Storth Village Shop
Case Study
History:
Storth is a small village off the Kent Estuary in Cumbria with a small school and a very active community. Nearly 40% of Storth’s population are aged between 60 and 85 years and it does not benefit from a direct bus route. The village and surrounding area only has one post-office/shop to support a population of 1000. The previous owner had reluctantly decided, due to personal and health reasons, to sell the business in 2002 but without success and was compelled to close the shop after Easter 2004. At a public meeting in December 2003, attended by over 80 residents, the village unanimously agreed that a means should be found of retaining the shop. This meeting highlighted the shop’s existence as crucial to the vitality of the village; the shop has particular emphasis for the elderly, the young and people with difficulty in accessing essential services. A small steering group was formed with a variety of skills, knowledge and life experiences with the aim of purchasing the business and running it on a community basis. The group applied to the Plunkett Foundation’s Rural Revival initiative in the early summer of 2004 for the support package of seed-corn funding and specialist advisory support after being advised initially by Enterprising Communities team of Voluntary Action Cumbria, a delivery partner of the Plunkett Foundation.
Current activities and benefits to the community:
Due to the threat of shop closure, the local community set up a cooperative as a vehicle to secure the shop and post office in the village. Under the advice of the specialist adviser, the shop incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society. This business model was chosen because of the benefit and involvement of the community. One full-time staff, two-part-time staff, and a group of approximately 20-30 volunteers run the shop. The shop tries to buy as locally as possible. Local products of milk, eggs, pies, conserves, potatoes, bread, cakes, sausages are all sold in the shop, and customers don’t mind paying a little more for the local products. There is a sense of ownership by the community and they understand they must either use the shop or they will lose it. The shop is seen as a haven for isolated people in the village as place to socialise and to visit. As stated by Joan MacKenzie, a key member of the steering group and employee, the shop is definitely a service for the community, due to the strong social benefits it is delivering.
Role of Advisory Support and Seed-corn Grant:
The advisory needs focused on various areas, including the legal needs and retailing needs of the co-operative. The legal area was particularly complicated as the co-operative was buying both the business and the property. The legal advice also focused on the most appropriate organisational and legal structure for the community shop. The co-operative steering group had no retail experience; therefore, the specialist adviser from ViRSA directed them on retailing needs and suggested very feasible options that were relatively simple to action. Her key advice: the villagers must see a difference with the shop—must be a tangible change to mirror the new ownership. Overall, the specialist advice was both practical and focused. The advice cleared the way through a lot of well-meaning people and pointed the group in the right direction.