NEWS
Roaming Roosters to crow louder with £1m diversification plan By Andrew Don
A Lancashire farm shop that saw sales plunge 27.5% when a Booths supermarket opened nearby has launched a £1m plan to diversify the business and expand the shop by up to three times. Andy Jones took over Roaming Roosters in Higham, a village in the borough of Pendle, earlier this summer and plans to add a play barn and boost retail space at the fiveyear-old outlet – subject to planning permission. “It’s about establishing the location as more of a destination,” said Jones, who has a marketing background. “We wanted enough for people to spend half a day or a day at a place that’s family friendly. Kids can play in the barn, parents can grab a coffee or an amazing cake and pick up something for dinner.” Jones, who bought the site from brothers Simon and Nick Mellin, is hoping to increase the farm shop
by two-to-three times, including back office and kitchen space. “We have a strong meat offer but we don’t have the retail space to allow people to grab food to create a meal,” he said, adding that the deli range and the “limited” fridge space would also be increased. The fruit and vegetable offer would also be enlarged as would the hot food-togo, the wine section and artisan bread range.
Shortlisted: Cobbs Farm Co
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August 2017 | Vol.18 Issue 7
“People have a lot of choice now in terms of where they shop and I think we’ve seen basket values decrease so it’s important to offer people more than just a retail experience.” Explaining his decision to buy the site from the Mellins, he said: “I knew of it and liked the whole setup and where it’s located. It felt like a great opportunity to get into a sector I have a passion about.” roamingroosters.co.uk
The Lancashire farm shop is seeking planning permission for £1m of improvements
Three farm shops in the running for rural awards Three farm shops have made it to the finals of the food category in The Rural Business Awards, staged in partnership with rural organisation the CLA and Amazon. Cowdray Farm Shop (in Midhurst, West Sussex), Cobbs Farm Co (Hungerford, Berkshire) and Jolly Nice Farmshop & Café (Stroud, Gloucestershire) are all in the running for the Best
Jones said the play barn would be in keeping with the rustic style of the rest of the development He expects the council to decide in favour of the plan at the end of July or early August because he said it created a significant number of jobs, it was great for the area and “anecdotally everything I hear so far is positive”. Jones also stressed the importance of diversification.
UK wine bodies merge
Rural Food and Drink Business category at the awards. Northern Ireland’s Mash Direct and Yorkshirebased T Soanes & Son Poultry are also on the shortlist. Judges praised Cowdray Farm Shop’s “strong local rural partnerships”, while they hailed Jolly Nice’s transformation of a derelict petrol station into a “sustainable community hub”. The Cobbs chain of seven shops was nominated for its growth of staff and commitment to local responsibilities. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 5th October at Denbies Wine Estates in Surrey. ruralbusinessawards.co.uk
The UK wine industry has united to act as a cohesive force with the merger of the UK Vineyards Association with English Wine Producers (EWP). The new body, UK Wine Producers, has a new board to drive the industry forward. The merger comes at a time when English wine alone grew by 16% last year to achieve a record turnover of £132m, up from £113.8m, an analysis by online business finance supermarket Funding Options shows. The sector has nearly trebled in the past five years from £55.7m in 2010/11 and growing national and international recognition has helped shift consumer attitudes and increase bottle prices, it said. Simon Robinson will be the inaugural chairman of UK Wine Producers.
Bluebird continues to spread wings with new stores Bluebird Tea Co has exceeded its own expectations after it raised more than twice as much money for expansion as originally intended on crowdfunding platform CrowdCube. Its original crowdfunding target over 30 days was £160,000 but it secured £364,000 in just two days with 280 investors backing the business. Its tea mixology stores in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells and Bristol will be joined by Camden and Manchester’s Northern Quarter in September. Another venue is expected to be confirmed shortly and it plans to open a tea mixology school. Kate Lancley, wholesale manager, said the fundraising enhanced the rollout programme and enabled the group to revamp is flagship
Bluebird Tea Co, whose stores include one in Bristol (pictured), will have five outlets across the UK by September
store in Brighton’s North Laine, which was the first to open in 2014. “We plan to listen to our customers and find the right locations for us and see where this takes us.” Lancley described the shops as experience-based, with sampling a key part of the offer, as are Tea Walls
where all the colour coded tins are located. Loose tea can be bought in 20g, 50g and 150g quantities or in gift packaging. Bluebird has annual revenue of more than £1m and exports globally via its UK, US and European Union websites. bluebirdteaco.com