The eagerly-awaited new £3.5m ‘Build Centre’ opened at Trago’s landmark Newton Abbot site last month.

The Trago Build Centre is a purpose-built stand-alone retail facility, adjacent to the main store and comprises 2,088 square meters (22,475 square feet) of building materials, tools and work wear. In addition, there is an external stock yard of 1,209 square metres (13,000 square feet) offering a comprehensive range of heavy-sided goods. Geared towards the construction and building trade, there is also an expanded range for Trago’s DIY customers. DIY products currently account for approximately 20% of the discount retailer’s turnover.

In addition to opening at 7am on Monday – Saturday (with 10am opening on Sunday), trade customers will benefit from account facilities, together with discount schemes through Trago’s contract sales division, Trago2Business.  The on-site petrol filling station at the site will also be opening from 7am on Monday – Saturday to allow for convenient refuelling by trade vehicles.

The Trago Build Centre incorporates several of the retailer’s famous signature architectural features, including 3 ‘Trago Towers’. Dedicated parking is also available, together with a separate entrance off the road leading to the Riverside Car Park at the front of the store.

Trago chairman and owner, Bruce Robertson, said: “The opening of the Garden Park in 2009 and the subsequent vacating of the former Garden Centre site has finally allowed us to deliver a vision that has been nurtured for many years, to provide a better, more comprehensive service to the building trade. It also has the virtue of releasing space within the retail store, allowing the business to re-focus on home improvement and decorative products, the finishing touches if you will: this however remains a work in progress until the Build Centre is open for business and that floor space becomes available. Our customers, whether improving their homes or ‘in the trade’, will find a new depth to the offer with much more choice, more brands and at better than ever Trago prices.” 

Managing director Brent Pinhay added: “This is the culmination of several years’ worth of planning and working with Teignbridge District Council. The Build Centre sits perfectly alongside our main store here at Newton Abbot - and expands our ethos of ‘price, price, price’ and depth of range to an even wider audience, who will be able to purchase their building requisites from us.” 

The Build Centre has created 12 new jobs for locals, in addition to the 600 staff already employed across Trago’s Newton Abbot site.  Build Centre manager, Martin Staveley said: “The team is very excited about the opening and they have all been working incredibly hard to get everything ready. It’s fantastic for me to be here right from the start and I’m really looking forward to taking on the challenge and to welcoming our customers.”