(Possibly the best part is that it’s hassle free for grown-ups!
For over 30 years we have worked to make a friendly welcoming business but now the shop looked like a high security area.”However, they have found ways to soften barriers with plants, and staff have adapted well. Home ; Farms Semer ; Hollow Trees Farm Shop; Closed now.
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“The areas lost are our high margin areas and to be a standalone shop again in a small village is, in the long run not viable.
Hollow Trees, Semer, Ipswich, Suffolk. Featuring mountain views, Hollow Tree Farm has accommodations with a garden and a balcony, around 3 miles from Grand Central Shopping Centre. View 219 reviews. Louisa is part of our education team so has been redeployed into the new system Picture: SHAN BENDALL.
It also had to cancel its events for the year and let go five of its student team.“With the closure of the farm trail and café we lost two thirds of our income overnight,” said Sally.But from the start, the family was determined to keep the farm shop open – despite the temporary loss of some staff.“This was non-negotiable. We needed to adapt quickly and are still doing so,” said Sally.
They are found mainly in old trees, whether living or not. I would highly recommend the team at Hollow Trees! Friends and customers in our rural community and beyond depend upon us – as an essential food business we needed to stay open,” said Sally. BIRTHDAY PARTIES.
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They increased break times for staff as serving behind a screen proved exhausting.The click and collect orders have dropped off a bit as customers venture out and have more choice, but they remain a big part of the day.Hollow Trees’ next plan now is to offer a takeaway menu as soon as possible.“Social distancing on the farm trail will be a big challenge and we have already undertaken a lot of work to redirect paths and parking,” said Sally.She estimates that if everything returned to normal tomorrow it would still take two years for the business to recover.Despite the setbacks, she remains optimistic that with their “fantastic loyal customer base”, and “brilliant” team they will turn things around.“We are coming out of the hungry gap and into a harvest time with of lots of lovely home grown and local produce which is always a pleasure to be part of so that will help to lift us and help motivate the team,” she said.“Hollow Trees Farm will continue to adapt and change as needed but throughout that we will always retain our values of support and community. “We stood back and looked on in great sadness while all this happened. After an initial buying frenzy post-lockdown, the retail side has remained busy - with fewer customers but a bigger per-person spend.“It was case of taking things a day at a time, even hour by hour as things were changing so rapidly and we were trying to set up new systems, deal with anxious team members and customers,” said Sally.Managing customer flow to keep within government guidelines proved challenging, and coping with the new hygiene and distancing was difficult, she admitted.
Coffee and biccies for the parents, and lots of little extras all the way through.
We need to support our team in any way we can and face what comes and do the best we can in the circumstances.”Some non-furloughed staff swapped roles to pack fruit and veg for customers.
“We felt – and still feel – we just needed to get on with it. However, at present it has become up to the farm shop to keep us afloat.
Click the link in the orange box above for details. ““I would thoroughly recommend this as a party venue. Hollow Trees is right up there with one of the best venues! ).Here’s just some of the fabulous comments from happy party families this year…“We were completely blown away from start to finish, from the fantastic trailer ride to the party field, the super cute picnic boxes and teas, coffees and piggy biscuits for us grown ups… the attention to detail was spot on! “We are in a bit of a rural bubble where we have just got our heads down and carried on but we would not want to be anywhere else.
But the biggest concern was protecting customer-facing employees, she said.As well as the café and farm shop and selling home grown and local produce, the business includes a butchery selling home produced beef, pork and lamb, a deli, a plant centre and an open farm attraction taking a route around the farm and livestock buildings.