WITH over 70 showrooms nationwide the successful £70m Hammonds Furniture Group next month opens a new 1300 ft² showroom at award-winning Peterborough Garden Park.

Richard Hammonds, chairman and grandson of the founder, is personally overseeing the new store opening.  He comments on the reasons for Hammonds’ investment in Peterborough: “Despite some recent reports we see huge potential for Peterborough and this is a fantastic retail park.  Our customers are looking for a quality lifestyle shopping experience and that is just what Peterborough Garden Park offers.”

Hammonds are recruiting four new staff to work in the store which will feature all of the latest bedroom and office collections. 

As well as dedicated showrooms the leading fitted furniture specialists also have a presence in another 60 retailers around the UK, operating as concessions.   This is their first store to open in 2012 – with another five planned by the end of the year.

Peterborough Garden Park combines garden centre Van Hage’s dramatic ‘crystal palace’ building with a mix of other leading lifestyle retailers such as  Bedeck Home, Cotswold Outdoor, Cotton Traders Cath Kidston and Le Creuest.

Gordon Edington Chairman of Peterborough Garden Park commented: “We’re delighted to be welcoming such as prestigious interiors brand to the park, Hammonds is a perfect addition to our portfolio.”

Ambitious £15 m plans for a second phase of works to expand Peterborough Garden Park were presented last year which includes the possibility that a superstore is built, creating about 300 jobs as well as a training centre and a cycling hub for the Green Wheel. It is thought the work required to build the new section of the park, in Peterborough Road, Eye, will generate about 150 jobs in the construction industry.