Bradford Garden Centre group announces plans for Stephen H Smith's Otley site

The directors at a Bradford Garden Centre group have announced plans for one of the sites that it acquired earlier in the year.

YGC Group, the parent company of Tong and Tingley Garden Centres, bought the two Stephen H Smith's garden centres in Otley and Harden, near Bingley and will start work on the Otley site in January 2023.

Phase one of the development plans for the Pool Road site includes new fixtures and benches for the outdoor plant area, a refurbishment of the garden space, a makeover for Hattie's restaurant, a new roof for the giftware area and the creation of a Hearty's Food Hall to showcase Yorkshire food and drink.

Of the £500,000 investment in the first phase of Otley's revamp, YGC Group MD, Mark Farnsworth (pictured) said: "When we acquired the Stephen H Smith's business in July, we wanted to take some time to understand how the centre operated and how we could most effectively enhance its offer for our customers. These redevelopment plans put gardening at the heart of the business, which is as it has always been. Our first investments in the centre are to improve the gardening offer and we hope our customers will notice a real difference by the spring. We also know that Edinburgh Woollen Mill is very popular, and we are delighted they will be relocating next to the refurbished restaurant.

"The existing team are very excited by the plans; the centre is very ready for these improvements, and we hope it will offer great career opportunities for our existing team as well as creating around 10 great new local job opportunities. We will be running a series of events in the early spring, but we will remain open throughout the whole period."

YGC Group founders, Mark Farnsworth and Tom Megginson bought Tong Garden Centre in 2015 and opened the £14m Tingley Garden Centre in September 2022. There are also plans to redevelop the Harden site and they hope to have these finalised by the end of the year.