An independent garden business, situated in former railway buildings, says it has adapted to the changing demands of customers following the lockdown years.
Renowned for its vast selection of ceramic pots, The Pot Place at Plumpton, has also been supplying home gardeners, professional garden designers and hospitality venues since it opened in 2005.
However, interest in gardening, especially growing your own food, has expanded in the past couple of years, as has the demand for garden buildings to provide extra space or home offices.
As an independent garden centre, the Pot Place has also been able to respond quickly to the calls for more polytunnels, seed varieties, raised beds and cold frames.
Paul Thomas, of The Pot Place, explained: “Lockdown increased people’s interest in growing their own food, which was seen across the country.
“We were quick to pick up on the demand from our customers and now carry more stock of equipment, pots, fruit and veg plants.
“When we started in 2005, we were selling just pots. However, today we have expanded to include plants, gifts, garden furniture, garden buildings and the popular tearooms based in the old Station Master’s House.
“Because we source and stock extra large pots, we have customers outside Cumbria who are looking for these bigger ceramic containers.
“We have just sent one of our largest pots to a country house hotel in Scotland this week, and we supply landscape gardeners who maintain as well as design gardens for a number of hotels and attractions in the region.
“We import directly from Vietnam, where we can source the best pots, as well as two manufacturers in the UK, in Wales and Yorkshire.
“Most of our customers are local to us in Cumbria, but we attract visitors from all over the world when they’re in the area — and we source our stock from around the globe to find the best products, too.
“Our plants are also sourced both locally and all over Europe. We have plants coming in from Holland and Italy as well as supplied from the west coast of Cumbria and Scotland. We listen to our customers, which guides what we stock and also to improve our customer experience.
“In 2017, when we needed to expand our tearoom, we acquired an old school building from Abbeytown School near Wigton.
“The prefabricated wooden building was designed and made in Finland before being installed at Wigton shortly after the Second World War. We refurbished the schoolroom and it now provides additional space for our tearoom and also for local groups to hold their meetings, including Cumbria in Bloom.
“And over the past couple of years, we have improved our car parking facilities, and continue to expand our range of garden buildings. People are looking for more than a garden shed, and we have a large range of sheds, summerhouses, workshops and offices. The display buildings provide our customers with the opportunity to see and feel the quality of our buildings. A new range of wooden greenhouses will be on site soon too.”
Paul added: “Listening to our customers and their changing demands is how we have developed the business — and with our wide range of suppliers around the world, we aim to have new and exciting stock for customers when they visit.”
