Dobbies Garden Centre, Tewkesbury

Gratte Brothers was delighted to design, procure and install the commercial catering facilities required to bring their new Tewkesbury store, the latest and largest Dobbies store in the southwest, to life.

Dobbies Tewkesbury’s food and drink offering consists of four areas; a main kitchen serving the garden centre restaurant, a dispense bar area for tea and coffee, a butcher’s area inclusive of front and rear counters and a counter for the coffee shop. Each of these areas were carefully designed, specified and installed to meet each facility’s individual requirements.

The kitchen also includes a bakery area equipped with combination ovens and a dishwasher area designed to include a rack conveyer, utensil washer and a waste station. In addition to this equipment, the kitchen required both internal and external walk in cold and freezer rooms which were handed over early in order to allow Dobbies to take delivery of their food orders ahead of the launch date.

In order to provide an array of refreshments for Dobbies’ customers whilst they peruse the site’s almost 75,000 square foot coffee shop, offers a variety of beverages including a coffee counter and the main restaurant features a dispense bar. Both stations required under counter refrigeration, a bottle cooler and water boilers.

An enticing component of this store is the foodhall which is stocked with Waitrose produce and a busy Walter Smith deli and butchers counter, which prepares and makes all of its produce in store. In order to offer these elements, a fully equipped butcher’s area was vital and the final design saw the provision of front and rear counters, a butcher’s block, combination ovens, a meat ageing fridge and dishwashers.

A challenge on this project was logistics due to multiple suppliers being present on site within our extensive areas of work however the team’s experience and desire to be proactive ensured that all areas were completed on time and within the builder’s programme to ensure no delay to the client. Dobbies Tewkesbury officially opened its doors on 3^rd November 2022.