Kehelland Gallery: Press Cuttings :West Briton

KEHELLAND HORTICULTURAL CENTRE GOES HI - TECH.

Kehelland Horticultural Centre, in Kehelland village near Camborne, off of the A30, is holding their Grand Annual Sales Week from Monday 26th March to Saturday 31st March.
West Briton readers are being offered not only a discount voucher to make a saving of 2O% off all purchases during this period but also two additional saver vouchers for Bedding Plants in May and pick your own (PYO) Fruit in June. Offers NOT to be missed!
If you are a frequent visitor to the Kehelland Horticultural Centre, then you may have noticed improvements are taking place.

The planned erection of County Council 'brown tourist signs' and new 'Kehelland image' signs outside of the Centre will make Kehelland easier to find. The Kehelland image has been overhauled - not only the signposts, but stationery and uniforms sport the new logo symbol which includes not only the well known Kehelland wheelbarrow, but a PYO symbol, as pick your own is a major activity of the Centre, and the most important of all, the outline of people - the latter representing Kehellands' people.

They are Kehellands 'special' people (adults with learning disabilities) of whom Kehelland staff say they are very privileged to work with, who are provided with daily work experience, in a friendly and caring setting. Further plans have been afoot, whereas if you are an Internet surfer and also a garden lover and/or a consumer of produce, then you will find this newly developed Kehelland web site very much worth tabbing as a favourite.
Go and look at www.kehellandhort.co.uk. Now you can't possibly miss out on the offers and promotions and services supplied by the Centre both to the Kehelland area and the entire UK.

NEW - As of 1st February Kehelland have commenced selling plants on-line starting with a special collection of camellias and there will be bamboos and grasses later in the year, available to customers across the UK. There is an enhancement to their PYO information, diaries explain what you can expect to pick and when, with a hotline telephone number to ring on the day of your visit just to ensure that what you want is actually available - there is even a weather forecast on the PYO page to ensure you dress suitably for the weather conditions.
And there's more of special interest to those in the village of Kehelland and the surrounding area- Kehelland are now offering budget and family size boxes of seasonal quality vegetables for delivery within a one-mile radius of the Centre. Outside of the delivery area, customers can book their boxes of vegetables in advance or even place a standing order and collect on Saturdays.

Important features on the web-site include the total catalogue of the Kehelland products with prices, print off maps to find the Centre, examples of their Gardening Service Contract work, diary dates when you can meet Kehelland staff and trainees out and about at events such as The Royal Cornwall Show and even pictures of their previous attendances at shows, competitions and exhibitions. And even more, whereas a plant of the month described on the web site is available at a special price in their shop. A link to their catalogue clearly shows the products currently available for purchase at the shop listed by variety and horticultural name with prices.

There are discount vouchers to print off that are constantly being up-dated, allowing customers to take advantage of the best buys at the Centre. New horticultural courses are to commence shortly - not for gaining certification - but assisting the gardener who wants to get his or her hands dirty, working alongside a professional learning new skills and 'green-finger' techniques. There is still more we could tell you about the new plans for Kehelland. However, instead of telling you all the detail, we will let you explore their website www.kehellandhort.co.uk to see more of Kehellands' added services and products. But I will tell you that if you go to the fun page there is a pop-up crossword - and the first customer each month to hand in the correct answers to Kehelland gets to choose a free shrub.

The new ideas and changes have been developed and instigated by Acorn Marketing (a social company owned by Pentreath Industries) headed by Rod Stephens. Rod says, "It has been one of the most stimulating teams I have ever worked with - the enthusiasm to serve the customer with a quality product or service is quite amazing by both staff and trainees. It is our intention to show customers that it is worthwhile to track down and find the Kehelland location because you won't buy from anywhere else once you've found this gem of a Horticultural Centre. Kehelland staff go out of their way to please customers whereas if they haven't got the product you desire they will try and source it. So at Kehelland you have quality products at a good price with efficient service in pleasant surroundings. And it's for a good cause, supporting great people who would otherwise be 'disadvantaged' in the job marketplace. What more could you wish for?"

Andrew Mills, sales manger says" I'm excited with the new opportunities I now have of reaching my customers - I can e-mail letters to long standing customers informing them of new stocks and promotions- and my on-line shopping went live on the first of' February and I gained my his first sale within hours of operation."

The centre manager Colin Williamson quotes "I hope that the new plans being instigated and the adoption of e-mail linked with the large web-site targeting both gardeners and produce buyers alike, will bring many more customers to our Centre and encourage on-line shopping. We are a charity and all the profits we make are returned to the Centre."
"We thank all of our regular customers from the village and the local area for their loyalty and support, but our people are deserving of so much more, so we must increase our selling power and attract customers from further away and maybe purchasers from across the UK. Come back in a year's time to see how all our plans have developed. And don't forget a future date in your Diary - we are holding our Giant Vegetable Show this year on the 28th September and are accepting entries now".

So we think Kehelland sounds like the Centre to visit -look at the website www.kehellandhort.co.uk and see the weather forecast before you go!