CORONA VIRUS UPDATES

Corona Virus update – 05/01/2021

Dear Customers,

With a new national lockdown beginning Tuesday 5th January we feel it is important to share some information about how Polhill Garden Centre will now trade.

The government has deemed Garden Centres as essentials stores based on various factors, the main one being to aid the well being of the local community by enabling you all to keep busy at home. Things will change slightly here at Polhill and these changes are highlighted below:

1. We will continue to close the restaurant.
2. Additional queueing systems will be put in place to allow the Farm Shop and Butchers to manage their numbers in accordance with new guidelines.
3. Some of our retail partners will be shut over this period of restrictions and would advise contacting them or us in advance to check if they are open before making a visit.

We are all learning as we go but we hope these additional measures will make Polhill the safest place to shop during this period on enhanced restrictions. It is our priority and we will not compromise.

On a final note, please respect our staff, they have done a phenomenal job up to now and will continue to do so going forward, any abuse will not be tolerated. Let’s work together and get through this challenging time.

Kind regards,
The Polhill Team

*** PLEASE NOTE ***
At busy periods, and especially weekends, to keep the centre safe for both customers and staff and in accordance with government guidelines it may be necessary to queue to enter the centre to control numbers.
Please also be aware that it may be necessary to close the queue off before our advertised closing time allowing those customers already in the queue and in the centre to complete their shopping.
If you are in more of a hurry or prefer to avoid queues we find that first thing in the morning on weekdays are generally quieter but this can obviously not be guaranteed.
Please can customers continue to wear facemasks in accordance with the current government guidelines at all times when in the centre and the queue.
We do understand that queuing can be frustrating but all measures have been implemented to keep everyone safe.

UPDATED 23/07/2020

Corona Virus update – Customer PPE (personal protective equipment)

I’m sure we are all aware that from 24^th July it will become mandatory for all persons visiting shops in England to wear a face covering. Here at Polhill we will be enforcing this compulsory policy; therefore, all customers must be wearing a face covering to enter the store. We do understand that some individuals are exempt from the ruling, and they will be allowed to enter.

In our restaurant, we ask that all customers wear a face-covering until you are seated at your table. Once seated, you may remove the covering and enjoy your meal. We have various other safety checks and facilities including hand sanitiser and temperature checks around the centre that allow us to, as best as possible, minimise risk when visiting Polhill.

You may see some of our staff not wearing a mask when you visit; this is because the decision for employees to wear masks in the workplace is up to the individual and not a government regulation.

As more information evolves from the government, we will adhere to these guidelines and continue to take steps forward to return to normality.

We wish you all the best during this difficult time.

Kind regards,

The Polhill Team

UPDATED 06/07/2020

We are excited to announce that after over 100 days we will be reopening Novell’s restaurant at Polhill on Monday 6^th July, unfortunately, our Bistro will remain closed until further notice. Throughout this period, we have all had to make significant changes to our daily lives in order to fight this virus, there is no exception to this with the reopening of Novell’s. We have made some changes to ensure the safety of all our customers and staff, they are as follows:

– The restaurant will now be table service only allowing you to stay seated throughout your meal and limit social interaction.

– Upon arrival, you will be greeted, taken to your table and issued disposable menus.

– Our table count has reduced to create plenty of space between our customers and allow comfortable social distancing.

– We have increased our outdoor dining capacity with the introduction of large undercover areas with heating.

– Separate toilets will be available for restaurant customers only.

– Our menu has changed and everything will now be freshly prepared to order. This will ensure freshness and great taste, but don’t worry your favourites will still be available.

– Service may take slightly longer than usual as all our staff must social distance and all seating areas will be completely sanitised after every use.

– Take away teas and coffee will not be operating for the moment, however, we do plan to introduce this as time goes by and our processes refine.

As a family and business, we sincerely hope that making these changes to our processes will have a positive impact on your experience at Novell’s and more importantly keep you safe during this challenging period.

UPDATED 23rd March 2020

The safety of our customers and staff is our main priority, therefore, with the exception of our farm shop and butchers which shall remain open all departments will be closed

UPDATED 20th March 2020 – Please read below as this information may have changed.

Dear Valued Customer,

First of all, we wish everyone the best in their health with the spread of COVID-19, this epidemic has been completely unforeseen and is something we are all having to adapt to in the best way possible based upon what we learn each and every day.

At Polhill our number one priority is to keep our staff and customers safe during these times, therefore, we are implementing various conditions based on recommendations from the Government, ACAS and our own practices. These are as follows:

Extremely frequent cleaning of all surfaces including tables, till points, doors and washrooms with alcohol-based wipes or anti-bacterial cleaners. All the products that we are using for cleaning have been thoroughly researched to ensure they are capable of killing the COVID-19 virus.

All staff and customers are asked to frequently wash their hands with the soap provided in the washrooms for at least 20 seconds. This is best done after any interaction with a new person or place, alternatively, use alcohol-based hand gel that contains 62g/100g of alcohol (this information can usually be found on the reverse of the bottle).

Closure of Novell’s Bistro: As of Wednesday 17^th March 2020, the Bistro will be closed until further notice. The reason being is that our main entrance is a particular high footfall area, therefore by removing one stimulus of footfall in the area it is hoped social separation will be made easier for all.

Closure of  Novell’s main restaurant: As of Saturday 21st March 2020, in the interest of customer and staff safety we have taken the decision to close the main restaurant until further notice.

If any of you are reading this and would like something specific from Polhill but do not wish to venture out simply email, info@polhillcentre.co.uk and we will do our absolute best to get the product to you with limited human contact. We will be offering a free delivery service to anyone within the following postcodes: DA1-5, DA14, BR1-8, TN8, TN9, TN10, TN11, TN13, TN14, TN15, TN16*

Currently these are the four main processes in place to help make Polhill a safer place to visit, this being said, there is still a risk to us all at the moment so please take great care when out and about, not just for yourself, but others that may be at a higher risk.

*Applicable for spends over £20, else a £4.95 delivery charge will apply.

Stay Safe,

Allison Novell

Managing Director