A strong base of loyal local customers is helping a family-owned garden nursery chain to reach new heights.
Notcutts has signed up 3,500 members to its loyalty programme in Woodbridge alone.
"These are people who are really invested. The scheme started 15 years ago," explains chief executive Nick Burrows.
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Nick Burrows, chief executive of Notcutts (Image: Sarah Chambers)
The Suffolk-based £87m turnover firm - which employs 1,000 people across its 19 UK garden centres - believes its family ethos is at the heart of its continuing popularity.
Started 129 years ago in Woodbridge, it has continued to adapt and evolve under the founder's great-granddaughter, Caroline Notcutt.
Over the last eight years, the business has given its garden centre in Suffolk a major multi-million-pound makeover.
During that time - and even while works were being undertaken including the removal of the roof over the retail area - turnover at the site grew from £2.2m to £3.5m.
Clothing brand Apricot is now available in the new indoor retail shopping area at Notcutts Woodbridge (Image: Pagepix)
The extended overhaul was toasted at a special ceremony attended by family members on Friday (July 31).
Nick - who is from Woodbridge - joined the business 11 years ago when turnover was at around £60m.
The Woodbridge makeover - replicated across its other sites - has seen the business "progress quite significantly", he says.
This is down to the efforts of general manager Stacey East and her team, he adds, who are tasked with connecting "as meaningfully as possible with our members".
There are benefits to membership - but there are other intangibles, he suggests.
The new roadside exterior of Notcutts Woodbridge (Image: Pagepix)
"It's a sense of belonging - it's really important to customers."
The rebuild and refurbishment has also been key, he says. They replaced an old, low roof which leaked no matter what they did.
They feared they might lose the site's intrinsic character, but feel the end look has stayed true to the feel of the place.
There's still a sense of discovery with hidden nooks and corners and "the experience can be different every time".
The new expanded houseplants department at Notcutts Woodbridge (Image: Pagepix)
Before joining Notcutts, Nick worked for different organisations as a "turnaround" manager. When he got the call to join Notcutts he was immediately drawn.
He grew up in the town and Notcutts was his dad's favourite garden centre. "There was a romance to it," he says.
He had a connection to the town but he was also attracted by Caroline Notcutt's long-term vision for the business.
Notcutts, founded by Roger Crompton Notcutt, as it was around the 1880s (Image: Notcutts)
"I have been here helping the family realise that long-term vision," he says.
Although the company was in a healthy state there were characteristics of a turnaround in the need to renew and refresh the garden centres.
These remain by far the biggest part of the family business which also includes commercial and residential property and some land.
The original Notcutts Woodbridge Garden Centre circa 1960s on the same Ipswich Road site where it remains today (Image: Notcutts)
With the makeover complete at Woodbridge he believes it will grow rapidly - with areas such as its clothing lines and a 250-cover restaurant already going from strength to strength.
It's more than just a shop, he says, it's a day out. "This is a leisure destination," he says. There are seasonal transformations including at Christmas.
"We think this particular garden centre will have an opportunity to really surge on now."
Surprisingly, it's not the plants but the food which makes the most money these days.
The restaurant is the biggest earner, followed by plant sales, then plant accessories and finally outdoor furniture.
The spacious new indoor shopping area at Notcutts Woodbridge features an expanded range of homeware, clothing, gifts, food, furniture and pet supplies. (Image: Pagepix)
Notcutts has been important for the local and regional economy.
Furniture, which changes according to the fashion and the season, is stored at Debach Enterprises in Ipswich - another local business - which is its distribution centre. Far Logistics of Felixstowe deals with the shipping.
There are other growing aspects to the business, such as its food hall, which is now a dedicated space.
Started in 1897 by Roger Crompton Notcutt in Suffolk, the company is into its fifth generation with Caroline's son Samuel now among the shareholders.
By turnover, its biggest-grossing site is Woodford Park, Manchester, followed by Norwich. Wheatcroft at Nottingham is the third biggest earner.
"Chimney pots are always a factor," explains Nick.
Notcutts Woodbridge general manager Stacey East (Image: Sarah Chambers)
General manager Stacey East says Woodbridge's 100-strong workforce has worked "incredibly hard" in difficult conditions while building has gone around them.
"It's been challenging," she admits.
"My team has been vital in keeping disruption to a minimum."
To add to their difficulties, the site lies on a slope - making changes more complicated.
For Caroline - who has been going to the Woodbridge centre since she was a toddler in the late 1960s - it's been particularly poignant.
"I'm incredibly proud to have this as lovely as our other centres around the country - it's our emotional home," she says.
"It's onwards and upwards. We have set the scene for a very sustainable future."
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