Scotts Miracle-Gro is set to be close all of the Solus brands, with the exception of Chapelwood, less than a year after buying them. There are now fears that the Bermuda brand, which was due to exhibit at AQUA in October, could disappear from the market place.

An announcement from the company yesterday said that Scotts Miracle-Gro had completed the integration of Scotts Solus Brands into the core business.

The statement added: "An extensive review of the business has shown us that the ChapelWood brand has a significant future alongside the existing Scotts Miracle-Gro portfolio. We have already invested in the brand and this will culminate in a ChapelWood relaunch later in the summer with a range of new products, packaging, branding and marketing support.

"We will be looking to divest the remaining brands and products with a view to exiting from them at the earliest opportunity."

Sheila Hill, General Manager of The Scotts Company (UK), said: “We are extremely excited about ChapelWood and what it can do for the bird care category and for the core Scotts Miracle-Gro business. It’s about driving category growth with our business partners. The remaining brands, while still strong, are not core to us right now and we will be looking at ways to smoothly exit those businesses.”

The official announcement added: "This change has no effect on the core business of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the UK. Scotts Miracle-Gro regards the UK as one of its major flagship international markets. There is continued strong investment here by Scotts Miracle-Gro in the USA, showing that the company is still extremely committed to the UK gardening market.

"We are currently working on how to move forward and which decisions will be best for the business, our retail customers and our staff. We will communicate these decisions as soon as they are made.

"We are working closely with our customers who stock these brands to ensure continuity of supply through the rest of the season and how we will support them through the transition process to minimise disruption to their business."