Bents Garden & Home
Work wellbeing score is 61 out of 100
3.2 out of 5 stars.
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Bents Garden & Home Employee Reviews

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Location
United Kingdom73 reviews

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3.3Work-life balance
2.9Pay & benefits
2.9Job security & advancement
2.9Management
3.1Culture

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staffshiftfriendlyfamilylongcustomerhourlot

Great place to work, lovely people and leaders are very encouraging and friendly.

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It’s retail in a beautiful environment so can be long and tiring days like anywhere in retail but you always feel supported and thanked for your hard work by the leaders. The managers are very approachable and support your learning and development. Colleagues in support areas and on the shop floor work together as one team which creates a lovely culture. People are the best part of the job, late nights,weekend working the physical aspects of the job are the hardest, so being fairly fit is an advantage,it’s a big site so 20,000 steps a day is normal !

Pros

Friendly people, beautiful surroundings, free parking, nice colleague canteen with fresh food, supportive managers.

Cons

Long hours, weekend working, late nights but only the same as other retailers.
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

13 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete an online review. It is lovely to read all the positive aspects of your role at Bents and how you feel. It is also great to hear how approachable and supportive the managers are and how much you all work together as one team. Team work is what makes Bents the place we are. We agree the environment is so beautiful and changes so often it keeps it exciting. Once again thank you for taking the time to complete the review Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Low management, payment, break.

Just like the title - the management, payment, break hours etc were not good. No socialising within staff. Quite rude attitude between different groups. Shifts were never clear or acceptable. I applied for weekly part time work, and they always gave me weekend shifts.

Pros

Busy within the position

Cons

Low management, short notice shifts.
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

4 September 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your most recent online review I was disappointed to read your negative experience this is certainly not what we work hard to achieve within our business and culture. Good luck for the future Katherine Bent Head pf Culture

Insights into Bents Garden & Home

Based on 30 survey responses
Areas for improvement
  • Trust in colleagues
  • Sense of belonging
  • Fair pay for job

Great people to work with and close by!

Management could be improved, felt like a number most of the time. Good work - life balance and get to meet some great people in my time working there
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

23 May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your recent online review. I was really disappointed to read that you felt like a number. At Bents we work hard on our culture and family values with colleagues being at the heart of our business. I was sad to hear that you felt this was not the case. I would be willing to discuss this with you should you wish to drop me an email? My email is katherine@bents.co.uk Thank you Katherine Head of Culture

Horrible Workplace, Horrible Management

Management are horrible and treat you horrendously.Shift times are never accurate.Pay is regular but not worth your time.I could not recommend this place an less for any age of worker

Cons

long hours short unpaid breaks no paid lunch
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

9 May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your online review. I was really disappointed to read that you feel the managers are horrible and treat you horrendously. As a business this is certainly not what we except from our managers, we invest a lot of time in creating a family feel and positive culture with a major focus on our Bents Ways with colleagues at the heart of all we do. I would welcome the opportunity to understand further as to your negative experience if you wanted to email me with any additional feedback on katherine@bents.co.uk. I look forward to hearing back from you in the near future. Katherine Head of Culture

Very poor management

Wouldn't recommend, low pay and high expectations worked here as a temp they talked to me about hours so I was under the impression of securing the job and then a week later from the temp contract ending they say down and talked to me about how they don't think I put in any effort this is Christmas time and they wanted me in every day at silly times so I don't know what they're thinking there, people are nice (some) but very high expectations of you.

Pros

Weekly pay

Cons

Poor management
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

3 April 2023
Thank you for taking the time to do an online review. It was disappointing to hear of your negative experience during your employment. As you came as a temporary colleague we can never guarantee a role after the seasonal period we do endeavour to retain colleagues who have shown exceptional work ethic and behaviours. Once again thank you for your feedback and good luck in the near future. Katherine Bent Head of Culture

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Great place to work

My usual day in work allows me to talk to customers and give service which is something i am really passionate about, it is great working as part of a 'family' in the business. The most enjoyable part of my job is being with my colleagues and talking to customers. The hardest part of my job is that it can be very fast paced and manual at times, but that is retail !

