GLASSWELLS, East Anglia's largest independent furnishing retailer, has been given the green light for its planned new showroom in Ipswich. Work is scheduled to begin shortly on a £5 million, 73,000 sq ft store on the Orwell Retail Park, off Ranelagh Road, which will be similar in size to Glasswells' store on Newmarket Road in Bury St Edmunds and nearly four times the size of its existing store in Martlesham Heath.

GLASSWELLS, East Anglia's largest independent furnishing retailer, has been given the green light for its planned new showroom in Ipswich.

Work is scheduled to begin shortly on a £5 million, 73,000 sq ft store on the Orwell Retail Park, off Ranelagh Road, which will be similar in size to Glasswells' store on Newmarket Road in Bury St Edmunds and nearly four times the size of its existing store in Martlesham Heath.

Planning permission has now been granted from the scheme by Ipswich Borough Council and the new store is scheduled to open at the end of the year, creating around 70 new jobs for the town.

Managing director Paul Glasswell said: “This is great news for us. We're keen to get underway with the building works just as soon as possible now.

“Next week we will start with a huge closing down sale at our 'Furniture Now' showroom, which is on the site currently. We then plan to get underway with construction work in April.”

The plans for the site involve a landmark building with a glass frontage to replace the current 1970s store, together with substantial landscaping. The other stores on the Orwell Retail Park site - Focus DIY and Pets at Home - will remain unchanged.

Mr Glasswell added: “There is a lot of development going on in and around Ipswich at the moment, and we see it as an area with a great deal of potential. We've had a store at Martlesham since 1995 and it's always done well. We're now ready to take our investment in east Suffolk to a different level, based on that experience.”

Glasswells' Martlesham Heath store will remain open for the foreseeable future. The company - set up by Paul Glasswell's father and grandfather in Bury St Edmunds more than 60 years ago - also has retail showrooms in Saffron Walden and Haverhill and divisions specialising in contract furnishings, furniture removals and storage.