Blue Diamond's Harlestone Heath Garden Centre in Northampton re-opened yesterday, with customers pouring into the centre and shopping it heavily.

Having taken over the centre that was closed by Dobbies, Blue Diamond CEO told GTN Xtra they had invested £1.5m in the site to bring it up to Blue Diamond standards. "We've cleaned, painted over the old Wyevale green, replaced fences, builtinternal walls to create the customer journey and doubled the size of the restaurant and kitchen."

The restuarant has been named "The Ramblers Rest" in recognition of the areas parkland and walking community.

The re-lined carpark was full when we arrived late morning and still full mid-afternoon, with high sales activity and plenty of appreciative remarks being made to staff by customers.

"We've not done any advertising so far for this opening," said Alan Roper, "this is just as a result of local press coverage and social media."

Alan projects Harlestone Heath will become an £8m turnover centre as part of the group, a significant change from the £2.5m that Dobbies were acheiving.

See our photo tour of the new centre below: