Garden centre may reopen in 2020 after review by owners
A GARDEN centre in West London which closed last month may reopen in 2020, its site owners have revealed.
Syon Park Garden Centre, in Brentford, shut its doors in September, with 62 people reportedly losing their jobs.
Wyevale decided to relinquish its lease on the site in August, with the decision part of plans to slim down its portfolio.
It is understood that while the garden centre has closed, Wyevale is still using offices on the site, which it plans to vacate by the end of January 2020.
Northumberland Estates has confirmed it is “reviewing the situation”, and it is hoped the garden centre will reopen under a new operator next year.
“Following news of this closure, we have acted swiftly to review the situation and our options,” said Colin Barnes, director of planning at Northumberland Estates. “Our priority is to re-establish trading from the site as soon as is feasible.
“With this in mind we are looking at a number of options, with the main priority being to reopen the garden centre, offices and restaurant/café under a new operator or operators.
“Obviously it is important to find the right solution to this unexpected problem, and we anticipate this being an operator offering similar services [to Wyevale], while also looking to create new employment opportunities for the area.
“We are working hard to achieve this, but unfortunately these things take time to set up.
“The Wyevale operation involved a lot of local jobs and it is important for us to try to replace these as soon as possible.”
In the longer term, Northumberland Estates says there are plans to provide “new investment for the Wyevale site”.
“This may include upgrading the restaurant and garden centre and including new leisure facilities, looking to improve accessibility, and generally making the area more attractive, thus creating an improved asset for the locality which complements the existing visitor offer at Syon Park,” a spokesman for the company said.
Syon Park Garden Centre was one of two garden centres Wyevale closed last month, with Potters Bar Garden Centre in Hertfordshire also now shut. Elsewhere in west London, Wyevale Garden Centre Osterley, in Windmill Lane, Isleworth, remains open.