Vision Commercial Kitchens have long enjoyed a close partnership with the Horticultural Trades Association so it is with great delight that they can now announce their preferred partner status.

The HTA Preferred Partner status is awarded to a selected number of HTA supplier members who partner closely with the HTA and make a significant contribution to them and Vision are delighted to be the only commercial catering supplier awarded this recognition.

Having recently strengthened its Garden Centre sales team and committed to sponsoring the GLEE Food and Catering Zone for the second year running, the rest of 2013 is set to be a busy one for Vision in garden centres.

If we can offer you any advice on your next project, get in touch. It’s never too early and it’s never too late!

Check out our recent Q&A for our completed project at Podingtons!

Vision recently took some time out to interview one of their project managers, Charlie Howarth, to find out how a recent installation at Podington Garden Centre had gone. This was one of Vision’s signature turnkey projects including refurbishment of the kitchen, servery and restaurant.

Hi Charlie! Are you pleased with the final result of the refurbishment?

Yes we’re really pleased with the finished result. The results have surpassed the client’s expectations and it is satisfying to see the initial visuals come to life. The extension of the restaurant has given the area a fresh and airy feel with the new servery and back bar really utilising the space available.

Tell us what motivated Podingtons to go ahead with the refurbishment?

They had been discussing and planning a refurbishment for over 12 months as they felt they had outgrown the existing kitchen and servery.  The Garden Centre felt the time was right for something new, but felt it was important the new cafe fitted in with the overall atmosphere of the Garden Centre.

How did Podingtons come to the decision to use Vision’s turnkey solution?  

 After several visits to Podingtons, I introduced the idea of Turnkey to them. Turnkey seemed the natural progression for Podingtons as site personnel often don’t have the time to fully project manage the building works for a project this size. This can mean that 5 week projects can often overrun and cause more disturbance than is necessary. Vision’s turnkey solution takes that stress away from the client with us managing timescales and the co-ordination of all external contractors.

You worked closely with J.Q Contracts on this project. How did the added expertise of this shop fitter help you to carry out the project more successfully?

Working with J.Q is great. Managing Director, Stuart, visited the site early on and assessed what was required, helping us to work out the timescales for this project from this early stage. This added expertise also helped us to plan a temporary coffee shop for Podingtons, ensuring minimum disturbance to the garden centre over the duration of the project.

 Do you recommend that other Garden Centres should consider the turnkey solution that Podingtons used for their cafe refurbishment?

 Absolutely! Opening a new or refurbished cafe should be exciting for Garden Centres and not prove a chore or a burden for them. Using turnkey solutions helps to provide the client with a more stress free project and enables them to focus on other aspects of their cafe, such as their new menus and customer service.

Just in

Here are the latest pictures from our recent project at Tewkesbury garden centre!

As part of our offering we also provided the coffee shop with furniture and crockery, for more information contact us at: sales@visionck.co.uk or phone us on: 0844 811 7210

The HTA has recently released an article on the importance of community engagement. One of the key topics they have drawn on is the importance of social media.

Social media is fast becoming a key ingredient for success in the garden centre industry, the benefits include:

- Being able to engage with your customers on a daily basis

- Receiving immediate customer feedback

- Raise awareness of your garden centre

To keep up to date with the latest advice from the HTA we have joined Facebook and Twitter,  bringing you a range of news over the week.

Every Monday we will bring you the latest industry news, keeping you up to date with national food weeks, flower shows and gardening events.

Followed by Value Added VCK on Tuesdays, which is all about what VCK can do for you! Bringing you promotional offers, hints and tips from our design team plus updates on our latest projects.

Lastly we will be providing you with food for thought at the weekends, providing you with inspiration and guidance for your restaurant or coffee shop.

To keep up to date with our latest news on Facebook you can find us at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vision-Commercial-Kitchens/384582508228208

Or follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/VisionCKGarden

Also, don’t forget to interact with us through our members club at the Vine where you can receive exclusive offers, get the latest design and technical advice, and benefit from our expert knowledge.

Need advice on a project? Vision can help! To contact our advice line ring us on 0844 811 7210 or email enquiries@visionck.co.uk

Vision are delighted for a recent client, Vineries Garden Centre, who have just won the Silver Award for Garden Retailer of the Year at the swanky awards ceremony hosted by DIY Week at the Hilton, Manchester.

We know how great your site is but we are thrilled others are noticing too. Well done to Ian and the team!

October 21 sees the annual UK Apple Day take place and  HTA members across the country will be holding events for consumers to celebrate the versatile fruit. Here is a great Apple Pie recipe…

http://tinyurl.com/2w7hnh2

Enjoy and let us know what you are doing for Apple Day!

Following the competition we ran at GLEE 2011 it gives us great pleasure to congratulate Mr and Mrs Megson of Crown Garden Centre on winning the Unox Panini Grill.

Congratulations!

Just a quick update to say that our sales team are still working their way around the country catching up with all of those we met at GLEE this year and those who requested a visit.

We have some lovely projects coming in to the design team at present…some nice projects on the horizon!