New Braehead garden development set to create 120 jobs

ONE of the most popular garden centres across Britain is heading home to its roots in Renfrew.

Dobbies is planning to create a brand new garden centre at Braehead, near the town where James Dobbie started his horticultural business in 1865.

And the £10 million investment to build a 45,000 square foot Dobbies Garden World will mean a jobs boost for the area with 120 full and part-time posts being created.

The proposal is to build the state-of-the-art garden centre behind the IKEA furniture store and bring a little bit of the countryside to a derelict piece of land with extensive landscaping and planting of new native trees and shrubs.

Local companies will also benefit from the proposed garden centre, as Dobbies bosses are keen to source local suppliers to fill the shelves of their Farm Foodhall, sell produce for the top quality restaurant and provide other goods and services.

The public are invited to an exhibition about the garden centre, which is being held in Braehead Shopping Centre between 9am and 10pm on Thursday, December 10.

The Braehead garden centre would be a replacement for the company's present smaller garden centre, at Dykebar, Renfrewshire, which is on land that has been earmarked for housing.

All staff at Dykebar will be offered jobs at the new garden centre.

Dobbies' director of properties Stuart Wright said: "We are delighted not only to be staying in Renfrewshire but coming home to our roots in Renfrew where our company was founded all those years ago.

"The proposed new Dobbies Garden World, at Braehead, will give the people of Renfrewshire and the surrounding area the very best garden centre facility.

"We are also keen to play our part in the local community with new jobs, opportunities for local companies to provide us with goods and services along with gardening demonstrations and a children's club encouraging them to take an interest in gardening.

"We hope lots of people will come along to our exhibition so they can see for themselves the huge benefits the proposed new garden centre will bring to them and their community."

Dobbies was founded 144 years ago by James Dobbie, whose full-time job was chief constable and public prosecutor at Renfrew. He had been a keen amateur horticulturist from an early age and won many prizes for growing flowers and vegetables.

James started the company with 16 ounces of seeds from a leek, which he packeted under the name 'Dobbies Champion' and they sold out in two days.

Encouraged, James started to take a more professional interest in seed growing and propagation.

But tragically, just before his 50th birthday in 1866, the son he hoped would run the business died.

As a result, James resigned from his post as chief constable and public prosecutor and devoted himself entirely to J. Dobbie Choice Seeds and Flowers, of Renfrew until he sold the business in 1887.