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A Morayshire furniture business is moving to a new premises, tripling its current square footage, following a £2m funding package from Bank of Scotland.
Established in 1975, Grampian Furnishers will move from its original building in Lossiemouth to a purpose-built 30,000 sq ft store on the edge of Elgin’s main commuter route on the A96.
The family business which currently employs 14 people, will be looking to recruit six new staff over the next six months following the opening of the new store.
The move comes as the firm reported an increase in annual turnover over the past several years, prompting the owner to secure a new location for the business.
The £3.5m project was funded by Bank of Scotland and the firm’s own capital, allowing Grampian Furnishers to acquire two acres of land, install a new access road and build the two-story building with coffee house.
Royce Clark, Director at Grampian Furnishers, said: “I took over the company 20 years ago from my father who established the business in Elgin back in 1975. I felt it was time to expand our offering as our loyal customer base, and the demand for our products has increased year on year. Because of this, we had really outgrown our existing premises. However, due to the lack of availability of suitable buildings, the only viable option was to build our own showroom.
“Getting planning permission wasn’t straightforward, but all the effort has been worth it. Thanks to the Bank of Scotland, we’ve been able to secure the site at the gateway in Elgin which has great visibility and a high volume of passing traffic on the A96. The road’s easy access will also hopefully lead to attracting more customers to our new store.”
Michael Thomson, Relationship Manager at Bank of Scotland, said: “Supporting businesses across all sectors in Scotland is at the core of what we do and we’re proud to be supporting Royce and his team with their exciting growth plans.
“As part of our commitment to helping Scotland prosper, job creation across Morayshire is always a positive. It’s fantastic to know our support of the new store will benefit local employment.
“We have a team of dedicated relationship managers ready to help businesses like Grampian Furnishers in the retail sector and beyond, continue to flourish.”