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36 Monkspath Business Park,
Solihull,
B90 4NZ

Click here for map

Opening Times:

Monday
06:00 - 22:00

Tuesday
06:00 - 22:00

Wednesday
06:00 - 22:00

Thursday
06:00 - 22:00

Friday
06:00 - 22:00

Saturday
07:30 - 20:00

Sunday
07:30 - 18:00

Please see Timetable for bank holiday opening times

Email:

info@bardello.co.uk

HUGE,

FREE OF CHARGE,

ON-SITE,

SECURE & SAFE,

CAR PARKING

Bardello School of Dance



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One of the first things that needed to be done to the new premise was to hang the fabric supporting cables. One of the two Peters from Leisure Interiors is seen here 6m up with his ladder amongst the enormous amount of furniture from the old place

Here's the project plan:

• The moving, by Care Move, took two days, very calmly, without any drama or incident - great!
  
  
• The decommissioning and re-instatement of the bar, DJ unit and reception was deftly carried out on time and bang on budget by Solihull Carpentry.
  
  
• The new 7,500 sq ft laminate floor was laid on to an acoustic underlay by Jamie and Gary from JG Flooring in under two days.
  
  
• The huge and I have to say fabulous stage was erect on the specified day by Steeldeck.
  
  
• The lighting was expertly hung and set up by Andy and his crew from ALG Sound and Lighting working very unsociable hours in order to meet our very tight deadlines.
  
  
• The fabric was efficiently and expertly hung by the two Peters from Leisure Interiors.
  
  

A golden lesson: When you find good and reliable trades people, don't fall out with them and don't pick their nits, they are worth their weight in gold - the trades people not their nits! Always engage trades on a fixed price deal and spend the time detailing EXACTLY (within reason) what you want, it will be worth it, believe me. Don't try to be clever, that's the trades job - never offer advice if there's an issue, it will come back to bite you in the bum.

Before the stage was erected, blocking the main warehouse doors, the toilet block elements had to be moved in.


The toilet block was an interesting one. Having been let down at the last minute by one of the country’s largest portable toilet block manufacturers, panic once again set in. We came across a marquee manufacturer/hire company that had, for a short time, branched out into the manufacture of portable toilet blocks. Their ‘downfall’ had been to make them too well, too robustly, out of good-quality material, making them too heavy. Whenever they were deployed, they sank into the ground needing heavy crane equipment to extract them! We snapped them up. Just the ticket. They were a huge weight off my mind, a huge weight from their field, and are still receiving a huge weight from our customers ;-)



Main elements of the toilet block in place. Great debate took place as to whether or not we should leave the toilets as they are seen, or whether we needed some modesty shields! Yes, modesty please. We are not that progressive in Solihull!


Modesty panels on the floor. And, it looks like the floor has been laid. Jamie and Gary must have sneaked in.


The stage is up, albeit without the trussing and the two Peters are considering their next move having hung the ceiling fabric.


Bar and reception desk re-constructed.


Nearly there! Just needs the wall fabric, the toilet modesty panels and lighting to be put up.


Fabric up!


Ready for our first session: 14 June 2011. Notice the windows to the right hand side of the stage. The fabric is not blackout, so these windows needed to be covered shortly after opening. Also, the additional stage lighting had not been installed at this time.


It was now bite your finger nails time. What would our customers think? We arranged two free-of-charge (snagging) sessions for the week before our scheduled opening on 20 June 2011. The first at 18:30 on Tuesday 14 June 2011 and the second at 18:30 on Thursday 16 June 2011. The attendances were 192 and 175 respectively. They were a huge success; apart from one lady who walked out saying that it was too crowded and that all Bardello was about was making money - they were free-of-charge sessions! All aspects of the new Bardello experience worked well; the sound, the lighting, the floor (we'll have more to say about this later) and even the toilets!

Lesson in numbers: 1% of customers take up 99% of your time. Whilst you must always be tuned into the thought processes, needs and wants and purchasing habits of your customers and potential customers, avoid being swayed by the vociferous few. The key is to use intuition to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The old sign back up again and we are ready to open the doors.


Everyone back to Bardello. This photo was taken by Andy from ALG, the lighting contractor, on his mobile phone on 14 June 2011 during the first of two free-of-charge trial (snagging) sessions as, in the rush, I forgot my camera! We had 192 on the dance floor!

Onwards to Glory!




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