It is not only Christmas trees that have been growing at Tayside Forestry, with the business opening its onsite caf and Christmas shop all year round.
Tayside Forestry, owned by Brian Hughes, supplies 70,000 wholesale Christmas trees to garden centres, including Homebase, across the UK and Ireland.
The business also sells around 3,000 trees to the public every year from its base at Templeton Christmas Tree Farm.
The business originally set up an onsite caf and Christmas shop at the farm with funding support from Bank of Scotland, for a limited one-month period during December last year.
Thanks to popular demand from customers and continued funding support, Tayside Forestry will open its 24-seat cafe and Christmas-themed shop selling decorations, fairy lights and more, throughout the year.
The business has expanded this year, having bought an additional 25 hectares, also supported by the bank, from nearby Kinpurnie Estate in March.
Tayside Forestry now has up to 160 hectares, with 650,000 trees in total. The business has sold out of wholesale trees so far this year, and retail sales to the public are also up 25% since the start of December.
Brian Hughes said: “Tayside Forestry originally began with only 5,000 trees planted on half a hectare of land by my father Gordon Hughes.
“The conversion of onsite facilities and expansion of our land marks the next stage in the growth of the business.
“Our caf and shop was so heavily supported by local customers last October that we have decided to keep it open well beyond the Christmas season.”
Bank of Scotland’s Stewart McNaughton said: “It is great to see Tayside Forestry expanding its horizons beyond the busy Christmas period.
“Being able to permanently open their already popular caf and shop will allow the business to capitalise on fresh opportunities throughout the year,” he added.