Category Archives: General Company Information

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

Posted on by

Its taken nearly a year but the purchase of Woodmeadow Garden Centre was finally completed and we had our first Christmas. We have been extremely busy within the Garden Centre stock taking, organising and planning for the coming season.

Ready Built Sheds and Summerhouse

Ready Built Sheds and Summerhouses

We have a good selection of new buildings on display from our Ready built and installed range which now includes a factory painted option as well as the standard range of dip treated golden brown or pressure treated options. this is our most popular range of garden buildings including Heavy Duty in both Pent roof and Apex roof styles in a wide range of sizes to suit. as well as the ready built sheds we have a great range of ready built Summerhouses in a variety of styles and sizes. the best part is if we haven’t got exactly what you want we can in most cases make to order, so if you have a space that requires a particular size garden building and you have found a style you like then why not ask if we can make it to the size you require. We have many diverse designs over the years and will always do our best to meet your requirements.

Also at the garden centre we have a new range of

Greenhouses

Greenhouses

Greenhouses at great prices with quality service and many accessories everything you need to grow your own.

As well as the space being made for the buildings and the greenhouses we have also been working on the plant tables rebuilding, tidying and making space for some of the new stock that has been arriving ready for the 2016 season.

Plants2 Plants

We try and maintain a good range of basic plants as we are a traditional garden centre but the main part of our business is the Garden Buildings

For any of our friends that have been and visited over the years our tearoom is now under new management with a more extensive menu (difficult to keep out of as the cake is amazing).

The Taylors Journey May 2012 – May 2015.

Posted on by

It is now just over three years since we took over the running of this company.

The previous owners of the business had changed their focus, wishing to explore new avenues and made the heart wrenching decision to sell Taylors Garden Buildings on. We purchased the website in May 2012 and immediately set about catching up on deliveries which had unfortunately been set back by a few days due to the handover.

The early days were very fraught to say the least, the phones were literally ringing off of the hook with customers chasing orders (news of the change over had spread very quickly and many people were now panicking that they had lost their money and would not be getting the items they ordered). The first thing we had to do was to contact all of our customers to inform them of the situation and give them some peace of mind. Some people requested to have their money refunded while a vast majority were happy to continue with the order they had made and wait just a little longer for the delivery to take place.

It was a stressful time for all in the Taylors office, starting a brand new job is never easy but to literally hit the ground running is even less so. Gradually we began to make progress and get ourselves caught up. We are pleased to say that all orders got sorted out  and, thanks to all of the patience and support from our customer base, we were soon able to move forward and begin doing what we had aimed at doing in the first place – selling garden buildings.

This was where it started getting exciting, with the old orders sorted and completed we could now focus on moving the business forward and start to repair the Taylors name in the marketplace.

Ready Built Shed Range

Ready Built Shed Range

One of the first big moves we made was securing a contract with a very large shed manufacturer who would deliver and install their garden buildings all for one price. This is of course UK Garden Buildings, they are the suppliers of our Ready Built range which has gone from strength to strength and is now one of our biggest selling lines.

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

The second major step we took was to purchase a local garden centre. Woodmeadow had been trading since the early 1970s and the previous owner had decided to move on to a new chapter in life. This came at a perfect time for us, it was obviously meant to be! With the purchase of Woodmeadow we now had a display site to showcase some of the buildings, this not only made us a more physical presence but it also enabled us to offer a more personal service by allowing us to meet our customers face to face.

Since those early days Taylors has continued to grow and now, three years later, we have revived the Taylors name and once again become a more prominent force on the internet.  We have a much bigger team  now too, some people have come and gone down the years, some have moved to different areas of the business while others have decided on a different career path, but we now have a team that is bigger and better than it has ever been!

Due to the increase in staff we re-located our sales office to bigger premises, this was our third big step in the growth of our business and happened in July 2013.

Thanks to our social media platforms (Facebook in particular) we have had a lot of positive feedback from our customers – some of those customers by the way were with us in the beginning and have stuck by us since then.

A huge thank you to them for giving us the chance to grow and standing by us!

In the past three years we have managed successfully to breathe fresh new life in to an ailing business and restore it to former glories, we have done the same to a local garden centre which has seen a dramatic increase in sales and now has a solid loyal customer base.

Movember 2012

Movember 2012

We even managed to do our bit for charity too, long term followers of our blog will remember that we did Movember in 2012 and raised over £1600.00!!

We have many plans for the future which will be mentioned on here as and when they happen – there are still exciting times ahead so watch this space!!

We let our customers do the talking…

Posted on by

One of the more pleasurable parts of working for Taylors is hearing the positive feedback from our customers, it is always a pleasure and we always take on board what we are told and are always open to suggestions or ideas.

