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.

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

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

http://www.visionck.co.uk/news/storylist.aspx?sqs=NzdE1adKX%2ff0OPVLk06DEOz6srkLCplz

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

http://tinyurl.com/2w7hnh2

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

Congratulations!

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

You may remember seeing Brookside Garden Centre, Kent in one of our HTA double page spreads.

One year on and Amanda is pleased to report that the car park was full when she pulled in and there wasn’t a seat to be found in the coffee shop!

Live demo cooking, Samples of equipment from various manufacturers, Competitions, Expert advice

Hope to see you there!