Pros

Fantastic long service perks, extra days holiday for birthday paid, extra holidays for length of service, fantastic discount

Cons

Late nights (but its retail)
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

3 April 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your online review. I really loved reading your positive review, everything you outlined is what we aim to work towards as our family business with customers and colleagues at the heart of all we do. I personally love the perks too especially having my birthday off. Once again thank you for your fantastic review Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Very good workplace

Bents is a place of work although challenging is an enjoyable place to work. The company do their best to support colleagues and to make them feel part of a family business. The work is fast paced but rewarding at the same. The rate of pay could be higher however there are other benefits the company provide which are appreciated

Pros

Extra benefits

Cons

Wages
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

3 April 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your online review. It was great to read such a positive online review and hear how you feel supported as a colleague and part of the family business. Its the team which really make Bents the business we are, like you say its fast paced but rewarding when everyone works together as a team. Thanks again Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Excellent environment to work

I am very proud to work at Bents. The colleagues are exceptional, it’s a fun place to work. There are many benefits including monthly reward schemes, discount club and yoga and much moreManagement are open to ideas and encourage you to share them. We have high standards throughout the store and everyone works hard together to maintain them.

Pros

On site bistro for lunches, reward schemes, uniform supplied, on-site parking, environment, colleagues

Cons

None
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

28 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete the online review. I have loved reading your positive feedback and I would agree its our colleagues who are exceptional and what make the business what we are today. We do get great feedback on our colleague bistro and rewards and recognition schemes it was great to see you liked them too. Thanks again for taking the time to complete this review Katherine Bent Head of Culture

No care for you at all, you’re just a number

miserable place to work especially with being part time, terrible management and the way some younger employees are spoke to is awful. will not act on a complaint or request.Terrible pay after flaunting millions in profit. Will blame employees for anything after not being taught.

Pros

Nothing

Cons

Long hours, low pay, lack of care, bad employee benefits, bad management
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

28 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete this review. I was extremely disappointed to read such a negative feedback of your personal experience this is certainly not how we expect any of our colleagues to be treated or made to feel, I will be taking the time to share this with the dining leaders to help us improve for the future. Can I ask that you come and have a chat with me whilst you are a current colleague on how I can help your experience within dining, my email is katherine@bents.co.uk if you want to arrange a time to meet with me. Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Excellent place to work

This business is very much a family business, you get support and training from your leaders and the senior team. Yes it is fast paced but you get all the tools you need to complete your role. There are so many benefits of working with this company, I use to work for a national company and you were just a number…..not here! You can have an opinion and you’re listened too.

Pros

Great work/ life balance, discounts, incentives

Cons

None
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

28 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete your online review. I absolutely loved reading such a positive feedback about your experience in dining and that you are not just a number, our aim is always to make colleagues feel part of our family business. Once again thank you for taking the time to complete this review. Katherine Bent Head of Culture

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Family feel, great teamwork, supportive leaders and colleagues

A great place to work with amazing colleagues, everyone is willing to help eachother and the support from leaders is amazing.Very fast paced and manual work but that's retail! The best part of the day is service; greeting customers, using the products to sell them and having a genuine chat with the regulars but not in a pushy hard sales way that we are monitored.Great training and development opportunities and the chance to work around the buianess - no two days are the same!!

Pros

Bistro with fresh food, parking, birthday vouchers, colleague & department of the month, discounted gym, extra holidays & discount for long service
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

28 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete such an amazing online review. I really enjoyed reading about all the positive comments and how much you enjoy the interaction with colleagues and customers. We agree it is such a fast paced environment but the buzz that happens within the team and colleagues is great to see and the days certainly fly by. It was great to read how much you enjoy all the colleague recognitions and my personal favourite is having my birthday as a paid days holiday. Once again thank you for the time Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Freedom

The people here are amazing, everyone works so well together, big tasks are given to bigger groups working as one team. managers are very supportive and helpful making your day so much better.We have our own head office of finance, buyers, marketing, HR upstairs it the same building who we can speak to daily.