Here is a selection of some of the lovely comments we have received in the past couple of weeks…

Forest Easy Lift Cold Frame

Love the colour they have painted the Cold Frame!

Supreme Apex Shed 8×6

The Supreme Apex model is one of our most successful lines, the feedback with these has always been extremely positive!

The Playhouse 6×6 with verandah

Suck kind words! Feedback such as this is very motivational for our sales team!

Double Wheelie Bin Chest 240ltr

Our Wheelie bin covers have really been a hit with our customers!!

Double Wheelie Bin and Recycling Chest

An ideal way to keep unsightly bins out of sight!

 All reviews are taken from our Feefo account on the internet.

Have a good bank holiday everybody!

New faces at Taylors.

Posted on by

Already we are on the verge of saying goodbye to April and summer is rapidly approaching!  In preparation for what will be our busiest period, we have introduced many new lines to our range and improved our site to make it easier to navigate around.

As many of you are no doubt already aware there are  some new faces amongst us at the Taylors office.  The success of our businesses has necessitated a growth in our workforce – the next time you call in with  an enquiry you might find a new voice at the end of the phone!

Our two new colleagues are Adam and Max, they joined a few weeks back and have already made a positive impression with many of our customers. Need advice or reassurance on a product? These guys are here to help!

All of our staff are fully trained to the Taylors standard so don’t be put off by an unfamiliar voice – our staff receive full comprehensive coaching to ensure they give you the first class service you have come to expect!

Here’s to a successful and profitable summer!!

Taylors Terms and Conditions

Posted on by

Things are speeding up on the Taylors website! Spring is on its way and the rapidly approaching new season has inspired many of you to get out in to your gardens and prepare for the new season to come.

As well as our returning regulars we have gained a lot of new faces amongst our clientele, so for those of you who are new to our “family” we have added links to all of our products which will take you to our terms and conditions and make it easier to understand them.

These are here for everybody. As well as making your transaction easier and hassle free it also helps us to make sure that our customers are fully aware of their rights as a consumer and will get the very best in customer service.

In addition to this every time you place an order with us you will be sent an order confirmation with our T&Cs attached!

Woodmeadow Garden Centre home of great customer service!

Posted on by

As many of our most loyal customers are aware, our garden centre in Northamptonshire has been going through a period of regeneration and expansion in the past few months.

The layout of our shop has been vastly improved and made more user friendly, our range has also been broadened to include many new lines such as gifts, greetings cards and garden tools / accessories.

One very recent addition to our site is the Bugtopia show which has showings during weekends and school holidays. For a very reasonable entrance fee you can see and learn about many different animals such as snakes, tarantulas and other small creatures. You can also have the opportunity to hold some if you are brave enough.

Pre-booking for this show is essential (show times are normally 11,1 and 3pm) and anyone wishing to reserve a space needs to call them on 01536 799778.

This show is a real crowd pleaser and is a fun experience for all the family.

After the show you can skip along to our tea room. Like the rest of Woodmeadow, this popular venue has been improved and now offers a variety of drinks as well as cold snacks and hot meals. There is a different meal on offer everyday and there is also a vegetarian option!

There is a very friendly atmosphere in out tea room and people often comment on this! Come and pay us a visit!

New Colour Options Available!

Posted on by

Some of our most successful lines will soon be available in additional colours!

Our immensely popular Olympian Metal Garages have always been top sellers at Taylors Garden Buildings.  Available in 4 sizes (12 x 20 – 12 x 38) they have always been available in a very attractive emerald green colour, which not only looks pleasing on the eye but also blends in with a vast majority of gardens up and down the UK.

Now, after several years of good sales and positive feedback from our customers, we are happy to announce that these durable structures are going to be available in an anthracite grey colour too!

image

 These will be going on sale September 29th, watch this space!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Woodmeadow Show Site

Posted on by

Sometimes the benefit of having a show site for our log cabins, Sheds and Summerhouses in Northampton at Woodmeadow Garden Centre can also be one of the common reasons for our customers to complain.

 A while back I was at the garden centre when a customer had come from London to look at a log cabin.  In the grand scheme of things London is not that far as we are centrally located (this means we are a reasonable distance from the majority of major conurbations). Unfortunately we only had two log cabins on display partly down to the fact we had only moved into the garden centre towards the end of the previous year and have not had the time to organise the space and the recent snow and bad weather had been an issue in slowing us down.

 The customer although disappointed we didn’t have the exact model log cabin that he was looking for was met with courtesy and a smile, we demonstrated the quality of the log cabin that he could expect and showed him alternative buildings which we did have on display including a heavy duty workshop, potting shed, and traditional apex sheds all of which can be delivered and fitted at his house in London.

 I was pleased the customer stayed and had a coffee in our garden centre cafe and went away with the peace of mind that we are a genuine company with genuine people all trying to give our best service and value when making a big purchase. I personally think it is good to see and speak to the people that you are purchasing from.

