Flourishing farm to invest more than £500k into improvements – with dozens of new jobs on the way 

Street food dining is on its way to a popular farm shop and café as it prepares for a revamp costing more than £500,000 to enhance customer experience. 

A phased programme of work is due to begin at Canalside Farm, in Great Haywood, near Stafford, later this year after planning permission was granted to extend the car park, coffee shop and farm shop and to construct a new building linking different parts of the site. 

The management team at Canalside is said to be “itching to get started” on the work after years of discussions. 

Once complete, the redevelopment is expected to create 30 to 40 new jobs. 

Anna Barton, Head of Business Development at the attraction, said: “We are really excited to have been given planning permission for the scheme. 

“It will be a huge change for us, but one that is needed to guarantee our customers a space in the café and on the car park when they visit. 

“We have become incredibly busy and are grateful for the support of our customers which has allowed us to grow. 

“We are overwhelmed by the response we have had to the plans and all the positive comments we have received.” 

Work will be done in stages with disruption to customers kept to a minimum. 

The first phase will concentrate on the car park and take place autumn this year, with the café extension scheduled to start in January and be ready come Spring 2025. 

The café can currently seat 72 diners, but this will increase to space for 135 people. 

A covered link building to be built from there to the farm shop will avoid the need for people to cross a service road between the two. 

This building will provide a new entrance to the farm’s pick-your-own experiences, a flexible space for events and be home to food stalls. 

Anna added: “We envisage this space to be a dog-friendly, indoor space with an outdoor feel. 

“We’d like it to sell quick food such as woodfired pizzas, ice creams and coffees and will also use it for events such as our workshops.” 

The 8,665 sq ft proposed building development will be offset by the removal of 9,536 sq ft of existing glasshouse space near the farm shop, currently used for events, selling and growing plants.