Growing Businesses

Growing a business whilst successfully running a business takes considerable skill. Take your eye off running your business for too long and it goes off the boil. Ignore the development of a successful strategy to grow your business and you flounder in future. If this wasn't enough, you have to contend with unpredictable weather greatly influencing your turnover, interest rate changes which can unsettle ambitious plans and always the possibility of loss of key members of staff. We at Malcolm Scott Consultants Ltd understand this; we recognise your business concerns.

We call them ‘Entrepreneurial Imperatives' and have identified the following:

The Market Niche

“Will my existing centre remain attractive to customers and competitive in the future?” “What will the new extension I am considering look like?” “What form should the new garden centre that I am considering developing take?” “How will it compare to my present centre?” “Will the centre continue to appeal to customers in the future?” “How long will the centre remain competitive to achieve an acceptable pay-back to me?”

The Operation of the Centre

“How should I improve the operation of my centre in future to keep costs under control?” “How can my extension or new centre be built cost effectively whilst I continue trading?” “Is this new profit centre I may develop something I could run, or that my staff could operate?” “Is this new growth achievable? Do I feel happy with it?”

Creating Asset Value

“Is my new extension or new centre going to create a saleable asset?” “Is the extension or new centre likely to get town planning approval and building regulation approval, to ensure that it is able to be operated and able to command a good sale price in future?”

Cost of Development

“What is the overall real cost of extending my centre or creating a new one – not just the building, but the fitting out?” “How can I economise on some of these costs?” “Can I successfully phase the development?”

Minimising the Risk

“Can I get involved in this new profit centre or develop a new centre on a ‘suck it and see' basis?” “Which parts of the new centre can get me started with the least investment of money and is most easy for my existing operation to handle?” “Which of the various options that I have: to extend my existing centre; develop a new centre; move into new product areas and services – is the least risky?”

CASE STUDY

Hayes Garden World, Ambleside

Malcolm Scott Consultants have designed and gained planning permission for a new ‘World of Plants' at Hayes' well known Garden Centre in Ambleside in the Lake District National Park .

Malcolm Scott Consultants were invited by Hayes to plan the redevelopment of their once famous but now somewhat old and tired Plant Sales Area. Malcolm Scott 's response to the brief was to carry out a strategic design audit of the site and they came up with a Master Plan for the Garden Centre which placed plants at the very heart of the Garden Centre by creating an innovative circular ‘World of Plants'. This involved an extensive redevelopment of the existing Plant Sales Area to create new protected sales spaces consisting of 1,140m², an ‘Open Sky' Glasshouse to allow the sale of bedding plants all the year round, and a new 1,124m² glazed Covered Plant Sales Area for seasonal plant promotions. A large 2,000m² plus Open Area in a half circle lies adjacent to these two protected sales areas and this in turn is accessed by customers under a circular wide canopy. Adjacent is a 12m wide canopy giving complete protection for the sale of garden hard goods – pots, statuary, hard landscape products and cold water aquatics. In addition, an old and under-used glasshouse building will be entirely redeveloped with a 1,470m² insulated building for the sale of core garden sundries and a new and exciting aquatic offer. New extensions to the Covered Area will see the existing heated Retail Sales Area extended and much better customer linkage to the plant offer which lies in the centre of the new Hayes Garden World.

This exciting development sees not only the creation of an innovative Plant Sales offer but takes into account the changing weather patterns by providing more plant and customer protection. Links with sustainable drainage and water harvesting will make Hayes a more sustainable Garden Centre. The planning application was approved by the Lake District National Park following extensive consultation and promotion of the plan by Malcolm Scott Consultants. The Lake District National Park Planning Authority liked the high standard of design and the way the new Garden Centre layout, being organic in its shape, fits into its sensitive surroundings. We and Hayes are very pleased with the result and look forward to a new page opening in Hayes Garden Centre's successful story.