The BomaGarden Centre

The Boma Garden Centre has traded on Islip Street in Kentish Town since 2002, when the Dunn family took over what had been a derelict site and rebuilt it as a garden centre named after the Swahili word for a central meeting point at a game lodge, a nod to managing partner Sean Dunn's upbringing in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The centre sells outdoor and indoor plants, pots, compost, tools and garden furniture across a covered site three minutes' walk from Kentish Town underground station, with qualified horticulturists on hand to advise on planting for London gardens and balconies. A small on-site cafe serves coffee and light lunches among the plant displays. Free customer parking is available on site, unusual for a garden centre this close to central London. The business remains family owned two decades on, run day to day by Sean Dunn alongside a long-serving staff team rather than as part of a wider group.