Bents Garden & Home has celebrated its 10+ Club – a club which welcomes colleagues with 10 or more years’ experience at the Warrington based garden centre – with an event recognising a combined length of service totaling 1,097 years.
Since it was launched in 2003 with initial numbers totaling 14, the 10+ Club has continued to grow and membership now stands at 97 with 59 still working within the Centre and a further 38 retired colleagues.
41 current members recently joined the Bents’ family and senior management for a special thank you meal held in the Centre’s Caffe nel Verde. This year’s event paid special recognition to two long serving members who both retired this year; Aileen Rigby from finance and John Hayes from Bents’ warehouse team.
Says Matthew Bent, Managing Director at Bents Garden & Home: “We have an excellent team of colleagues throughout the Centre, many of whom have been with us for a number of years, as demonstrated by the incredible combined length of service figure. We were blown away when we worked it out to be 1097 years!
“And we continue to welcome new members all the time. It is a great way to recognise long-term commitment and we look forward to welcoming even more new members in the years to come.”
Other highlights from this year’s event recognised Bents’ oldest member of the Club, still working at the Centre at 70 and its youngest member at 30 years old.
Annabel Brennan, Bents’ People & Culture Advisor and member of the 10+club, adds: “So much has happened at Bents in the time I have been here. The business has grown and developed so much but the care and attention they give to colleagues has always remained the same. The dinner is a great opportunity to get together and talk about things that have taken place and generally have a catch up with good friends.”
In addition to Bents’ usual colleague benefits such as birthday vouchers, birthday day off and pension scheme, members of the 10+ Club also receive an additional 5 days holiday.
The club also includes retired colleagues who were original members many of whom continue to attend the annual dinner which provides the ideal opportunity to meet up with old friends and colleagues.
