Rural Community Shops News
The Observer Ethical Awards is into its seventh year and celebrates projects, campaigns and ideas that are flying the flag for sustainable change. The Awards consist of a number of categories across sustainability within the
- Retailer of the year - The winner of this category could be any retailer – local, national or online. Examples could be a celebrated farm shop, a small organic beauty or perhaps an online retailer offering sustainable solutions.
- Grassroots Community Challenge - This award pays tribute to those who want to fight climate change and social justice on the home front and ally their ethical ideals to concrete action. They are looking for entries from impassioned local groups or individuals. Entries can come from existing projects which need a boost, or ideas for new projects.
More information can be found at the following website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/observer-ethical-awards-2012
Community shops prove resilient despite current downturn
Community-owned shops are continuing to prove their resilience despite the economic downturn forcing many other businesses to close, states a new report. Nineteen new shops opened in 2011, with the highest concentration being in the South East with 7, closely followed by the South West with 5. The report, released by rural communities charity Plunkett Foundation, is a summary of the support it provided to communities across the UK in 2011. It finds:
There are now 271 community-owned shops in the UK
- 19 opened in 2011, 7 of which were in the South East
- Plunkett Foundation currently working with a further 149 communities to explore community ownership as a way of saving their village shop
- 114 shops have been helped to expand their local food offering,62% of which reported significant increase in sale turnover
- Specialist advisers worked a total of 768 days supporting community-owned shops
Community-owned shops are those that are owned and run by the community itself. They are viable and sustainable models of business: their 96% survival rate compares extremely favourably with the average small business 5 year survival rate of 46.8% (Office for National Statistics) thanks to the widespread engagement and ability to respond to customer needs.
Of the 19 shops to open across the UK, Plunkett Foundation supported 17, and received 130 new enquiries in 2011. Plunkett committed around £650,000 of support to communities through a variety of programmes including Village CORE, a loan, grant and advice programme delivered in partnership with Co-operative and Community Finance and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and supported by Lankelly Chase.
The full report can be downloaded here. For further information please contact us on 01993 810730 or by emailing info@plunkett.co.uk.
The newly installed shop premises at the
In 2008 residents of Kingsbury approached the Parish Council with the request to open a village shop and after the set up of the committee and a lot of hard work, on the 9th December last year the freight container arrived.
When it opens to the public this year, the container will house all the shelving, tills and products necessary and even has room for a kitchenette with running water.
Local People, Local Food - What can you do for your customers, and what can they do for you?
Plunkett, supported by Making Local Food Work, is delighted to announce a unique, one-day conference in central Birmingham. The aim of the day is to help you as a village or community shop manager or volunteer increase turnover and profits from local food by understanding your customers and turning them into genuine and useful supporters.
If you are involved in selling local food then this event is for you!
Come and hear about our latest consumer research – the same techniques the supermarkets use - adapted and accessible to local food retailers for the first time. Understand more about why consumers choose local and how to persuade more people to make the switch. This event will provide real evidence and practical tools to help your enterprise combat the recession, plus lots of inspirational ideas and networking opportunities. The day is aimed specifically at local food retail via community village shops and farmers’ markets.
The event will be held in Birmingham (Aston University) on 24th April and the cost is £35.
Why not make a note of the date now?
For more information and booking details please visit http://localpeoplelocalfood.eventbrite.com/?ebtv=C,
If you have any questions please contact
Eileen Keenan 01993 814376 or
Olivia Gardner 01993 814386
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The community shop sector is welcoming two new shops this month, those of Milland in Sussex and Tibberton in Shropshire.
Milland Stores opened on Saturday to a large crowd of supportive community members and a famous face in the form of Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, a supporter of the project since its inception. The opening also attracted the national media, so look out for a piece in this weekend’s Sunday Telegraph!
Tibberton Community Shop is set to open tomorrow, Saturday 10th December. A ribbon to celebrate the opening will be cut by the most senior citizens in the village along with children from Tibberton Primary School. Everyone in the village and surrounding areas is invited to the opening celebrations at the shop which is in a purpose built timber clad building at the side of Tibberton’s century old village hall.
Jane Berry, a member of the Shop Management Committee, said, "We are thrilled to have a shop back in the village again. It will be run by an enthusiastic and committed group of volunteers and will provide a wonderful meeting place for the community and a focal point to help keep our beautiful village alive and thriving."
