Poynton High School

My name is Dave Horne and I am the Site Manager at Poynton High School.

Why did you decide you needed a canopy?
There’s 1,500 pupils in this school. The whole school is quite long. It’s nearly a quarter of a mile long inside and this is the only place where you get wet. Also, it’s for the kids and the kids have a picnic area where they can eat at break time or lunchtime. There’s also a pod, as we call it, that serves food.

Why did you choose A&S Landscape?
Right from the word go it was good working with A&S Landscape, they are marvellous really. Most responsive. I got various companies to come and quote. We looked at various products and various designs that were slightly different. We decided to go with A&S in the end because they were the most amicable company to work with. Price wise, they were the best. They seemed to bend over backwards to meet our needs.

Any specific design features that made A&S Landscape stand out?
Aluminium guttering, this is a good thing really because it is a lot stronger. Plastic gutters deteriorate and lose colour. Some people just said “oh we don’t do that, we don’t use aluminium guttering” and were quite adamant about it. Whereas A&S Landscape use aluminium gutters as standard.

How well did A&S Landscape manage the project?
A&S Landscape right from the word go were very good with this. Time-wise, they made appointments and stuck to them. If they couldn’t make it they’d let me know. During the job, they even emailed me every day to explain what they were up to. The team that came worked very well, they were really efficient, they just got on with the job, no messing around which I like. They started the job on the day the kids returned to school in January in poor weather, but they kept going. We’ve got four access doors and two gates in the actual area, which at certain times they had to close. But constantly while the children were at school, they worked with us. They fenced certain areas off as they got to work. They got no trouble from the children and vice versa. We just carried on as if it wasn’t happening really.

What difference has it made to the school?
It has changed the area quite considerably because now the kids can sit outside and it’s dry. They sit out in the winter even, when it’s cold they’ll sit out and even in the wet, but now they can keep dry. They get food from the pod that is next door to the canopy and people can walk from one side of the school to the other school without getting wet. It’s a big asset to the school.

Would you recommend A&S Landscape?
Because we are the biggest school in the area, people will contact us asking who we use for various different things. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend A&S Landscape. They’ve been marvellous. They really are first class.