Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer, is partnering with sustainable energy pioneer and charge point operator, GRIDSERVE, to install EV chargers at stores nationwide. The move will provide Dobbies’ shoppers, commuters and local residents easy access to affordable and fast electric vehicle (EV) charging.
This is a UK-first partnership between GRIDSERVE and a major garden centre retailer and will initially see 30 ‘Destination Electric Hubs’ installed in Dobbies’ car parks across the UK, from Aberdeen to Ashford, each containing up to 12 High Power EV charge points with connectors that support all types of electric vehicles.
The state-of-the-art charging units will accept contactless payment, provide real-time usage updates to both the GRIDSERVE map and Zap-Map and will be powered exclusively by net zero carbon energy. They will also adopt GRIDSERVE’s highly competitive standard nationwide pricing, making it considerably cheaper to re-charge an EV than fill an equivalent vehicle with petrol or diesel.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO at Dobbies, said: “As we build on the #SustainableDobbies journey, the partnership with GRIDSERVE demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with environmentally-friendly solutions.
“We are proud to be the first garden centre retailer to work with this forward-thinking and innovative company and we look forward to welcoming electric vehicle drivers as we roll out this service across the UK throughout 2022.”
Toddington Harper, CEO of GRIDSERVE, added: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Dobbies on this category-first collaboration. Not only do Dobbies share our long-term commitment to sustainability, their support will help raise both the viability and visibility of electric vehicles and EV charging to new audiences.
“To protect the environment and address climate change the Government has committed to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in only eight years, and this has helped put EV sales on an exponential growth trajectory. Our partnership with Dobbies will support the uptake of EVs further, and deliver many fantastic new charging locations for EV drivers across the UK.”
The roll-out begins in Spring 2022 and complements the rapidly expanding GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, voted 2021’s ‘EV Charging Network Operator of the Year’ at the prestigious Electric Vehicle Innovation and Excellence (EVIE) Awards.
The initial charger deployments are in the following Dobbies’ locations:
Midlands
- Derby
- Gailey
- Leicester
- Milton Keynes
- Northampton
- Peterborough
- Rugby
- Telford
- Shrewsbury
Scotland
- Aberdeen
- Ayr
- Braehead
- Dunfermline
- Edinburgh
- Livingston
- Perth
- Stirling
South West
- Swindon
- Gloucester
South East
- Ashford
- Hare Hatch
- Gillingham
North East
- York
- Stockton
East
- Ashford
- Woodbridge
North West
- Liverpool
- Southport
Wales
- Moreton Park
Northern Ireland
- Lisburn
About Dobbies
- Dobbies was founded in 1865 by James Dobbie and is headquartered near Edinburgh.
- It is the UK’s largest garden centre retailer, with 74 stores, having bought 37 stores in 2019.
- The company employs around 4000 team members.
- It is privately owned by Midlothian Capital Partners Limited and Hattington Capital LLP.
- EBITDA for 2020-2021 was £37m.
