I am getting used to the new garden centre in East Bridgford but still do not like its layout. To get to the main part of the store, which is the garden and cafe, one has to walk through Indoor plants, candles, gin, kitchen ware, clothes, household artefacts, childrens’ books, and food to finally arrive at the cafe and garden centre. Being a local I sometimes find it convenient to nip down the road to buy food produce and garden items or have a coffee and have to allow myself extra time to finally arrive at the right department. Getting to the checkout is just as circuitous. I can understand the retailer’s thinking behind this layout but it does nothing for a regular shopper’s feeling about this store.

Thank you for your comments on the above article. We wanted to take this opportunity to explain why service levels may have fallen short on your visit and to provide you with some background regarding our first few weeks of opening. East Bridgford has taken us all by surprise with the sheer number of customers who have visited the centre. Since our opening on 22nd March 2018, we have seen a turnover of just under £1 million pounds and nearly 38,000 transactions take place within the centre. Our peak days saw us look after 1000 transactions within the restaurant. The high customer numbers is of course great news, however, we also understand that with this demand will inevitably bring some challenges. Those challenges mainly are about training a new team who are inexperienced and having to learn on the job whilst looking after the sheer amount of customers that we have seen in the restaurant. We have drafted in support from around our group who are currently at the centre, providing the necessary support and training. Our customers are our priority, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that the restaurant is operating as smoothly as possible. For the majority of the days since we have opened, we have succeeded in delivering high levels of customer satisfaction but on some days when short staffed, inexperienced agency staff have let us down. We have received a wealth of positive reviews and comments across our social media platforms as well as directly into our communications team, and we are very happy with the majority of positive comments and support from our customers at East Bridgford. If you wish to discuss this any further, or if we can help with any other questions, comments or feedback then please get in touch with our Customer Loyalty Team at loyalty@bluediamond.gg Best Wishes The Blue Diamond Team

My first visit today, grey and cold afternoon and the car park was reasonably full - but the internal retail space is open and inviting and what customers there were seem to have vanished into the huge light and airy ‘shops’. I have to say that I think the merchandising is beautifully executed and the product looks elegant and flows inticingly. Even ugly core gardening categories have been made to look engaging although it felt like they occupied only a minor part of the floor space. I wasn’t blown away by the plant area and outdoor merchandising, hard landscaping categories were unremarkable. But house, home, fashion departments stunning. Worth a trip.

Our first experience when visiting the newly opened Bridgford Garden Centre was very very disappointing, the layout was good but the prices are not competitive from the local competition in Southwell & Lincoln, also I could only describe the restaurant area as utter chaotic people were sat waiting for their food with waiters trying to find them, waited half an hour for a sausage roll, not a good experience probably won't go there again even tho. we are local.