Office plan could create 450 jobs
UP to 450 jobs could be brought to Tarleton as a distribution firm plans to move its headquarters to a former garden centre.
Barron Wood, which is currently based in Much Hoole, wants to build new offices after the demolition of the former Dunscar garden centre on Southport New Road.
The plans would also see the garden centre’s cafe and glasshouses demolished, as well as two residential bungalows.
According to the application, Barron Wood, which offers haulage services across the UK and Europe, has outgrown its existing offices but the company’s bosses are keen to stay in the area. Of its current staff, around two-thirds live within three miles.
The firm currently has 125 employees at its Much Hoole headquarters but plans to grow this number to between 380 and 450 within the next 15 years.
It is also introducing a training academy targeting local schools and colleges for future employment within the transport industry.
It has now submitted plans to West Lancashire Borough Council to demolish the former Dunscar site to allow the company to return to Tarleton, where it was orignally started.
Dunscar, which was established in 1948, closed down around a year ago and the site has remained empty ever since. A similar business, Sooty’s Garden Centre, is located directly opposite the site, while another, Lyndene Garden Centre, is located just a few hundred yards further down the road.
The application states: “Originally located in Tarleton, [Barron Wood] outgrew their small rural premises and moved to their current premises at Brook Lane, Much Hoole in 2010.
“In the last eight years they have extended the building three times and are now at the capacity of the site, having grown from 40 staff when they moved to Hoole to currently employing around 200.
“They also have an office in Glasgow but Much Hoole is their headquarters.
“Barron Wood have looked at various options to relocate their expanding business but are reluctant to move out of the area and very much pride themselves on being a local employer of local people.”