A business complex which is bringing something ‘a little bit different’ to a Broads town has been a hit among locals and tourists since opening, its landlord says.

The Old Dairy in Oulton Broad, which includes a cafe, artisan florist, holiday let, record store and hairdressers was opened by landlord Matt Jary and his family after he identified a gap in the market in the Lowestoft area.

Mr Jary, 51, is the landlord of The Old Dairy and has lived locally all his life.

For the last 25 years he has invested in business locally and lets and develops property in Lowestoft.

Mr Jary has been away to university, travelled the world and lived in cities such as London and Sydney but wanted to set up a business closer to home.

He said: “It’s done the whole of Oulton Broad justice really. It’s a pretty iconic building being so central to the town and Bridge Road is so pretty, it has a real village feel.

“So it needed to have something that was just a little bit different because it is different to what is around in the area at the moment.

“This sort of thing is being developed in North Norfolk and Norwich - it’s bringing a little bit of that to Oulton Broad and Lowestoft.”

The Old Dairy cafe is the main business on the site, while the artisan florist runs workshops for budding florists in the area.

Mr Jary said: “We’ve got an absolutely beautiful physical amenity here that knocks the socks off the likes of Southwold and North Norfolk so I thought why not just do it here, Oulton Broad is right to be a real tourist hub.

“If you think about the out of town retail centres that are popping up all over the country now that’s exactly what people do, they like to go to concentrated areas, they like to go there and have everything nearby, be able to park, have a short walk and have a choice of things to do.

“The fact that they can all come to one area and have a choice has got to be good.”

He added that future plans for the site include a bigger food offer and possible kiosks for the courtyard to provide a ‘city market’ feel.