Following confirmation from ministers that England will move into the final stages of easing Covid restrictions on Monday 19 July, I wanted to share details of the measures that will remain in place at The Gardens Group in order to keep staff and customers safe.

Garden centres

While face masks will no longer be required by law, we will encourage customers to continue wearing them indoors. Our teams will also wear face masks in all indoor areas of our garden centres.

We will continue to have one way systems, screens at the tills, hand sanitisers and two metre social distancing guidelines. Numbers will be controlled during especially busy periods and we will keep our sanitising regime in place, so customers can use baskets, trollies and other equipment with confidence.

We believe this is the best approach for two reasons. Firstly, it is imperative that we do everything we can to keep our teams, our customers and their families safe, especially when the current rate of infections is so high. Secondly, this will help mitigate the risk of closures at our garden centres due to staff shortages, as more and more people are forced to self-isolate.

Restaurants

From Monday, the government will allow restaurants to increase the density of tables, but at this stage we plan to maintain the extra space around each table to make sure everyone feels as safe as possible.

The Rule of Six will no longer apply inside and there will be no limit on numbers outside. While there will be no legal requirement for guests to provide their names and contact details through the government’s Track and Trace service, we will encourage them to do so, as we continue to look out for the safety of those around us. Only one member of the party should go to the till to place the group’s order, wearing a mask.

We will review all of the above on a regular basis, as we hope to see infection rates going down. In the meantime, we will be doing everything we can to make your visits as safe and enjoyable as possible and appreciate your support in our efforts to protect everyone in our community.

Mike