Green Valley Grocer Takes Regional Award

The Green Valley Grocer, a community owned shop in the South Pennines village of Slaithwaite, recently won its second award of the year. The shop won the Business and Economy category for the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber in the Market Town Awards organised by Action for Market Towns.

The award recognised the positive impact that the co-operative had made on its local economy and community in just its first year of trading. The recognition comes on top of winning a local food award in a competition organised by Kirklees Council back in the spring, against some stiff competition from several other far more established businesses.
And The Handmade Bakery, a worker co-operative artisan bakery that shares premises with The Green Valley Grocer recently snapped up an award at the Co-operatives 2010 conference in Plymouth.

Graham Mitchell, who chairs the board of directors of Slaithwaite Co-operative - which trades as the Green Valley Grocer, said: "It has been a fantastic first year. Back in the spring of 2009 the shop was nothing more than an idea. We have just celebrated our first trading year, which has far outstripped our expectations, and this latest award puts the icing on the cake." "Our close working relationship with the Handmade Bakery is proving to be a magic ingredient for us, which coupled with our community owned model gives us a really unique proposition that keeps our customers coming back for more."