A garden centre which was saved from uncertainty last year is celebrating its first anniversary. Perrywood Sudbury was bought from Wyevale by the directors of Essex-based Perrywood Garden Centre, and had its first day of trading on 25 September 2018.
Since Perrywood took over the Newton Road site, they have created 13 more jobs, and increased contractual hours for nine of the ex-Wyevale team. There are now 34 employees in total.
During the last year the team has turned the centre around. It has focused on improving the offering and bringing a Perrywood feel to the store with ‘how-to’ leaflets, houseplants at the front of the store and more stock including new and improved ranges of bird care, gloves, tools, indoor and outdoor plants (including plants from the Perrywood Grown range) and pots.
They invested more than £100k in a new kitchen and coffee shop, reopening it as a destination for customers looking for home-cooked breakfasts, soup, hot lunches freshly made sandwiches, cakes and of course Perrywood’s famous scones.
To help celebrate its first birthday, staff hosted a week of in-store promotions and social media competitions, which included free tea or coffee when buying any food in the coffee shop on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September.
Simon Bourne, Retail Director at Perrywood, says: “We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating our first year in Sudbury.
“The community has been so welcoming to us and has really supported us since we took over. We have some regular and very loyal customers so we hope to see as many as possible in store to help us celebrate. The high street is not an easy environment for retailers at the moment but we believe our fabulous, hardworking and knowledgeable staff, high quality plants and inspiring visual merchandising, have helped us buck the trend.”
Perrywood has more than 30 years’ experience running its award-winning Tiptree garden centre, which comprises of a plant production nursery, gift and home shop and 260-seater coffee shop and restaurant. As a £10m turnover business, the company employs 164 staff and is ranked at number three in the Garden Centre Association (GCA) league table of UK garden centres.
As a business, Perrywood is committed to supporting charities and the local community. During 2018, Perrywood Tiptree donated more than £26,000 to charities.
Garden Centre Manager Steve and Plant Area Expert Jane from Perrywood Sudbury recently took part in a sponsored skydive, raising £1035 for Colchester Hospital which was matched by Perrywood. In addition, the store has donated hundreds of pounds worth of gift vouchers, plants and products to local schools, charities and community groups – such as Sudbury in Bloom.
