Highfield Garden World in Gloucestershire has won outline planning permission to further extend its growing business.  Work is due to commence in 2020 and is estimated to represent an investment of £2m for the Greenway family which founded, owns and runs the business.

With a turnover of £8m, 140 staff and around 20,000 customers per week, Highfield is the leading independent garden centre in Gloucestershire.  In 2014 the business launched a £2.5m new restaurant and retail development.

Now, the next stage in the organisation's development will boost the number of restaurant covers up to 500 inside and out.  Extra retail space, new planteria areas, expanded kitchen facilities and 120 more car parking spaces are also included in the plans.  

Co-founder and Director, Tim Greenway, commented:  "Business has been good at Highfield for many years, and especially buoyant since our last big expansion was completed in 2014.  Relatively quickly we reached the stage where our 350 cover restaurant was full to brimming again and we were running out of car parking spaces on busy days.  The demand is there, the customers keep coming, and we're on course to have an even bigger, better offering for them now we've secured outline planning permission."  

Highfield worked with Chris Primett from garden centre specialists Malcolm Scott planning consultants to create the plans and gain the outline permission. Chris has worked with the business before, including in relation to its multi-million 2014 restaurant and retail development.  

The current restaurant accounts for £2 million of Highfield's £8million turnover. For the site overall, including concessions, turnover is £12 million (all figures exclusive of VAT).