Highfield Garden World, off the A38 near Junction 13 of the M5, reveals new plans to grow its business.
The family-owned Highfield Garden World has revealed it can now go ahead with the next phase of its ongoing development – a £1 million investment in a planteria, complete with opening roof.
The Greenway family, which has owned and run the Whitminster-based business for three generations, has now won planning permission for the extra 3,362m² of covered retail space. Some 2,245m² of existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the planteria.
It marks the next phase of expansion at the garden centre, which employs an estimated 140-plus staff, turned over £8 million pre-Covid and saw a surge in demand through the pandemic – including a ‘massive upswing’ in the sales of garden gnomes!
Tim Greenway, director at Highfield Garden World, said: ‘The planning permission allows us to create an environment that protects our plants and also our customers during adverse weather. When the roof is open it also creates a lovely, warm, inviting area too.
‘This is just another way that Highfield Garden World is tackling the seasonal challenge that garden centres traditionally had and this helps our customers to choose us as a destination of choice all year round.’
The business first won outlining planning for the scheme at the start of the pandemic, part of greater plans which also include an expansion of its popular restaurant and more car parking spaces.
Rural business development specialists, Malcolm Scott Consultants, worked alongside the directors at Highfield on the plans.
By Andrew Merrell
Follow SoGlos on LinkedIn and sign-up to the weekly SoGlos business newsletter for the very latest Gloucestershire business news stories.
