ACRES Garden Supply prides itself on maintaining a family feel and offering a wide range of products to deck out anyone’s garden no matter what their needs, tastes or budget.

Acres, based in Corsley, was founded by husband and wife John and Jenny White 49 years ago and started out life as a landscaping business.

Over time, passers-by began to spot the remnants of materials in the depot left over from jobs the couple had carried out that day and people started asking the couple if they were for sale.

They then realised that there was a gap in the market in the area and started up the garden centre around 15 years after launching the landscaping business.

The reins of the company are slowly being handed over to the sons, Rob and Dan White, who are hoping to carry on their parents’ good work.

Rob, 37, said: “We provide a high quality service and are always looking at ways of growing the business and thinking creatively.

“In modern times people are becoming busier and busier which means they have less time to spend gardening, so we have really focussed on artificial grass products which don’t require as much maintenance, and they've proved very popular.

“We still run the landscaping side of things too, headed up by Dan and his colleague Chris, who speak to people to find out what they would like their garden to look like before the items are purchased from us at the garden centre from our experienced staff.”

The business specialises in paving and, as an independent retailer, has the luxury of ordering in all of the products it wants.

Mrs White, 62, said: “I never thought the business would get to the stage it’s at today when John and I started out.

“It’s all thanks to our hardworking sons that it’s been able to continue and we’re certain they will do a great job of taking the business on.

“We are very proud of what we’ve achieved as lots of people aren’t able to say they’ve managed to keep a business running for this amount of time.

“One of the keys to our success is that we treat both our staff and customers in the way in which we like to be treated ourselves, with respect.”

For more information, visit www.acressupply.co.uk.