Member Testimonial - Highfield Garden World, Gloucester

Like those centres before us, and no doubt it is the same for you reading this, joining Choice Marketing was a big decision for our business. My colleagues and I had very real and genuine concerns that we would lose our independence and autonomy, being part of a large buying group.

When considering membership, it was really important to us that we retained our own identity, and that the look and feel of our business that we had worked so hard to achieve, wasn’t lost.

We also didn’t want to feel restricted in terms of the product ranges we stocked and the buying decisions we made.

I am happy to say that these concerns turned out to be unfounded and we have been delighted and extremely impressed following our decision to join Choice.

The flexible trading arrangements that Choice have negotiated on our behalf, provide the suppliers with the commitment they require to enable them to offer us the best trading terms. They are also structured in such a way as to allow us to go out into the marketplace and, working within the framework of the agreements, select products and ranges that compliment and enhance our core ranges.

The operational support provided by the team at Choice has been second to none. It really feels like someone is always looking out for you. When we have a supplier issue that we are having trouble resolving, a quick phone call to Choice leaves me confident that the matter is being dealt with. This almost always results in the problem being resolved quickly, allowing me more time to get on with running the centre.

Apart from the obvious and significant amount of time saved by my team not having to sit in numerous supplier negotiation meetings, another key membership benefit is the instant 24/7 access to the members-only section of the Choice website which contains, among so many other things, the trading terms and price files for every Choice supplier, which would take my team weeks to compile, maintain and update if we had to do it ourselves.

"The operational support and the advantageous supplier terms, combined with the abundance of information and the help and advice we have received since joining Choice Marketing, enables me to make a solid and sincere recommendation to anyone considering membership."

Tim Armstrong - General Manager