Thetford Garden Centre in Kilverstone completes makeover - including new bakery

A garden centre has announced the completion of a major development project, including a new bakery.

Thetford Garden Centre in Kilverstone, completed phase one, just before Christmas.

This included a side extension to the building, creating new offices, a modern meeting room, staff toilets, and a high-quality staff room featuring a patio area.

This expansion allowed for an increase in shop-floor space, enabling the centre to offer a broader selection of garden tools, gloves, and footwear.

Phase two started in early January.

This involved expanding the customer toilet facilities by repurposing the old offices and adding another extension to create a larger storage area for the restaurant, Lime Kiln Kitchen, as well as a new bakery and development kitchen.

With the introduction of the new bakery, Lime Kiln Kitchen will now produce all its cakes, traybakes, and desserts in-house, with plans to offer pre-ordered celebration cakes and catering services in the future.

The food department has also seen substantial growth, introducing new product ranges with a focus on local suppliers and fellow B-Corps, including increased ranges of chiller and frozen produce.

Lucy Nixon, managing director, said: “Each phase of this project has been essential and long overdue.

“We initially planned to start construction in 2020, but the global pandemic delayed our timeline.

“It has taken several years for the business to recover, and we are thrilled to finally invest in these much-needed improvements.

“Our previous staff room was inadequate, and we are pleased to now offer a space that everyone values and utilizes, fostering increased social interactions among our teams.

“Additionally, our customer toilets have been upgraded to a high standard, perfectly complementing Lime Kiln Kitchen.

“We dedicated considerable time to designing the décor, and we hope our customers will love it.

Lucy added: “We have always strived to make as much as possible in-house, but our previous kitchen size limited our production capabilities.

“While we sourced high-quality cakes, nothing compares to homemade.

“Now, we can create exceptional cakes in generous portions that we believe our customers will truly enjoy.”