Our Response To Covid-19
Ann cleaning trollies for our lovely customers.
Dear Friends and Fans,
We’d just like to let you know about our plans as our country enters into a new stage of the coronavirus crisis response.
We have deliberated about what steps to take next, and we have not taken any decision lightly. However, in consideration of the steep rise in cases in Wakefield and Doncaster, which are being considered for a harshening of lockdown measures like Leicester, we have decided to keep our safety measures in place. We believe we have a duty to protect our community, and to do this we need to protect those who wish to shop with us and all of our lovely staff.
This will mean more work for our staff, more money spent on cleaning products, more time taken to do everyday activities and ultimately a lot more inconvenience for us. For our customers, we’re asking that you still enter with a trolley, or - if you can’t push one- a basket. At peak times, there may also be a small queue to enter. We apologise for the small inconvenience this causes, but we have tried to keep disruption to our customers to a minimum. Unfortunately, if you refuse to follow this system we cannot risk putting the health of others at risk, and so we will have to refuse entry to those who do not wish to comply. Wherever possible, we’d also like to encourage customers to pay using a contactless device. Finally, from the 24th July, following government guidelines, we will require all our customers to wear a face mask - if you don’t have one, don’t panic! A scarf or bandana that covers your nose and mouth is equally fine. You can also buy a fabric mask in our store, if you would prefer to purchase your own.
Gardening has proven benefits for the mind and body, and we want our customers to feel safe in the knowledge that getting outside and greening up their garden won’t cause them any harm. By keeping our social distancing measures in place we can give everyone a safe space to shop and garden. It was hard to reach this decision to maintain safety measures, but we believe ultimately it’s a small price to pay for keeping everyone safe and protecting lives and jobs. As a small business we know we can’t face another total lockdown period, and we know other business owners will feel the same. Acting now will prevent any further restrictions of freedom, and will save the lives of the most vulnerable amongst us.
Ultimately all this causes the most disruption to our team, whose daily duties have vastly increased, so please respect them and show them your appreciation; they’re lovely people doing a brilliant job at an exceptionally difficult time.
We would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding, and for your continued support. We couldn’t have got through these past difficult months without your custom, support and kind words. Working together we can all get each other through this!
Stay safe and well- and keep calm and garden on!
The AGC Team x