Oldrids & Downtown have submitted a planning application to South Kesteven District Council proposing an extensive and hugely exciting development of its site located adjacent to the A1 in Grantham.

The plans include the development of a 107 unit Designer Outlet Centre; a purpose-built Downtown@Home store; a reconfigured "Garden Centre of the Future"; an indoor leisure complex; a high-tech hub / managed office space for start-up businesses; a tourist information & visitor centre and a new training academy. The existing Downtown and Boundary Mill store will remain.

The scheme will deliver more than 1,700 new jobs as well as helping to secure the jobs of the 700 employees currently employed on the site. Downtown Grantham is the largest single-site employer in the area, with over 90% of employees residing locally.

Downtown say that the existing Garden Centre, which is one of the largest in the UK and a giant within the garden centre trade, presents significant potential. The design of the new store will take into account the needs and expectations of tomorrow’s customer and will look to deliver much more of an experience to its visitors.

Richard Broadhead, Managing Director of Oldrids & Downtown, is confident that the whole regeneration project can be delivered in a relatively short time-frame: “It is the right thing to do for Grantham, for Lincolnshire and for the whole region. Our project ticks all of the boxes in terms of employment, investment and economic benefit. We're in a great location with all the required infrastructure in place, so in terms of delivery we're ready to go. Included within the scheme will be an industry-leading and award-winning “Garden Centre of the Future".

Downtown hope to realise its plans as soon as possible, targeting the end of 2019.

Further details of the proposed scheme are available at www.downtowngranthamdesigneroutlet.com