Building work has started on the Designer Outlet Cotswold development off the M5 in Gloucestershire, which will include the largest Dobbies Garden Centre in South West England.
The outlet centre will be opened in phases starting in the autumn of 2022.
The main contractor is Robert Hitchins and the company’s property and development director Simon Tothill said: “We’re proud to be delivering such an attractive development into the Tewkesbury area and to be creating more than 1,000 jobs in the local area.
“It’s important that such developments progress as efficiently as possible through the planning and construction stages to create employment opportunities, especially to enable the area to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic.”
When it was announced that Dobbies would be building a new store at the retail park CEO Graeme Jenkins said: “The new garden centre will be our fourth largest in the UK and the jewel in the crown for the South West region. Not only do we want to delight our customers with our plants and gardening offer, but also feature a variety of other attractions and product ranges. With such an excellent location, right on the junction of a busy motorway, we look forward to welcoming local residents, passing motorists and visitors to the region.”
The development will create one of the most accessible retail and leisure destinations in the UK. As well as the nearby M5 motorway, the site fronts the A46 trunk road which links to the M42. More than 21 million vehicles pass the site each year and the development is within walking distance of the Ashchurch-for-Tewkesbury railway station which serves the Bristol to Birmingham main line. Additionally, more than 9.8 million people live within a 90 minutes’ drive and the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) attracts over 23 million visitors annually.