With the latest phase of its expansion progressing well, the team at a Bradford garden centre have announced further plans to enhance the visitor experience.

In addition to providing new facilities for the 200 strong team and extending the range of gardening products and houseplants, the second storey of the 25,000 square feet extension at Tong Garden Centre will be home to a new 180 seater restaurant, The Mezzanine.

With panoramic views over the Tong Lane site’s established grounds, the new table-service restaurant will offer a relaxed dining experience with new brunch and lunch menus and a choice of sweet and savoury sharing platters when it opens this autumn.

Mark Farnsworth bought the ailing garden centre in 2015 with business partner, Tom Megginson and the pair have invested over £7million in a bid to become one of the North’s leading centres.

Mark said: “We’re excited to add a second restaurant to our destination garden centre and extend the current gardening range.

“In the main building we’re making some changes to our concessions area with Pavers seeing a significant expansion, allowing them to bring a much bigger range to Tong. 

“Sadly, we’ll be saying goodbye to some of our retail partners, including Mountain Warehouse and Klass. In the next phase of our plans, we will see this space transformed and we are looking forward to sharing our  plans later this year. 

“In the meantime, the additional space will allow for our Christmas ranges to be better spaced, with social distancing in mind, to help our customers to shop safely and with confidence during the festive period.” 

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 17 acre site in Tong village. It is one of Yorkshire’s biggest garden centres with 110,000 square feet of retail space and parking for up to 1,000 cars. 

Pictured: Members of Tong’s catering team review the plans for the new Mezzanine restaurant.