Work is underway at the expansion at Laylocks Garden Centre in Cotheridge near Worcester. The aim is to open the new development in March 2024.
Hannah Warr, a director at the centre, said: “We are excited. Everyone has been telling us they are excited by the new expansion.
“It will put the centre on the map.”
The Laylocks Garden Centre expansion will lead to the centre having more than 650sqm of retail space. This includes an expanded restaurant and a brand-new layout with an entrance. There will also be a newly developed plant and landscape area.
The centre is also promising a larger home & lifestyle department and a bigger Christmas department. This is “to make the festive season as magical as possible”.
Warr said they were currently “quite small” on the retail side but once the expansion is complete, the centre will have “everything you can imagine for the garden” available to buy.
Staff numbers will increase by five or 10 per cent when the new development opens.
“We started a 10-year development in 2020 – this is the biggest we have done,” Warr said.
“We waited a year to let things to settle down after Covid, and to get things back to normal.”
Warr added that they would be staying as family-run and didn’t want to be commercialised, the centre having been in Warr’s family for more than 40 years.
Laylocks work underway after permission granted early last year
Planning permission for the centre was granted by Malvern Hills District Council in February 2022. Planning officers saying that Laylocks garden centre played a key role in the local rural economy which the expansion would boost.
A report said: “The proposal represents an investment in the existing garden centre.
“The garden centre and associated horticultural nursery contribute to rural economic prosperity.
“The proposed development will allow the site to continue and enhance its role within the rural economy without affecting the viability of the nearest shopping centre.”
