Bishop's Castle Tuffins branch in expansion plans

BOSSES OF a Shropshire supermarket today unveiled £500,000 plans to double the size of the store.

Paul Delves, managing director for the Harry Tuffins supermarket chain, said it was hoped work to double the 1,500 sq ft store at Church Street in Bishop's Castle would be carried out next summer and create up to five jobs, if plans are approved.

A planning application has been submitted to Shropshire Council to provide additional retail space, changing part of a car workshop into warehouse for the existing supermarket, installing a goods lift and providing six car parking spaces, making a total of 13.

It comes after company bosses announced plans for another £500,000 refurbishment at its Craven Arms store, while in recent months an atrium has been built at the front of the company's Ludlow store.

Two stores in Gloucestershire have also opened this year and major investment has also been carried out at the subsidiary Montgomery Natural Mineral Water Company based at Harry Tuffins' Churchstoke headquarters.

Mr Delves said: "We are looking to double the size of the Bishop's Castle store and put more of a range in there and create more storage space as well as to save on trips with the wagons.

"It's about 1,500 square foot in size at the moment and we are looking to double that. I would hope to take a few people on, realistically it would probably be four or five jobs."

He said: "Everybody's in competition at the moment, but the small stores are doing well so we are looking to expand and we are certainly investing in the local economy.

"It's part of ongoing investment in our stores, and at the same time we are putting something back into our local communities by creating job opportunities.

"Hopefully the work will be completed at Bishop's Castle by next summer, but it will depend on the planning process and how quickly it works."

The company has stores across south Shropshire and Mid Wales in Ludlow, Bishop's Castle, Craven Arms, Cleobury Mortimer, Churchstoke, Knighton and Machynlleth

The deadline for submitting comments on the plans is October 19.

By Hannah Costigan and Peter Kitchen