Pros

free parking, colleagues bistro with fresh subsidised food

Cons

retail trade same as sector
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

28 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete the online review. I enjoyed reading about how much everyone works together as a team and how supportive our managers are. With all departments being based on the one site really helps us work together closely and helps make quicker decisions daily. Once again thank you for your time. Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Amazing development opportunities within a Family ran business

So proud to say I work here. The family really do care about the colleagues and you feel like a member of the family, not just a number. So many benefits I could go on all day but to name a few...development schemes to learn more skills and grow within the business, work life balance, approachable and supportive management/leaders and opportunities to earn more with a wage banding system for when you learn more skills and gain knowledge. I have learnt so much in the years that I have worked here and can't wait to see what the future holds for me here at Bents.

Pros

Development programme, family ran business, work life balance, fellow colleagues, colleague events
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

13 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to complete such a lovely online review. Everything you have outlined is what as a business we work hard to achieve for our exceptional colleagues and it was so lovely to read that you feel part of the Bents family. Thanks again Katherine Head of Culture

Amazing family run business, very proud to work here!

Love working here! All colleagues are friendly and genuinely care about each other. The leaders are extremely supportive and approachable. All the different departments work together as a one team approach, this really promotes the family feel culture!It is really rewarding working here I cant recommend it enough.

Pros

Lengh of service rewards including extra holidays, colleague events, great recognition program for colleagues
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. I loved hearing how much you enjoy working within our family business and how proud you are to work here. Everything you outlined encompasses the hard work we work towards in creating a family feel culture, it truly fills me with happiness to read of your experience. Once again thank you for your time Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Fast paced environment but very rewarding

Beautiful environment to be working in. The team I am part of are always supportive and work so well together. I have a great relationship with my manager who is very supportive on daily tasks and is invested in me as a person. I believe all the leaders are approachable and I could speak to them in the absence of my manager. I enjoy coming to work and happy to be part of the family.

Pros

Bistro with reduced prices, onsite parking, discount, birthday paid leave and vouchers (and cake)
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 February 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. I loved hearing how you have a great relationship with your manager and how supportive they are. I agree we have some exceptional leaders in Bents who really create that family feel but equally show support to the colleagues on a daily basis. I also love the subsidised bistro is amazing and great to see colleagues utilising this. Once again thank you for your time Katherine Bent Head of Culture

Awful shop floor managerment

Awful company to work for felt Unappreciated very high workforce turnover staff coming and going daily, the training was very poor if your wasn't good enough after one day on till training they was sacking you telling you didn't meet the criteria wasn't even given a chance you can't be expected to learn how to work at the till after one day I did enjoyed working in the other departments tho the floor staff where all very friendly and helpful. Very bad management, especially the duty manager he was very arrogant. they can't seem to keep their workforce and are constantly advertising vacancies. I would not recommend working for this company.

Pros

Staff friendly good time work

Cons

Bad management
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 February 2023
Thank you for taking time to write a review about your experience. I am really disappointed to hear about your time at Bents, this is certainly not how we expect this to be. We have numerous recognition schemes within Bents so I am surprised to hear that you felt unappreciated as we spend a lot of time constantly reviewing these. The people and culture team focus on how important inducting new colleagues into the business with extensive corporate induction and departmental induction which should include till training so this is again disappointing you did not receive this. We will also look into the comments about the duty manager as this seems very out of character of our leaders in the business. Once again thank you for your review and I want to wish you the best of luck for the future.Katherine BentHead of Culture

Development

Don't be fooled by the 'family culture'.There is development if you want it. Lots of hard work, commitment and long hours expected. Be prepared for the knock backs.

Pros

Lunches cost effective. Colleague discount.

