Merry Harriers Garden Centre, Woolsery, Bideford, Devon, EX39 5QH

Christie & Co are delighted to bring to the market this fantastic business and property which includes a large established and highly profitable garden centre and restaurant with a range of concessions bringing additional revenue streams and further buildings now ready to be let. The garden centre also includes a highly popular tourist attraction The Gnome Reserve.
The site has been owner run for many years and includes a substantial detached property which sits on a large circa 11 acre site with a private lake and planning permission to build 4 waterside holiday lodges.

Merry Harriers Garden Centre is located in Woolsery in the historic port town of Bideford which is on the estuary of the River Torridge in North Devon.

The Property itself is surrounded by countryside and farmland but is also approximately a quarter of a mile from the A39 which is part of the North Devon Link Road that serves as a gateway to northern Devon and northern Cornwall, connecting the regions to the rest of Devon and the UK via the M5.

The latest census data shows that 117,170 people live within a 25km radius of the site. The demographic reports also indicate that this is an affluent area with higher than average home ownership, with 41.8% owning their homes outright.

Merry Harriers sits on a large site with a range of buildings which proved an extensive internal retail area which includes a number of units that are occupied by concessions (and two vacant units that could be let or owner occupied) as well as the Mad Hatters Restaurant which has 180 overs. The car park has around 100 spaces with an additional 20 spaces for staff.
The garden centre has a great reputation for its horticultural offering with an excellent plant area, much of which is covered offering a wide selection of plants, shrubs trees along with an excellent range of pots, garden furniture and ornaments, tools and hard landscaping ranges.
The site has a number of further storage barns and buildings that offer further potential to the incoming purchasers.

The vendors have planning permission to erect 4 holiday lodges to be sited next to the private lake. Full planning information can be found on the Torridge district council planning portal using the planning reference 1/1158/2022/FUL

The owner’s house is located on the southern side of the site with a private driveway and gardens. The house offers substantial accommodation of around 388.27 (4179sqft) of living space which includes 6 bedrooms, 4 generous reception rooms and a large kitchen/dining room. On the lower ground floor is a substantial garage, store room, study and utility room

Merry Harriers Garden Centre is a unique proposition offering a substantial amount of land with a fantastic owners accommodation as well as a strong trading garden centre and restaurant business.
The Gnome garden is an excellent leisure destination in this popular tourist area and helps drive footfall throughout the summer season, where many garden centres see a decline in visitors as people are away on holidays. Furthermore the property has planning permission to develop its own leisure business by building the 4 holiday lodges.
The property also has a number of retail units that are not currently occupied and could be readily let to concessions such as farm shops, pet care companies or the like. Alternatively the new owner could occupy the space and increase the revenue of the business.

The business is run by the owners with assistance from a team of staff who will transfer across under TUPE.

The business has grown significantly in recent years and still has considerable scope to grow.
The following table summarises the trading information over the last couple of years.

The large retail space offers considerable potential to grow income from concessions. Currently the business has two concessions which bring in £14,000 per annum.

The owners have recently taken back a space that was let to Edinburgh Wollen Mill to operate their own clothing department which is proving successful and looks set to siginifcantly increase the income produced by this space.

There are currently two unlet units that could be let to new tenants.

According to the valuation office the rateable value is £63,000. This is not the amount payable.