A Milton Keynes-based garden centre and landscaping materials supplier has acquired its fourth centre with the support of a £1.9m funding package from Lloyds Bank.

Nuyard Group has purchased Flitvale Garden Centre in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and has completed a revamp of the 35,000 sq ft facility to increase its product offering improve the overall customer shopping experience.

The business was founded 20 years ago out of a garden and landscaping merchants centre in Tring and has since opened sites in Bletchley and Worcester, and now Flitwick. Across the four sites, Nuyard hires 65 staff and is planning to grow its headcount to over 100.

Nuyard has refurbished the entire Flitwick centre, as well as investing in the on-site restaurant. It has added a florist and expanded the houseplants area of the centre by 200% amid blossoming demand from customers. Nursery land has also been brought back into use to serve as the base for its paving and landscaping arm, which supplies to trade customers in the area, and allowing the business to add new machinery and hardware to its range.

As part of the ongoing investment, Nuyard plans to add solar panels across the roof to make the centre sustainable and self-sufficient, and introduce a water-harvesting system to reduce its water use.

Peter Manship, director at Nuyard, said: “The customer is at the heart of everything we do, and we want to make sure the shopping experience is as good as it can be. Acquiring Flitvale Garden Centre was a milestone, and a significant amount of work has gone into redesigning and revamping it so that everyone, from home horticulturalists to professional landscapers, will want to return.

“People no longer see gardens as just a patch of outdoor space, but as an additional room of their homes that’s to be enjoyed as much as any other. With this in mind, a significant part of our growth is down to remaining agile to new trends and changing demand like any other interior provider. By revitalising the nursery areas, we now have the space to launch new designs and displays that will inspire people as they transform the spaces that matter most to them.”

Will Robertson, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank, said: “Gardens have taken on renewed importance in the last few years, as homeowners have realised the value of green space. Nuyard has recognised this change in the market and capitalised on it, and the acquisition and opening of its new garden centre is testament to that.

“Nuyard is a good example of a business investing in order to drive growth, and supporting that ambition is our bread and butter. We want to make sure that businesses across Britain have the platform that they need to invest strategically – whether that’s opening new locations or moving to become more sustainable, and everything in between – and we’ll be right by their side to help them secure that.”