Garden centres in Sunderland reopen to queues of customers

Outlets including Clay’s in Washington, Thoburn’s in Hendon Emily’s in Leechmere and Bishopwearmouth Garden Centre, were able to welcome back customers for the first time since lockdown began on March 23. Until May 13, they could only deliver in the run-up to what is a crucial time of year for the industry. All have two-metre social distancing, customer limits, cleaning and other protective measures. Customers were delighted to take a small step back towards normality. Steve Cain, spokesman for Clay’s Garden Centre said: “The lockdown hit us really hard. We missed out on a significant amount of trade we’d normally see at the beginning of spring. “Gardening is so important for so many people on a physical and mental health level and we’re glad we can fully support them again, safely. “We can’t predict what the future will hold for our survival, but we are going forward with a positive attitude to weather the storm.” The owner of the garden centre, David Clay, faced sleepless nights worrying about his business and staff, admitting concerns over whether they would reopen. Clay’s, which employs around 40 people, was forced to furlough the majority of staff, but is looking to bring them back with their safety as top priority. The centre was overwhelmed with the reaction from the public when they announced their reopening, describing it as “amazing”. Steve Cain added: “We really welcomed the Government news that we could reopen. It feels very good to be able to open the doors again and the reaction we’ve had has been fantastic.” Lynsey Thoburn, owner of Thoburn’s Plants, Trees & Shrubs had to give away £1,000 worth of plants away when her outlet closed, but is now trading strongly again. She said: “It’s been brilliant. We’ve never stopped and there’s been cars pulling up constantly. “The best sellers have been the summer bedding plants: petunias, lobelias and all the perennials. We've been delivering and it was very hard work. But now we’re only doing that for vulnerable people. “And it was nice to meet people again. It’s been a bit lonely.” These are the social distancing rules imposed as golf clubs reopen in the North East A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper. Thank you. How to subscribe to the print edition: It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.