A village shop owner has praised the local community for coming together with plans to save his general store and post office from closure, and says his late wife, Liz, would also have backed them.
Hesket-new-Market village shop – which provides a hub for the village, as well as vital banking services at its post office counter — faces closure as long-term owner Andy Bothamley is set to retire.
Locals from the Hesket-new-Market community shop steering group, led by Philippa Groves, plan to raise matched funds to buy the shop, with assistance from a grant from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund. The fund backs local groups taking ownership of assets at risk of being lost to the community.
“I think it is a good idea,” said Andy. “Feasibly it was the only way we were going to keep the shop here. It has been known that I want to sell for a year or more now. No-one has come forward as yet. We did have an interest very early on, but they pulled out. I think that Philippa’s group coming together and doing what they are doing is a great idea. And I am happy to support them all I can.
“The thing is it was really my wife’s business. She died in 2018, and I have just kept it going as long as I can. It is quite a lot of work for me on my own to do things. I am planning to retire as soon as they can buy it really.
“I think my wife Liz would have been really pleased that the community have decided to go for it. She was also very keen that the shop stayed in the community.”
Andy stressed how important it is to have a local store and post office services as they are crucial for the social and economic fabric of the area.
“We are the only post office in the area, the nearest one is probably Wigton, and there’s another small village shop. There’s not many left around here so it would be great to keep it going here. I would like to stay in the village as well, once retired, and I would like the shop to be here so I would be able to use it as well.
“The post office is so vital in the village community, what with all the banks closing their services in the towns as well. It is vital. The Post Office is also very keen to keep it going here. Keep things as they are. It would be a good thing. For some of the elderly it is quite a vital pivot.”
During the Covid pandemic, the store provided delivery services offering a lifeline to local people. The services operated every day and delivered to surrounding areas — for which a High Sheriff’s award was given.
“It is a general village store, bakers and grocers, and we do home deliveries. During Covid we worked on this the whole time and we had a lot of orders going out and that is something we have kept going since then,” added Andy.
The steering group for the project is in the early stages but two well-attended public meetings have already been held. A third meeting is now set to take place at Caldbeck parish hall on 21st May.
The group is inviting supporters to purchase shares to support the ownership scheme. The steering committee hopes to launch a prospectus for the share offer soon and is planning a website to support the campaign.
Hesket-new-Market already has a great track record when it comes to community ownership, with residents having come forward as shareholders over two decades ago to form the Hesket-new-Market Brewery as a community-led business. The Old Crown pub in the village has also become community owned.
