Northern Polytunnels Avis 

Wonderful experience. Purchased a polytunnel from NP - the service was fantastic. Very easy to deal with and a very high quality product. Their recommended fitter (Kevin) was spot on - get him if you can!

Well engineered sturdy product. Good build instructions. Excellent telephone support

Easy to order. Prompt delivery. Well packaged

We bought our Polytunnel and Fruit cage in 2013,both very well made and lasted thoroughout the years until the recent Storms hit us here in the Far North of Scotland causing damage. The sales team were excellent in sorting out a new cover and replacement parts for the Fruit cage. Contact and use of the website was easy. Delivery was prompt and items were well packed.

Have dealt with Northern Polytunnels over the last 8 years to help us grow our business. We have gone from one 24' tunnel to three. Now we have just placed an order for a further two tunnels to enable us to meet customer demand for our plants

Struggling with this easy build poly tunnel. I had to drill two of the arches to make the holes line up for the fixing screws. I am now trying to assemble the door frames and out of the sixteen square head screws supplied for this only four will fit into the square holes provided for the purpose. And of course because it's a weekend there's noone available to help.

Just a great product - I especially like that there are no wood components so I know it’s not going to rot etc. I paid for installation and the experience was great.

The whole buying process was easy, fast delivery and assembly instructions/ video made the assembly very easy. Very sturdy structure can’t wait to get growing.

I’m sharing my experience with Northern Polytunnels to help others who may be considering purchasing from them.

I was looking for a shelter for my horses, and because the highest and driest part of their field isn’t accessible by vehicle, a polytunnel-style shelter seemed like a good solution since the parts could be carried in by hand. I came across Northern Polytunnels through Facebook ads that highlighted the weather resistance of their structures, which appealed to me as I needed something safe and reliable for winter conditions.

Based on this marketing, I purchased a 4m x 6m livestock shelter. The shelter was professionally installed, and nine days later, with Storm Bram forecast, I checked that the ground anchors were secure and the ratchet straps were tight.

Before the storm had fully reached us, the shelter began to fail. I could see that the cover had come apart at the seams at one corner and the steel frame began to bend and deform, leading to a full collapse. The ground anchors remained embedded in the soil and still cannot be pulled out despite attempts to do so. I even have a photo demonstrating a ground anchor still attached to the collapsing structure and firmly embedded in the ground.

Given the way the shelter was marketed, the failure was extremely surprising. I contacted Northern Polytunnels and, at first, communication was responsive and polite. I provided all photographs and information requested, believing we could work toward a reasonable resolution.

Northern Polytunnels later attributed the collapse to alleged installation issues with the ground anchors and stated that this voided the warranty. This does not change the fact that the cover tore and multiple steel poles bent and deformed. The anchors also remained firmly in the ground.

The resolutions offered were discounted replacement parts or the option of an engineering review by a consultant they work with, which they noted may come at a cost. At this point, the shelter was a deformed pile on the ground - where it remains right now - which I will have to pay to remove. Given how quickly it failed and the safety risks involved, I do not feel comfortable reinstalling it around my horses, nor investing additional money into a structure that collapsed within 9 days of installation.

I’m sharing this experience so others can make an informed decision when considering Northern Polytunnels. This reflects what I personally experienced and observed from purchase through to failure and attempted resolution.

Editing in response to their response:
For clarity, I did contact Northern Polytunnels directly immediately after the collapse and provided all photographs and information requested (in good faith). Northern Polytunnels already have my email address and we corresponded privately at length, so they are able to continue the discussion directly should they wish to do so.

The only options offered to me were replacement components at cost, or an engineering review that I was advised may incur a charge. Given that the shelter collapsed completely within days of installation and is now deformed and unsafe to use around horses, I did not feel that either option represented a workable or proportionate resolution.

I chose to share my experience publicly only after we were unable to come to an appropriate resolution privately. When I noted in private correspondence that I would be sharing my experience, I was told: “Any defamation against our company will be reported.”
I want to be clear that everything I have shared publicly reflects my own experience and observations.

My intention is simply to document what occurred so others can make an informed decision.