Cons

Work life balance
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 January 2023
Thank you for taking the time to write your review.We are passionate to invest in our colleagues and help them develop, I am pleased to have read you have noticed this whilst working here. We are working hard to protect our family culture, and as we have grown, we are saddened that this has been diluted and you’ve felt this too. We are going to be focusing a lot of our activity on this across 2023 and I can see from your review you are a current colleague, so would love your input into this further. If you would like to talk more about the points you have raised, please come and speak with myself or a member of the People and Culture team, alternatively you could also talk with your line manager.Thank you again for your review.Katherine BentHead of Culture

Family friendly business just a facade

Nothing good to say about this company. Pretend to be family friendly but its just a facade. Low pay, long hours. Very bad management, they cant seem to keep their workforce and are constantly advertising vacancies. I would not recommend working for this company.

Pros

None

Cons

Long hours, low pay
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 January 2023
Thank you for taking the time to write your review.I was really saddened and disappointed to read of your experience, this is far from what we set out to achieve with our colleagues.I was disappointed that you hadn’t found the business to be family friendly and without much information in the review I am unable to comment on all our family friendly policies here at Bents. We appreciate that our roles, especially in our Dining can be long hours, however we feel that our working patterns with alternate weekends and minimal late nights were put in place to support this, and we also have a lot of shift patterns that means colleagues can opt to have more flexible shift patterns. When a colleague decides to leave we always aim to conduct an exit interview, I feel this is a great way of communication and to help us understand your concerns further. It would be great if you would get into contact with me to discuss further, if you are available to discuss further, please email me on katherine@bents.co.uk or 01942 266300. I wish you all the very best for your future.Katherine BentHead of Culture

Awful toxic

Management was awful with 2 faced staff. All fake with no support what so ever. Was underpaid and never given feedback on any of my work even when requesting for it. Overall it’s a money grabbing toxic environment where no one cares about their staff! Started in October only received a jacket mid December
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

6 January 2023
Thank you for taking the time to write your review.I was really disappointed to read your review. We believe the colleagues are at the heart of the business and are continuing to achieve this so I am really sorry that your experience did not match what we set out to achieve.It was disheartening to read that you felt the management was awful and you received no feedback. As part of our 2023 plans, we are launching our new performance development tools, which will provide our colleagues with more regular feedback and reviews with their line managers and more leadership training. When a colleague decides to leave we always aim to conduct an exit interview, to help us understand our colleagues experience when working with us. I would like to discuss the points you have raised further, if you would like to share further, please email me on jobs@bents.co.uk or call me on 01942 266300.Once again, thank you for your honest review and points you have raised to my attention, I wish you all the very best for your future.Katherine BentHead of Culture

Don’t work here if you are young, the pay is terrible and they expect long hours

Was only 16/17 when worked here and they made me do shifts that were from 8 am til 6/7 pm with one half hour break. Managers were rude and not friendly.
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Official response from Bents Garden & Home

10 October 2022
Thank you for taking the time to write your review.I was upset to read of your experience, this is certainly not how we would want any of our colleagues to feel whist working here at Bents. I will be speaking with our leadership team to discuss the points you have raised further. We do also have pay review and wage bandings in place where our colleagues can earn more when they learn more skills and knowledge or gain more responsibilities, I apologies if this hadn’t been communicated to you and will look into this to make sure all of our colleagues are aware of the pay bandings.We always aim to complete an exit interview when colleagues leave and this would have been beneficial to help us understand further your concerns, I would really appreciate if you would allow us the opportunity to discuss your review with you further. If you are happy to so, please email jobs@bents.co.uk Once again thank you for taking the time to write your review and wish you all the very best.Katherine BentHead of Culture

Great place to visit but not to work

Bents is a great place to visit for lunch and shopping but working there is very different. They have very loyal and good staff who the junior management don’t appreciate. Supervisors and management have no interpersonal skills no interest in their staff all they are interested in is ensuring the tills are manned and the shelves are stocked. They change your shifts without asking, treat you like a child and in some roles have to ring a manager to ask to go to the toilet.

Pros

Staff discount and good work colleagues

Cons

Not treated as an individual
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Overall rating

Based on 78 reviews

Ratings by category

3.3 out of 5 stars for Work/Life Balance
2.9 out of 5 stars for Salary/Benefits
2.9 out of 5 stars for Job security/advancement
2.9 out of 5 stars for Management
3.1 out of 5 stars for Culture

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