The turf war to control Britain's garden centres came to a halt yesterday when Wyevale, the market leader, dropped its attempt to buy rival Country Gardens Its informal approach had valued the company at £97m. The turf war to control Britain's garden centres came to a halt yesterday when Wyevale, the market leader, dropped its attempt to buy rival Country Gardens. Its informal approach had valued the company at £97m. However, Wyevale said it will review its decision if there are "material changes" or if a third party moves in on Country Gardens. The company - which had already increased its offer twice, from 310p a share in April to 350p - said the rationale behind the merger remained "irrefutable".

Earlier yesterday, Country Gardens had announced it had broken off discussions.Industry watchers believe that Wyevale, which owns 80 garden centres across the country, will come back with a hostile bid if the Country Gardens share price falls significantly.Analysts said that a deal between Country Gardens, whose 38 centres are mainly in the South, and Wyevale, which is mainly represented in the North, would produce synergies worth up to £4m. Shares in Country Gardens closed down 6.5p at 273.5p as investors expressed concern that the board had rejected Wyevale's 350p-a-share bid, which represented a premium of 70 per cent on the company's price before the offer was announced in April.Nicholas Marshall, chief executive of Country Gardens, said: "We sought advice and decided that the offer did not reflect the true value of the company." He was sanguine about Wyevale's threat to come back with a hostile offer, saying "this will underpin our share price".Country Gardens reported better than expected interim results last week, showing a 26 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £5.9m, against analysts' expectations of about the same amount for the whole year.. The number of individuals going bankrupt has hit a five-year high, according to official figures yesterday that raise fears dot entrepreneurs have been hit by the collapse in confidence of major investors. The number of individuals going bankrupt has hit a five-year high, according to official figures yesterday that raise fears dot entrepreneurs have been hit by the collapse in confidence of major investors. The Department of Trade and Industry said there were 7,655 insolvencies between April and July, a 6.1 per cent rise on a year ago and the highest since the third quarter of 1994.Russel Shear, a partner at the City law firm Edwin Coe, which has advised on a number of new media flotations, said there were signs that entrepreneurs were finding it increasingly difficult to raise venture capital.He said some founders of "dot s" had failed to get further finance to sustain the businesses in the early loss-making stages. "I have seen individual founders who have raised initial funds by securing their assets through a mortgage or overdraft, who have either had to sell their house or go bankrupt when the guarantee is called in," he said.Stephen Taylor, European insolvency leader at the accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the rise was "not necessarily ominous"."Insolvencies act as a critical valve in our economy, recycling resources necessary to sustain record levels of economic growth."A DTI spokesman said it was vital that entrepreneurs did proper research.

"There's a trend for people to just plunge in and start up without researching whether it is a viable idea."The number of corporate bankruptcies fell 6 per cent on a year ago, the DTI said.. United News & Media yesterday set out a new corporate strategy following the sale of the bulk of its television interests The group is to focus on business services and publishing. United News & Media yesterday set out a new corporate strategy following the sale of the bulk of its television interests. The group is to focus on business services and publishing. Lord Hollick, United's chief executive, said the group was looking for acquisitions and alliances to try to fulfil what he termed the group's "Plan B". "All the coverage has been on TV, but we've been quietly setting out our stall in market information.... We are looking at a range of acquisitions."Last month United abandoned a planned merger with Carlton Communications and in a swift U-turn sold its production and broadcasting assets in ITV to Granada Media for £1.75bn.Lord Hollick said: "It is with some regret that we didn't succeed in acquiring a leadership position in ITV You can't be a tail-end Charlie in this game.

You are either number one, or you get out."United reported static pre-tax, pre-exceptional profits of £138m in the half to June.The group confirmed it was looking to sell most of its remaining TV assets within a year, chiefly its 35 per cent stake in Channel 5, which could be worth £400m. Lord Hollick said: "If someone comes along with a fantastic offer [for Channel 5], we'll consider it." RTL Group, the pan-European broadcaster, has indicated it wants to buy the stake. It already holds 65 per cent of Channel 5.On ITN, the news provider in which United also has a stake, Lord Hollick said he foresaw a float of the unit some time next year. No disposal of the group's national daily newspaper titles, the Express papers and the Daily Star, was planned.The remainder of the group consists of the business services division, including PRNewswire, a corporate news distributor, and CMP, a US technology network; the publishing division, which has a range of titles including Exchange & Mart; and online activities, including Xilerate, the group's United European sites."We've got big plans and the resources to do it and we start from already established market-leading positions," Lord Hollick said.

"These are businesses I've been involved with a lot longer than TV."The balance sheet can support a buying spree following the Granada deal and non-core disposals worth about £1.3bn. The deals will eliminate United's debt and leave it with about £300m in cash. The aborted Carlton deal cost £19.6m,booked as an exceptional charge.One analyst said: "They have given a good steer on what they are going to spend their money on, without naming names."The group said turnover in the half rose 14 per cent to £1.15bn. The businesses United plans to retain account for £650m of that.The interim dividend was held a 11p a share The shares yesterday rose 8p to 833p.. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday it had increased its forecast for UK new car registrations this year by 25,000 to 2.225 million. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday it had increased its forecast for UK new car registrations this year by 25,000 to 2.225 million. "The new car market is healthy... and, now that uncertainty has been removed on the pricing issue, the year ahead looks very bright," said the SMMT's chief executive, Christopher Macgowan.Figures released by the society yesterday showed that private buyers had continued to steer clear of car showrooms in July ahead of the publication earlier this week of the Government's report on car prices.A total of 156,588 new cars were sold last month, 6.4 per cent down from the record of July 1999.