Highfield Garden World has won more planning permission to transform part of its A1 unrestricted retail space at its site in rural Gloucestershire. 

The family-run business is the largest independent in Gloucestershire, and completed a £2.5m restaurant and retail development in the spring of 2014 – a factor which is certainly playing its part in the fact that the business reported an increased turnover of 24% year for year in April, compared to the average 10% increase suggested by the GCA’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) findings earlier this month.

The site’s current footprint is 5,200 sq.m, and the new project will bring the total covered retail area to almost 6000 sq.m..  MD Tim Greenway commented: “The new development completed last year has transformed the way customers enter and flow through the site, and that has proved really successful for us.  We’re constantly looking at ways to improve the business and appeal to customers, and this latest project is simply about bringing one of the older, quieter corners in line with everything else. 

"Like every retailer, we need every inch to earn its keep, and it’s time we gave this little area a bit of a makeover to help it do that.   Now it’s just a matter of pinpointing a quiet trading time to get started!” 

Plans have already gone out to both local and national contractors for pricing. The first window of opportunity is this autumn or early January 2016.