One volunteer said “I have lived in the village for years but hardly know anyone so helping in the shop will mean that I can meet other people.”
Tibberton will become the 268th community-owned shop to open in the UK to date. For more information about how Plunkett can help your community visit our website, http://www.plunkett.co.uk.
Last thursday, a hugely successful fifth national networking event for community Shops was held at Dillington House, Somerset. The event attracted 121 delegates, making this the largest and most popular community shop event to date. A number of community shops attended from Somerset - one of most community-shop-populated counties - and a large number of delegates came from much further afield including Cornwall, Sussex and Shropshire!
The day commenced with informal networking in the appropriately named Garden Room, where refreshments were served and 8 suppliers of the Plunkett Community Shop Network (PCSN) scheme exhibited their goods and services. Amongst the exhibitors included,
- The Co-operative Group, the largest single buyer of ‘Green renewable’ electricity in the UK, who were promoting their energy procurement service which has been opened out to members of the PCSN offering substantial savings.
- The Co-operative Group were also promoting the Co-operative Enterprise Hub - an advisory service they fund to enable co-operatives including community shops to access specialist business support from Plunkett and other specialist co-operative development organisations.
- Ethecol Merchant Services CIC were talking to delegates about their Debit/Credit card services. A social enterprise themselves, Ethecol share many of our values and ideals, and without shareholders to pay, have been able to offer a very competitive package to members of the PCSN.
- The NFRN Mutual who work closely with convenience stores and community shops to provide an alternative to conventional insurance, were on hand to offer specialist cover and protection for its members. As the NFRN Mutual was created by retailers for retailers, it is a not for profit organization, and exists only to benefit its members.
- Fidelity CRM Ltd, the newest supplier to the PCSN, showcased their bespoke EPOS software, complete with till and terminal. Their system, bespoke and tailored to the needs and scale of community shops, was recently tested and chosen by a number of community shops - both those who have existing Epos software and those completely new to it.
Before directing delegates to workshops, James Alcock introduced the aims of the day - networking and sharing of best practice - but also the more serious elements of ensuring community shops remain profitable and sustainable in the future. James highlighted the success rate of community shops - 97% - and the fact that community shops continue to open when commercial shops continue to close. However, the reality of low net profits across the sector - average of £3,500 per shop - stresses the importance for community shops to continually listen to their members and communities and constantly adapt to accommodate their changing needs.
James also thanked the sponsoring organisations for enabling the event to take place. These included the five Somerset District Councils who have long been generous supporters of community shops in Somerset; and the Co-operative Group in the South West who have also been a keen supporter of community shops. Thanks was also given to the Community Council for Somerset who jointly hosted the event with Plunkett. Keeley from the Community Council for Somerset then welcomed delegates to Somerset and explained the support available to Community Shops both through the Community Council and Store is the Core programme.
The following workshops commenced, including some later in the afternoon:
Community shares: Invite your village to invest in its future
Helen Melia, Plunkett Foundations Community Adviser explored the role of Community Shares as a way to attract extra investment in community shops. Specifically aimed at those wishing to raise a substantial amount of money, £10,000 or more, from their village to purchase, build or renew a community enterprise the workshop explored the general principles involved and an overview of relevant tools and documentation used by other communities. Click here for presentation
Good Shop, Bad Shop
Charlotte Foster, Plunkett Foundation Community Adviser ran an interactive session with The Galleries Community Shop to highlight examples of the very best practice in community shops, and in contrast examples, of shops in need of improvements. Using photographs, commentary and a case study from The Galleries, delegates learned how to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their own shops.
Financial Management
Maurice McCartney, Plunkett Foundation Specialist Community Adviser delivered an essential financial management session complete with effective tools and techniques to take back and implement in community shops. The session covered; the key financial documents: what to look for and where to find it; how to measure and assess the performance of your shop; and tips on common areas for improvement in community shops. Click here for presentation
Planning for Growth
Simon Michaels, Plunkett Foundation Specialist Community Adviser focused this session on scaling up the business operation to ensure social benefits as well as the safeguarding of the retail service. The session considered areas of the retail mix that could be grown, and how you can be sure that you choose the right areas to focus on. Click here for presentation
Refreshing shop layout and keeping displays looking fresh
Sarah Mayell Plunkett Foundation Community Adviser inspired delegates with fresh ideas for reinvigorating the layout and displays in their shops. This workshop considered how to review the key elements of merchandising, starting with first impressions and following through a customers’ journey to the interaction at the till when the sale is complete.
