Growing the Fleet at Poplar Nurseries

This large family-run, independent garden centre in Colchester, Essex has been going since 1938. Now in its third-generation of ownership, the site spans an extensive outdoor plant area alongside a shop floor, restaurant, food hall, and even a miniature railway Ð making it far more than your average garden centreÉ and well worth a visit!

Keeping a site of this scale with a big team of staff requires a sophisticated communication set-up. The nurseries need radios on the shop floor, across departments and the entire outdoor site right up to staff-only areas on the outskirts. Mobile signal is unreliable in the more remote areas, and installing a permanent phone line to every corner of the site simply isn't practical or cost-effective for departments that might only receive one call a day.

Poplar need a flexible, reliable solution that can reach every member of staff, as they move around which is why every member of staff is given a radio to keep them connected. It saves a lot of time for staff who otherwise would have to walk the length and breadth of the garden centre searching for a product or a colleague.

The Radio

Poplar have relied on the Motorola XT420 for almost a decade. Rugged, reliable, and familiar to every member of the team, the XT420 has become the go-to radio across the entire operation. Just before the Christmas rush (one of the busiest times of year for retail) they reached out to Radio Solutions to replenish and expand the fleet with 6 Motorola XT420 Walkie Talkies.

As the XT420 is a licence-free PMR446 radio there is no Ofcom licence required and no programming needed so the radios were sent out the very next day and worked seamlessly with the existing radios. With an IP55 weather resistance rating and MIL-STD 810 certification this radio is built to handle the demands of a busy outdoor retail environment day in and day out.

What do Poplar Nurseries say?

Almost every member of staff here now carries a radio from the plant team outside to the staff on the shop floor with the restaurant team who have an existing phone system in place being the only exception.

"They're rugged and reliable Ñ all we've ever used, so everyone knows how to use them and they last years. We gave Radio Solutions a go and it went really well. No issues, arrived very quickly." Louis Rushbrook, Logistics Manager at Poplar Nurseries

Sound similar? If your site is spread across a large area or split into indoor/outdoor and you struggle with signal blackspots then give us a call and weÕll happily get you a quote for a similar set-up. Not sure if licence free radios will work on your site? We offer a demo and site survey so you can test before you commit. Call us on 01745 335 811 or get in touch via our contact page.