Former Stratford Dobbies gets £1m refurb as it becomes Warwick Garden Centre
FIFTEEN jobs are up for grabs following Stratford Garden Centre’s takeover of the former Dobbies site.
The roles are a mixture of indoor, outdoor, plant-related, shop and restaurant full-, part-time and weekend vacancies at the company’s new Warwick Road location near the Mercedes garage at Black Hill.
They will join the 22 employees already at the ex-Dobbies site, who the Stratford Garden Centre owners are keeping on, after agreeing a lease for the centre.
Stratford Garden Centre managing director Helen Lloyd told the Herald that phase one of the revamp of the newly-acquired site is now well underway.
The million-pound refurbishment includes re-flooring, mending roof leaks, upgrading the toilets, revamping the restaurant including putting in new furniture, and redecorating throughout the centre ready to reopen in early March.
A former Dobbies manager will be taking over the day-to-day running of the new site, with both branches overseen by the team in Stratford.
Ms Lloyd said the new site will be called Warwick Garden Centre and feature branded signage and staff uniforms to match the Stratford centre.
It will also have many of the same features such as franchises and soft play but this will be part of a longer-term transformation.
She explained: “At the moment, we really want to get it back open and running as a garden centre.
“It’s not had a lot of stock for the last six to 12 months, so we’ll be putting fresh stock in there, using the expertise we have here on the plant side.”
Ms Lloyd said the company was not put off by national garden chain Dobbies’ decision to close the branch on 23rd December last year, as one of 11 it axed as part of a company restructure targeting its unprofitable outlets.
She said: “There was a garden centre there that has traditionally done well and served the north-east side of Stratford including Warwick and Leamington, Kenilworth and everything in that M40, A46 corridor.
“We’re a family, independent business that’s here in Stratford and knows the community.
“Dobbies is a big company based in Scotland – it’ll be a lot different for an independent that can react and invest in a centre that hasn’t had a lot of investment for a long time.”
She added: “For us, it’s a good opportunity. It's building links with the local community and investing the money into the local economy – into Stratford.”
It’s 20 years since the Stratford Garden Centre moved into Clifford Chambers and it now employs 100 people on site who are a mix of full- and part time.
Stratford Garden Centre is a trading name of Whitacre Garden Centre Ltd. To apply for a role at the soon-to-be opened Warwick Garden Centre, email hr@stratfordgardencentre.co.uk
