Shares in Flying Brands surged by a third Thursday after the troubled flowers and gardening mail order firm received a bid approach from Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter.

Scotland's richest man already owns a 29.9% stake in the Jersey-based firm which said it had received a ""very preliminary approach"" from West Coast Capital, Hunter's investment vehicle.
""This approach is at a very early stage and there can be no certainty that it will lead to an offer being made for the company,"" Flying Brands said.
Shares jumped 17.5p to 71.5p on the news, giving the firm a market value of £4.4m.
Hunter bought his stake for 312.5p a share in November 2006. It is understood that he is not prepared to pay a premium for the firm. The entrepreneur owns two garden center chains, Wyevale and Blooms, but had to concede defeat in May in his battle with Tesco for control of the Dobbies garden centre business.
A week ago, Flying Brands reported a sharp fall in its first-half profits to £1.2m from £2.7m, with sales down 5% at £18.9m, and the company scrapped its half-year dividend.
It also shut its Greetings Direct business, which it acquired in 2006, after an ""extremely disappointing"" trial of the loss-making greeting cards business in the U.S. The company is taking a £1.7m hit from the closure and losses, and has warned this would cut profits by £1.5m this year.
Like many CD and DVD retailers with offshore operations, Flying Brands benefits from a VAT exemption on goods priced below £18 that are imported by individuals into the UK from outside the EU. It is known as ""low value consignment relief"".
The firm's Flying Flowers business buys flowers from Kenya, South Africa, Colombia and the Netherlands, sells them online and delivers them to people's homes in styroform boxes designed to keep the flowers fresh.
It is the largest flowers-by-post brand in the UK – dispatching nearly 1m bouquets a year - but has been hit in the past by postal strikes. Sales fell to £4.8m in the first half, resulting in a £500,000 loss including costs related to a new internet site.
The gardening business, which delivers bedding plants, bird feed and gardening tools, fared somewhat better with sales of £11.2m and profits of £1.6m. The firm also sells audio books and DVDs through mail order.
Founded in 1981, Flying Brands floated on the stock market in 1993. It is now run by Tricia Killen, who took over as chief executive in June after spending 23 years at Reader's Digest.
(Source: Guardian)