Hillmount announces £1.5million investment in Carrick with familiar name bowing out at Sunnybank after almost 60 years

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A total of 10 jobs are to be created as garden lifestyle business Hillmount expands into Carrickfergus.

Hillmount Carrick will join four other garden centres which are already owned and operated by the Mercer family in Ards, Bangor, Belfast and Cheshire.

The £1.5m investment will enable the installation of a new 60-seater café and extended plant area on the existing site of Sunnybank which has been in the Hardy family for 58 years.

Robin Mercer BEM, managing director of Hillmount, said: “We are really looking forward to bringing the Hillmount garden lifestyle brand to Carrick. Our family has been serving the local community in east Belfast since 1940 and more recently in Ards, Bangor and Cheshire.

Two year old Reya Mercer celebrates the news that Hillmount Carrick will open in spring. She is pictured with dad Alan and grandparents Edith and Robin. Photo: submitted

"This latest opportunity to open in Mid and East Antrim marks an exciting new chapter in the ambitious longer term expansion plans for our family business.

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“The addition of a new Gardener’s Rest Café will offer visitors to Hillmount Carrick a relaxing space to enjoy a coffee after exploring the newly extended plant area.

“Opening Hillmount Carrick is testament to the hard work and vision of our family over four generations. We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved.

"It also reflects our continued commitment to excellence and dedication in serving gardening enthusiasts across Northern Ireland and beyond.”

It is anticipated the Beltoy Road outlet will be open and ready to welcome customers both old and new by spring of this year.

Robin added: “We would like to put on record our thanks to the Hardy family who have made the transition of their much-loved garden centre as seamless as possible. We wish them well in their retirement.”