Stocking local: Growing sales
Nicole Hamilton, Project Officer for Look for Local at Plunkett Foundation explored the importance of stocking local produce in community shops, and demonstrated the tools available to help raise awareness of your local ranges.
A lively and long lunch was held in the garden room enabling further networking and sharing of best practice, and another opportunity to visit exhibitors.
Following the second round of workshops, all delegates met and sat in the Theatre to hear from 6 examples of best practice. Speakers included:
- Emma Way from Hinton St George who talked about their journey of setting up and having tor raise over £550,000. This community turned to community shares in addition to donations, loans, and traditional fundraising. Hinton St George remain one of the highest share raising community shop ventures, but Emma stressed the number of shareholders as equally important to the value of the share capital.
- Ken Searle from Twyford Buckinghamshire talked about their experience trading from a Portakabin, and how through their successful trading operations, and community engagement, how they have developed trading surplus, and more importantly - confidence - to move on to the next stage of building purpose built premises for their shop and café.
- James Carpenter from not one community shop but two, talked from his experience in Payhembury and Plymtree about the importance of EPOS. James has successfully raised the margins in his shops as a result of scrupulous attention to detail aided by monitoring of shop sales using EPOS - without making the goods and services unaffordable.
- Gitte Dawson presented on the 11 ways of exemplary retail practices at The Galleries, Freshford which have been employed to increase customer and community involvement in the shop. Freshford have a fantastic and informative website for example - www.galleriesshop.co.uk - offer reverse credit, hold local events, and excel in their offering of local produce.
- Rosemary Wormington from Feckenham explained why she was motivated to become a member of the Plunkett Community Shop Steering Group. The group of seven shops have been meeting for over a year, initially to assist Plunkett to develop and launch the benefits. Today, the group exist to represent the wider movement of community shops, get involved in policy discussions, development of new projects and services, and continue to shape the membership scheme. Rosemary believes the membership scheme has made the community shop sector stronger, and is keen to ensure the group now becomes more visible to other community shops.
- David Job from Down Ampney ended the session giving an example of the membership benefits. Down Ampney had never accepted card payment before, and were in a catch22 situation as to whether it would help grow sales and cover its costs. David was delighted that the decision to join the PCSN and sign up to the Ethecol offering, resulted in a significant increase in sales that has now more than paid for cost of membership and the cost of residual fees to Ethecol.
- Click here for presentations
James Alcock thanked delegates for attending, and all of the speakers and workshop facilitators for sharing their expertise and experience. Before afternoon tea was served in the main house, James reminded delegates that Plunkett still have available spaces on the study visit and mentoring programme which enables community shops to visit or be visited from other shops.Additionally, if shops would like support on some of the workshop themes such as financial management or business planning, support is available through our various programmes. If you would like to take advantage of any of this, please do get in touch with Jonathan Paynes from the Plunkett Foundation on jonathan.payne@plunkett.co.uk or 01993 810730
A recent news item on an Americal website, highlighed the many differentt ways for giving life back to a shipping container - one of these was turning it into a grocery store!
We've seen many original and unusual shop premises across the UK, from converted toilet blocks, telephone boxes and portable buildings - a shipping container might actually be a replicable and short term solution...
In the US, 23 million people live in food deserts — low-income areas with no access to healthy or affordable food within walking or biking distance. Stockbox was formed in an attempt to fix the “grocery gap”, with a vision to make essentials — such as fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, grains, milk and meat — easily available in every neighbourhood. The Stockbox team, who met at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, recently opened their first temporary store in the car park of an apartment block, in the Delridge district in Seattle. The store is open daily and will act as a prototype, enabling the team to get to know the community and develop the model, which they plan to roll out as a permanent fixture in business car parks around the country in 2012.
The idea won Best Idea for Retail/Service Business at the University of Washington Business Plan awards 2011.
Click here to visit the website and view an video about the project.
No fewer than six enterprises that have been supported by Plunkett Foundation have either won or been nominated in top national awards designed to highlight the best of the food and farming world.
This week Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop was crowned ‘Britain’s Best Farm Shop’ by The Times. Brockweir has benefited from the support Plunkett provides to community-owned shops through its dedicated advice team, regional advisers and online support forum, www.plunkett.uk.net. It is also a member of the Plunkett Community Shop Network, a membership scheme that gives community shops access to a unique range of benefits and savings on things like electricity and insurance. Brockweir has also been revealed as a finalist for ‘Best Local Food Retailer’ in the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards, the winners of which will be announced on 23rd November.
Also named in The Times’ awards were Low Sizergh Barn (12th place), Durleighmarsh Farm Shop (22nd) and Rolvenden Farmers’ Market (27th), all of which have received support through the Making Local Food Work programme, led by Plunkett with its partners and funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Low Sizergh Farm is home to the community food project Growing Well, a social enterprise which helps people recovering from mental health problems. It has been supported by the Community Supported Agriculture strand of the Making Local Food Work programme, which is delivered by Soil Association.
Durleighmarsh Farm supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to Winchester Farmers’ Market, which has received specialist marketing and retail advice through Making Local Food Work’s farmers’ markets strand, delivered by Plunkett Foundation. This strand has also helped Kent Farmers’ Market, the umbrella body for Rolvenden Farmers’ Market.
The Observer Food Monthly Awards also took place this week, and saw The Community Farm being named runner up for the ‘Best Independent’ in the South West. The Community Farm has also been supported through Making Local Food Work’s Community Supported Agriculture strand.
For information about community food enterprises visit http://www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk.
Stocking local; Growing Sales
A national community shop networking event: Sourcing local food from your region.
This month saw the fourth Community Shops Networking Event take place in Ardingly, Sussex, where over 60 delegates attended to take advantage of the expert advice on offer on how to increase sales by stocking local produce.
The event, which was held at the idyllic Wakehurst Place, saw a fantastic marketplace filled with produce from Sussex, from fresh vegetables from Plawhatch Community Farm to locally brewed beer from WJ King. Those in attendance were treated to presentations in the marketplace from local food expert Charlotte Foster, who showed people how to create fabulous local food hampers in time for Christmas, and Plunkett Foundation’s very own Queen of Shops, Sarah Mayell, who shared her marketing and display expertise, and went through some ‘Dos and Don’ts’ of displaying local food.
Interactive workshops on the day ran through a range of practical top tips and guidance on a range of retail topics including marketing, local food networking and sourcing, customer service and planning your shop space. All delegates benefited from the knowledge and experience of our leading retail consultants on the day and took the opportunity to ask questions, learn from other community-owned shops and were able to take away a refreshed ‘to do’ list for their shop.
The workshops and exhibitions highlighted the range of support the Plunkett Foundation is able to offer. Please see below for further signposting to support we have available to community-owned shops across the country.
Plunkett Foundation Community Shops Network
Find out how your shop can benefit from being part of something big. Join our membership scheme specifically created for community-owned shops and access exclusive offers to help save your shop money as well as creating greater recognition and providing a voice for community shops across the UK.
http://www.plunkett.uk.net/sites/default/files/membership/membership.pdf
Are you keen to learn more about marketing? Or promoting your shop to your community? Or sourcing local produce? Or helping your team of volunteers with customer service? We are able to support you and your shop through mentoring and study visits. Contact Olivia and let us know what areas you are keen to find out more about and we will arrange a visit to another community food enterprise that are successfully delivering on this particular topic. Contact Olivia on Olivia.Gardner@plunkett.co.uk or 01993 814386 to find out more.
Look for Local
With the Making Local Food Work programme committed to supporting rural shops to stock more local produce we are now developing a Look for Local website to allow shops to access practical tools and resources. We invited comments and ideas at Stocking Local: Growing Sales which will help us provide an up to date, useful and valuable tool for all community shops. The website will be launched shortly so keep an eye on www.plunkett.uk.net for more information.
Specialised support from Metamorphosis
We were delighted that specialist consultancy Metamorphosis were able to join us on the day and deliver workshops on spatial planning and the customer experience. Metamorphosis have been working with community shops across the South East and if you would like to find out more, visit their website at www.metamorphosisgroup.co.uk.
And don’t forget….. the dedicated community shop team at Plunkett Foundation!
You are able to contact the team here at the Plunkett Foundation with any questions you may have about running a community shop or how to get started. If you have a question on finance, legal structures, managing volunteers, funding your project, then we are here to help. If you have a question about your community shop project then please call Katie on 01993 814378 or email on katie.pittaway@plunkett.co.uk .
Monday 10th October
The Watershed, Bristol
FREE event
Rural communities in the South West are being urged to attend a free event in Bristol that will see business experts and rural specialists descend on the city to help struggling communities revive their villages.
Bristol kicks off the UK-wide events series organised by rural communities charity Plunkett Foundation as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Village SOS Active campaign, which also sees a nationwide advice line pooling the expertise of business, social enterprise and rural specialists, as well as a pot of £5.3 million to distribute amongst communities in awards of between £10,000 and £30,000.
The event takes place on Monday 10th October at The Watershed, and sees stars and business experts from the BBC One series Village SOS, including the Barge Inn (Honeystreet)’s Terry Kemp and ‘village champion’ Sandra Bhatia, as well as Sylvia Brown, Chief Executive of ACRE, who will explain how community ownership can save South West villages.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said: “The Village SOS events series will raise awareness of what rural communities can achieve together through community enterprise. This may be saving their local shop or pub, saving and restoring a heritage asset or establishing a range of other community enterprises.
“The first event will take place in Bristol, where the series will be officially launched. The South West of England is a hotbed of rural community enterprise, with the region boasting more community-owned shops than anywhere else in the UK. Bristol is also well known for its local food offering, with enterprising examples of community food businesses in abundance.”
Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund CEO, said: “Village SOS is all about inspiring community action – empowering people to come together to make a difference in their communities.
“The event in Bristol on 10th October is one part of our campaign to support communities across the UK on their journey. Attendees will have the opportunity to get expert advice from some of the country’s foremost rural and enterprise specialists who will help to develop their ideas for community enterprises and set about making them a reality.”
For more information about the £5.3m funding, the events series or the advice line, contact the Advice Team on 0845 434 9123 or visit www.villagesos.org.uk.
-ENDS-
For press and media enquiries contact Katherine Darling on 01993 810730 or katherine.darling@plunkett.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
• BIG has joined forces with a range of expert organisations and networks in the development and delivery of Village SOS Active.
• Supporting the provision of the Village SOS national advice line and UK learning events is a partnership led by The Plunkett Foundation, along with; ACRE; Locality and Co-operatives UK.
• SiftGroups, a digital agency specialising in community engagement, has supported the creation of the Village SOS Active online community network for people to share their experiences and support one another and others inspired to create their own rural social enterprises.
• The Team, a Loewy Group design communications agency, is delivering content, design and online resources for Village SOS Active.
• The Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) Sheffield Hallam University is conducting an evaluation to determine how effective the ten projects funded through Village SOS have been in reviving rural communities and meeting the outcomes of the Village SOS programme.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £26 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
The Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) helps rural communities through community-ownership to take control of the issues affecting them. It is the only national organisation supporting the development of community-owned village shops in the UK through a dedicated team, specialist support programme and online, phone, and face to face support. It also promotes and develops support for a wide range of other forms of rural social and community enterprises, for example co-operative pubs. Plunkett Foundation also develops and influences policies relevant to rural communities and community-owned enterprises, and undertakes a range of consultancy work for public, private and civil society organisations.
Co-operatives UK (www.uk.coop) works to promote, develop and unite co-operative enterprises. It has a unique role as a trade association for co-operatives and its campaigns for co-operation, such as Co-operatives Fortnight, bring together all those with a passion and interest in co-operative action.
Any organisation supportive of co-operation and mutuality can join and there are many opportunities online for individuals to connect to the latest co-operative news, innovations and campaigns. All members benefit from specialist services and the chance to network with other co-operatives.
Locality (www.locality.org.uk) is the nationwide movement of communities ambitious for change formed through the merger of bassac and the Development Trusts Association.
Members of Locality are multi-purpose and community led. They include settlements, development trusts, social action centres and community enterprises and they have expertise in community asset ownership, collaboration, commissioning, social enterprise, community voice and advocacy.
Locality helps people to work together to create and capture local wealth. It helps people to set up local organisations for the benefit of their communities and supports existing organisations to work more effectively through peer-to-peer exchange and mutual support.
Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) (www.acre.org.uk) is the national umbrella body for the Rural Community Action Network, providing a focus for national advocacy and support for its member organisations and the rural communities they serve. ACRE works strategically with government and with a range of national third sector organisations to reflect a rural perspective in policy and practice. ACRE is nationally recognised for its expertise in ensuring rural community-led solutions are central to public policy debate and manages the delivery of programmes that directly benefit grass roots communities.
