heritage nursery combining plant retail, a destination café/restaurant, homewares, gardens services, and private event hire in a glasshouse — the closest direct comparable to Clifton's integrated retail + café + events + design model.
• Haskins Garden Centres: Southern England garden centre group with large destination sites integrating retail, food, and seasonal events; comparable on the destination garden centre play but operates across multiple regional sites.
• Frosts Garden Centres: Independent UK garden centre group with on-site landscaping services and group events; comparable to Clifton's integrated retail-plus-garden-services positioning at a multi-site regional scale.
• Burford Garden Company: Cotswolds-based destination garden centre with combined retail, café, and lifestyle offering; comparable to Clifton on heritage-style destination retail plus on-site hospitality.
• Bents Garden & Home: Large UK destination garden centre combining extensive plant retail, an award-winning restaurant/café, and lifestyle/homewares — closely mirrors Clifton's combined nursery, hospitality, and gifting proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Hillier Garden Centres: Long-established UK garden centre group with in-house plant production, multiple locations, and landscaping services; overlapping on retail assortment and on-site nursery stock and competing for trade customers with their own B2B scheme.
• Dobbies Garden Centres: Largest UK garden centre chain with multiple sites, food/restaurant offerings, and events; comparable on the plant-retail + café retail format but operates at far greater scale and breadth than Clifton's single flagship.
• RHS Garden Wisley: RHS-operated destination garden in Surrey combining plant retail, café/restaurant, and event hire; overlaps with Clifton on Surrey garden services, horticulture credibility, and event hosting but is a not-for-profit visitor attraction rather than a commercial garden centre.
• Kew Gardens (Royal Botanic Gardens): London-based heritage horticultural institution with on-site plant retail, multiple cafés, and a substantial venue-hire business; comparable to Clifton on premium London horticulture brand + events, though at a much larger institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CliftonNursery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clifton-nurseries-ltd

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clifton Nurseries