The company behind Downtown Grantham Designer Outlet has signed up to join Team Lincolnshire.

Oldrids & Downtown, one of the county's oldest and largest independent retailers, is the 100th company to join the public/private sector ambassador programme - designed to attract investment across Greater Lincolnshire - since its launch in November 2017. Members include representatives from property, construction, law, retail, agritech and leisure.

Oldrids has a long heritage in Lincolnshire, beginning in Boston in 1804 when John Oldrid and Richard Hyde purchased a small shop.

The company has grown enormously since then and now has a garden centre and store in Grantham and stores in Boston and Scunthorpe.

It is the mastermind and developer of Downtown Grantham Designer Outlet, scheduled to open in autumn 2021.

Richard Broadhead, Managing Director, commented: "Oldrids & Downtown is honoured to become the 100th member of Team Lincolnshire.

"As a proud Lincolnshire family company, we felt it was important as a business to put our support behind Team Lincolnshire and the great work that they do in promoting the county to a wider audience.

"We have exciting plans to enhance our existing site at Grantham with a premium designer outlet centre and we are talking to national and international brands about the significant opportunities that the Grantham area, and Lincolnshire as a whole, have to offer.

"We look forward to working with Team Lincolnshire to meet our joint aspirations of championing the county as a place to live, work and invest."

Jill McCarthy, Investment Manager for Team Lincolnshire at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "We are absolutely delighted that the 100th member to join Team Lincolnshire is one of the county's best-loved and established companies. Oldrids & Downtown is an institution in Lincolnshire and represents so much of what is great about our county.

"The success of Team Lincolnshire over the past two years has been phenomenal!

"We couldn't wish for a more diverse, dynamic and influential group of people to promote Lincolnshire as a place to live, work and invest.

"Recently we have been taking Team Lincolnshire to other cities within the UK and we are forging great ties with businesses and investors from all over the UK. It's the enthusiasm and calibre of our members that makes this possible."