Planners at Malcolm Scott Consultants Ltd have secured permission for a nine-acres Christmas light trail installation at Bents Garden Centre in Warrington this winter.

The business was instructed by owner Matthew Bent to submit the application to Warrington Metropolitan Borough Council for the installation on land to the rear of the garden centre as part of the business’ ongoing commitment to providing attractions for visitors.

Chris Primett, Director of Malcolm Scott Consultants, said:  “Matthew and the team have adopted an innovative and proactive approach to increase footfall at the centre to ensure they can offer an enhanced customer experience, with recent successes including an artisan market, a mini Crufts-fest, gardening master classes and Tai Chi and Yoga classes.

“The business is excellent at listening to and responding to customer feedback, and further to the popularity of the annual Christmas Market at the garden centre, many visitors have said that they’d like to see more winter family attractions.

“The team felt that a Light Trail would prove very popular with their customers, and further to reviewing a detailed application prepared on its behalf, the local authority approved plans to install one at the site this winter,” he said.

The Light Trail will be 1.3km long and will open to the public on Friday 14th November 2025, closing on Sunday 4th January 2026.

The Trail will start and finish within the garden centre, and will open to pre-booked visitors at 4.30pm with the last entry being admitted at 7.30pm prior to being closed at 9pm.

Chris added that the attraction is projected to attract 46,000 visitors over the course of 51 days.

“For the remainder of the year, when the Light Trail is not installed, the gardens will be open to the public and free to enter. The theme of the gardens will be leisure and educational where visitors can learn about plants and enjoy walking through nine acres of landscaped grounds,” he said.

Matthew Bent said: “Providing the very best customer experience possible is essential to our success, and their input helps us make that happen. The general consensus from our visitors was that they’d like something out of the ordinary to entertain them this winter, and we think the light trail will be a hit. 

“Chris and the team understood exactly what we were looking to achieve with the attraction, and we’re delighted that the trail has been approved. We’re looking forward to seeing it in situ and the reaction from our customers when it opens in November.

The Malcolm Scott Consultants team will be exhibiting at Glee at the NEC, Birmingham, from September 16-18, and can be found on stand 11D70.

To make an appointment, contact Chris at chrisp@malcolmscott.co.uk.