Planning permission has now been granted, so Perrywood can now move ahead with their £8-10m investment in an inspirational new Garden Centre at their existing site in Newton Road, Sudbury. Existing buildings will be repurposed with the potential to be leased out to other rural businesses and organisations.

Perrywood worked with Paul Pleydell and the team at Pleydell Smithyman to prepare and submit the application. It received overwhelming support from the local community because it will attract visitors to the area and create new jobs.

Simon Bourne, Retail Director, told us: "This is fantastic news for our business, our team and the community. We are growing the Perrywood family as we move closer to opening day. This week, we have announced we are searching for a plant area manager and a health and safety manager. We also have vacancies for a grounds person and chef, and it's an exciting time to join our expanding team." 

The build is expected to take at least two years. During that time, Perrywood is inviting local businesses interested in becoming tenants on the site. They must align with Perrywood's vision and values and complement the garden centre.

Simon adds, "We'd like to work with like-minded businesses over the next five years to develop the wider site into an exciting retail destination. If your business would complement our business, please email info@perrywood.co.uk with the subject heading 'Sudbury' and ask for an expression of interest form." 

Tristan Bourne, Operations Director and lead on the new build project, commented: "In the two and a half years since we took over the business, we have significantly grown the turnover. In fact, we expect to triple it by the end of our third year of trading. This gives us great confidence in the new garden centre, and we are keen to get going with the aim of opening in 2023. With planning permission secured, we can now proceed with a whole host of projects, including confirming a building contractor and working on enabling works and infrastructure."

Perrywood's mission is to offer a memorable garden centre experience, deliver wow customer service, and give employees, customers, and the community a reason to smile. The current garden centre building isn't the high standard customers, and the team would expect, so they are planning to invest in this site and build a stunning new garden centre surrounded by plants and trees, that will grow with our business.

In line with their vision and values, the brand new centre at Perrywood Sudbury will:

• Be a modern purpose-built garden centre, where Perrywood can look after their customers and inspire more people to bring plants into their lives.
• Improve the site to be the best that it can be with a fabulous range of facilities including a new restaurant.
• Create a space where their team enjoy coming to work, with new job opportunities for local people.
• Put Perrywood Sudbury at the heart of the local community with event spaces, wildlife areas, and leisure opportunities for local people.
• Teach visitors about and protect the sites flora, fauna and wildlife.

The overall site is larger than at Perrywood Tiptree, but the garden centre plans are similar to Tiptree's. As a family-run business, they are looking forward to growing Perrywood Sudbury to create a special place among the plants that customers, the team and local people will enjoy.