Further clarification following Northern Polytunnels’ response:
For clarity, I would like to correct one point made in the company’s updated reply.
The ground anchors did not pull out of the ground and were not “barely into the ground.” Photographs taken immediately after the initial collapse show anchors still embedded. Attempts to remove them after the failure were unsuccessful.
Regardless of differing views on installation detail, the shelter collapsed completely within nine days of installation and is now deformed and unsafe for use around horses.

From start to finish an excellent job. We are very pleased with the result, excellent tradesman, polite and friendly. Would highly recommend them.

The replacement polytunnel covers fitted perfectly and the delivery was very prompt for point of ordering. The only minor improvement would be to include 6 extra frame straps firstly in-between the the ones on the ends and seconly two more at the top of the tunnel ends. This would improve the way the polytunnel is secured to thd frame.

Really high quality product. I have an easy build polytunnel and an animal shelter and both have survived whatever the weather can throw at them. Good instructions and videos as well.

great company to deal with, very helpful. if this new cover for my polytunnel lasts as long as the original (15 years) it will see me out.

Very good service and very fast delivery

Now it’s finally finished, it looks great and has already survived its first gale so really pleased with that but there was more sweat , tears and time than I expected!
The advice is to assemble and anchor one side first and do the second side afterwards. I realised they needed to be 4 m apart but was that the outside edge, the inside edge or the middle? To try to make sure the arches would fit, I felt it safer to assemble the whole frame first. I then had to move it to get the anchors in place and back again and to lift it over the anchors to get to the right position, which wasn’t actually too bad and I was able to do that single handed. What I couldn’t do was screw in all the anchors to full depth. I managed to do one but none of the others would screw in due to our rocky, stoney ground. I was able to dig deep enough for two of them whilst the final one hit concrete all the time about a foot down. All three were done with postcrete along with crossed fingers, on the advice of Northern Polytunnels. When it finally came to pulling the roof over, I got help from our neighbours as it is bloody heavy! Try as we might, we could not get one of the corners to meet and the roof was full of bulges. Tried again a few days later. This time, I laid the roof down in slats and made sure it matched the ends of the frame. Still the same problem. My neighbour, who is a builder, stood back from the frame and said what I’d been thinking- are you sure it’s square? He measured the diagonals and they were considerably different to each other other. We disconnected the anchors from one end, loosened them at the other and pushed the whole structure up hill until the diagonals were equal- about 5 feet on that end. Now I needed more concrete and two new anchors. A few days later and the roof came up perfectly, the corners came to the right place with the right tension as did the rest of the sides. One thing I did change. On the diagrams, the corner ratchets are shown on the inside of the poles but when I did this, the strap had to come around to the inside of the pole and this looked and felt all wrong.I moved it to the outside of the pole giving a straight pull down for the strap, which looked a lot better.
Done now and as I said, it looks the business and I am proud of it and pleased with it- just wish it hadn’t taken quite so long!
I do think that 2 sheets of instruction and photos really wasn’t adequate. Do you have a you tube video on it? I do feel that something like that would have been very helpful . I have to say that you were all very good and very prompt when it came to answering my questions, so top marks for that!

Really like my polytunnel! And it was relatively easy to put up.

Delivery was slightly delayed and sadly parts were missing (ordered a 6x4m and basically got a 4x4m) however the response from NPT (David Meechan) was superb, the items were sourced and quickly replaced. Assembly is fairly easy and instructions clear (only challenge is pulling cover over the frame, took four of us but it was windy!! So far the tunnel has been up a few weeks through two pretty strong autumn storms (50-60 mph gusts). It has stood up well, its very dry inside and the frame is large tubular steel and very heavy duty, the frame will see me in the ground for sure! The ground anchors are also very decent and the shelter has not moved an inch since install. My daughters two horses love it and therefore so do I! If any other woman asked me to spend a fortune on two animals who eat money I would tell them to do one!!!!!!!! Great product so far and will repost after 6 months.

Parts arrived on time after a swift response answering my query.

The website is user friendly, but the staff (especially Dave) were super helpful. Got a lot of help and guidance.