My biggest frustration is we can’t show every garden building and log cabin. We have thousands of sheds and Summerhouses including timber garages and greenhouses the challenge is to have a representation of both size and quality variation demonstrating the different quality log cabins that manufacturers offer as well as our own sheds especially when looking for a bespoke building.  I would always suggest if you are planning a visit to Woodmeadow (we are open seven days a week) that you  give us a call on 01604 781899 before you set out and we can advise you which buildings we have on display at the time.

I always refer to Woodmeadow as a developing garden centre, if I am honest it is probably like most gardens they are never really finished and always being developed we move products around frequently to keep it fresh and periodically sell display log cabins and sheds off to make space for new models.

Only recently our café has had a slight revamp with a new and improved menu and a new attraction has been added to our site called “Bugtopia” which gives shows and demonstrations of exotic creatures such as bats and various insects (please call us beforehand for show times).

Thanks for reading this taylorsgardenbuildings blog, we look forward to seeing you at Woodmeadow soon

Visited our show site yet?

Posted on by

As many of you are aware, we have a garden centre located in Northampton.

We took over this business around 18 months ago and have seen it go from strength to strength in that time!  In the past year and a half we have completely reorganised the layout of both the indoor shopping area and outdoors where you will find our selection of sheds, summerhouses, greenhouses and other items such as plants, gardening tools and ornaments.

Woodmeadow Garden Centre.

Feedback from our regulars has been very positive, we have a very loyal customer base who return to us time after time and are particularly happy with the friendly atmosphere and efficient service.

Woodmeadow Garden Centre is an independent business, which in this day and age is becoming rare with larger businesses opening chains of stores all over the country, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

One popular feature of Woodmeadow is the café which can be found in the outdoor display area next to the poly tunnels, it has been closed for a short while whilst refurbishments are taking place and a new menu drawn up.  This will be reopening very soon so watch this space!

We have a small selection of garden buildings on display at Woodmeadow  which demonstrate the quality and workmanship in our products. If you are interested in a particular building you have seen on our website we strongly urge you to call ahead to see if we have it on display or something close to it. Our phone number is 01604 781899.

In our shop we sell gifts, DVDs, CDs, tools, gardening aids, bird feed and have a variety of ornamental products such as candles and jewellery.  We also stock greetings cards all year round for various occasions  such as birthdays.

Woodmeadow is located on the A43 in between Northampton and Kettering  just outside of a small village called Hannington. For those of you who are using a sat-nav our postcode is NN6 9TD

.

Need any more details? Visit the Woodmeadow Website for more information!

See you soon!

10 top tips to help prevent card fraud when shopping online.

Posted on by

10 top tips to help prevent card fraud when shopping online.

So you’ve found something that you want to buy on a website but need a bit of reassurance before you commit to paying. You’ll want to make sure that your card data is being used properly and that your details aren’t going to be used inappropriately. Here are our 10 top tips to help you shop safe online.

1. Padlock: Before you enter any personal details ensure there is a padlock symbol with the https label at the top of the page. This tells you it’s a secure page. You can click on the padlock for more security information about the website you are on.

2. HTTPS: (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) When you shop online, before you enter your personal details, make sure the page is labelled as ‘https’ at the top. This tells you it’s a secure page. This alone isn’t enough so read the other 9 top tips for more safety advice.

3. Website policies: It’s a good idea to look at the websites security policy. This tells you what information they collect, what they keep if any and what they are going to do with it.

4. 3D Secure: 3D secure is a system implemented by your bank that asks you for a password to authorise your transaction. A window will pop up when you enter your card details asking for your password. You will only see this if you have registered for this system with your bank and the website you are using has activated the system.

5. Check Everything: Keep a copy of all of the emails you receive regarding the transaction. Keep the confirmation emails and always check your bank statements against your purchases so you spot any unauthorised activity on your account straight away.

6. PCIC: (Payment Card Industry compliance) The retailer should be PCIC compliant. This legislation ensures they properly manage customer data and it is safeguarded. If there is no evidence on the site to confirm they are PCI compliant, they still may be so call them and ask if you’re not sure.

7. Who are they: This is a really basic one but who are they? Make sure they have contact details available in case you need to contact them. Why wouldn’t they want to display their contact details?

8. Do your homework: The web is a powerful tool. Use it to search for the site. Lots of companies have social media profiles, facebook, twitter, Google+ so why not spend a few minutes checking them out?

9. Credit or Debit card: Credit cards offer more consumer protection should the worst happen and things go wrong. They can be paid off quickly to prevent charges.

10. What if it goes wrong: If you have paid by credit card and haven’t received your goods and are unable to contact the company, contact your bank for a chargeback. They will talk you through the process and help you recover your money.