A BUILDERS’ merchant will open a brand new £5m branch and showroom in the New Forest featuring a drive-through warehouse.

The Elliots site, which opens this spring, will stock over £1m of building materials across the two-acre site in Ricardo Way at Ampress Park and will create 14 new jobs.

Family-owned builders' merchants Elliots said the site will become the ‘largest and most highly stocked builders’ merchant in Lymington'.

Tom Elliott, managing director of Elliots, said: “We’re thrilled to be opening our brand-new Elliotts branch in Lymington this spring.

“Everything from the scale of stock to the layout of the site has been designed with customers in mind. The drive-through concept is all about helping builders get materials to takeaway as quickly as possible, and we’ll continue to build and improve on what we offer.

He added: “Our market-leading range of products, in tandem with our famous customer service and wealth of industry expertise, is how we have built trust among the building community in the South.

"The new Lymington branch embodies everything which has made Elliotts the natural choice for builders for 180 years.”

Vehicles will be able to drive through the warehouse and park next to the products, cutting the time to pick and load, all whilst undercover.

Additional investments in IT and e-commerce are also being made to further improve customer service.

The upper floor of the new branch will house Elliotts Living Spaces’ largest showroom featuring 23 bathroom and 13 kitchen displays covering all budgets from renowned brands such as Laura Ashley, Stoneham, Neff, Crosswater, Laufen and Roper Rhodes, plus accessible kitchen and bathroom options by leading supplier, Symphony.

Elliotts has invested over £300,000 in its delivery fleet, including two new lorries and a drop side van to assist with getting more materials to sites in and around Lymington efficiently and quickly.

Electric forklifts have been chosen as a more sustainable and cleaner way to move goods around the yard.

Elliotts said it has also planted 21 new trees and over 170 metres of hedging across the site border to support and conserve natural wildlife.

Lymington is one of 13 Elliotts Builders’ Merchants branches across the south with other nearby stores in Christchurch, Ringwood, Totton, and Southampton.

It has more than 300 employees.