'˜Business as usual' during £15m redevelopment at Sussex garden centre

Garden centre chain Haskins is to create 70 new jobs as part of a major expansion at its centre in Snowhill, Copthorne, which it aims to complete in spring 2020.

Bosses say the garden centre will continue trading as normal until Thursday February 28 and then a temporary centre will open on the site on March 1 before the main centre reopens in spring next year.

The developers are currently working on the first phase, creating a new car park and entrance and establishing the temporary centre to continue trading.

Haskins, which bought the Snowhill site in 2003, says the redevelopment is needed because of a number of ageing buildings on the site.

Chief executive Julian Winfield said: “We have worked closely with the local authority and our neighbours over a number of years to achieve the permission to develop the site.”

The redevelopment will mean all goods and services will be located in one contemporary building. There will be a revamped customer restaurant with seating for 440 and an outdoor terrace. The restaurant will provide customers a wider range of meals, snacks and drinks, say Haskins.

Other improvements will include a new large covered outdoor sales area, as well as a revamped car park with 346 parking spaces.

Julian Winfield added: “Once the Snowhill redevelopment is finished, we will have four purpose-built garden centres which puts Haskins in a unique position. Most leading garden centre groups have centres of varying shapes and sizes, but having four similar sites helps us alleviate the complexities of management.”